PREVENTING CHAOS WITHIN GROUPS WHILE MOVING

TOWARD CHANGE HOW TO CONTROL & BALANCE CHANGES AT TOLERABLE LEVELS WHILE BEING IN A

POSITION OF AUTHORITY

Christine Parker

Applying Power

Formal Informal

Position of authority Preset Protection Holding environment

Derived from a person’s actions

With or without authority

Extends beyond holding environment

First, analyze the situation

Steps to applying formal and informal leadership to mobilize adaptive work:

1. Holding environment

2. Command and direct attention

3. Know your groups resiliency

4. Control the flow of information

5. Frame the issues

6. Orchestrate levels of conflict

7. Decide on use of consultative, autocratic or consensual form of authority

Authority as a Resource for Leadership

Managing the Holding Environment

A holding environment:

• Contains and regulates• Buffers distress• Reduces social tension

Authority Relationships can provide a holding environment with:

- Bonds of trust - Bonds of fear - Mutual needs - Brute force or its threat

Coercive Holding Environments

How fast should adaptable change be applied?

•What is the severity of the stress?

•What is the resiliency of the group?

•What is the strength of authority and the holding authority they can provide?

If we put people in an emotional emergency room, we shouldn’t be surprised when they hand us the bill for damages and don’t trust us anymore.

Directing Attention

Managing Information

If people are diverting attention from the real issue a leader can:

- Use their authority to force the issue into view

- Incrementally challenge people to face an issue

Orchestrating Conflicting Perspectives

The Razor’s Edge

Some tools for walking the razor’s edge with more skills:

1. Identify the adaptive challenge2. Keep the level of distress manageable3. Focus attention on the right issue4. Give the work back at a manageable rate5. Protect voices of leadership without authority

Falling Off the Edge

Three strategies:

1. Circumvention

2. Frontal Challenge

3. Riding the Wave

Placing Oneself

•For a ship to sail it needs wind. •For a change to happen it needs challenge . •Too much wind and you destroy the ship or take it off its course.•Too much challenge and you destroy all hope of improvement and positive change.

When people in groups feel protected and directed by a leader who maintains order within a group, people feel safe enough and courageous enough to work together in finding solutions to tough challenges so that change is possible.

Works Cited

•Heifetz, R.A. (1994). Leadership without Easy Answers. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press