For starters, I think this was a breathe of fresh air from writing essays or group presentations. It allowed me to really analyse and reflect over my own behaviour and leadership skills.

The readings helped me look at my leadership story through different lenses and what I could have done to improve the situation. Even though my example is a positive one, but I still feel their is always more I could have done !

Being an extrovert and someone who is more inclined to talk to someone in person, blogging was never my cup of tea. I tried to start a blog about 3 years ago, but couldn’t sustain it. I rather talk to someone about my experiences and get their feedback about it. My family is probably my first resort with whom I find solace and feel safe to talk about my day.

I did enjoy getting feedback from Julia and Ana. Both of them asked some good questions that I didn’t consider and helped me dig deeper into my feelings and actions. At first ,  i was a bit hesistant of what I write as I wasn’t sure how it will land on them. However, after the first blog entry, it became easier and I enjoyed disclosing my true feelings/thoughts for my colleagues to read.

When i was reading Ana’s and Julia’s  blog entries I found lot of similarities in all 3 of us and how we viewed leadership, which highlights the fact that we all want similar characteristics in a leader; 1) someone who is compassionate/ 2) someone who is able to manage his emotions 3) someone who is willing to deal with change effectively.

It was a pleasure doing this exercise!Thank to Ana and Julia for this great experience! Thank you to Nancy for providing this opportunity 🙂

What Happened?

The implementation was not as smooth as I thought it would be. Techs and clerks were still unsure of which spots were to be used as no-shows. I felt as though my policy was a failure and everything was going wrong. However, we all make mistakes, what counts is that we learn from them.

I asked my team to provide me with feedback and we would bring them up in the next meeting.  At the next meeting, I acknowledged the difficulties the techs had to face and apologized for some of the mistakes that were made. In addition, I asked my team what worked well for them. What didn’t? I listened to their feedback and we as a group decided that some no-show spots were not feasible to scan an inpatient it and hence we revised the no-show policy. So after 3 revisions we got the no show policy just right and so far it has been working great.

Lessons Learned

• I learned that listening to my team and understanding their needs and concerns is the best way to build relationships. I felt that by being open to my team’s suggestion, I had a warm approach, yet at the same time I was firm that the no-show policy is something that our department will be moving forward with.
• Change efforts can only occur when you have everyone on board and the team takes ownership of the issue. As a leader my job was to bring everyone on the table and help guide them in the right direction.
• Like in the Charlotte Beers’ case, when Charlotte said in any change movement “ 1/3^rd are supporters, 1/3^rd are resistors and 1/3^rd are apathetic. I realized that the resistors can become your biggest assets and strengths, if you work with them. Sometimes by framing the issue in the correct manner, people can have a change of heart.
• From the reading “becoming the boss” it states that building committees or group-based forums is an effective way to allow teams to problem solve. As the new leader, my developing the committee I gave my team the opportunity and space to discuss ideas in the open. Such group activities help to instill a team spirit where there is no ‘I’ but rather a “We”. This approach showed that I had no favorites and reduced the effort of me going to everyone individually to convince them of a change effort.
• The article “ultimate leadership task” tip #8 states that you have to learn to be flexible, be committed to life long learning and be open to continuously improving yourself.  The no-show policy was a challenge when we first implemented it. The process put all of us including me out of our comfort zone but it also ended up building our team dynamics and relationships. We were  willing to learn from our mistakes and improve.

This was my first major change project that I implemented. Looking back, the process helped me become a better listener, better communicator and a better leader. I learned a lot about my team, their personalities, needs and wants. I feel grateful to be part of such a great team!