EVIDENCE FROM THE CASE STUDIES
Our six case studies, which are described in more detail in Chapter 4, reinforce the importance of the leadership role in organizational change and illustrate many of the attributes that we have identified as important for transformational stewards.
Leadership and Employee Involvement
A major strength of transformational stewardship is that leaders at all levels of the organization are empowered to address the buy-in and resistance problems that are often associated with change initiatives. In the case study of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), leadership was important both at the top and throughout the organization. Dr. Kenneth Kizer was specifically hired as Under Secretary for Health to make changes in a tense environment where the very survival of the veterans’ healthcare system was in question. Kizer is described by others as a strong visionary leader and a committed change agent; his political leadership skills proved critical to gaining the external support needed to move the agency “from a hospital system to a healthcare system.”
Kizer’s VHA strategy was to get everyone to recognize that they were on “a burning platform” that needed immediate and systemic change. Kizer “created a lot of positive energy” and sought to tap into the priorities for change of key VHA staff. One interviewee noted that “you can’t take people somewhere they don’t want to go.” Kizer used a core group of 22 regional leaders to create a change vanguard to guide the plan and achieve ownership of the change at the local level.
While noting that you cannot shift accountability from the head of the organization and that “at the end of the day it is not an absolute democracy,” one interviewee commented that it was important for Kizer and his successors to create a sense of shared leadership, common vocabulary, and collective accountability among all the key stakeholders; they accomplished this through widespread collaboration and sharing of mutual concerns. Performance metrics (developed through collaboration) and performance contracts with VHA managers were used to engender accountability throughout the organization.
Admiral Patrick Stillman, the Program Executive Officer of the Coast Guard’s Deepwater Program, incorporated the “system of systems” vision in the Deepwater mission, emphasizing “interoperability of systems” and “increased operational readiness, enhanced mission performance and a safer working environment.” As Program Executive Officer, Stillman had to translate the broader systems concept into measurable outcomes, while overcoming considerable skepticism among the rank and file regarding the Deepwater approach. One of Stillman’s strengths, according to those interviewed, was his ability to communicate the vision and foster a sense of inclusiveness and joint responsibility.
Admiral Stillman was described as having a strong sense of Coast Guard history and legacy, a sense of Washington, D.C., “beltway” politics, and good speaking skills that enabled him to motivate his staff. One interviewee commented: “He could operate in a political environment without giving in to the pressure; he was open to ideas and teaming with others and had the philosophy that “you get a lot done if you don’t care about who gets the credit.’” Stillman demonstrated a good balance between advocating for the change and allowing ideas to percolate up through the organization.
In the Fairfax County human services delivery case, the vision was set by the County Board of Supervisors. It was left up to the new Department of Systems Management for Human Services (DSMHS) to give substance to that vision.
Fairfax County hired a change-centric leader, Margo Kiely, to initiate the change. Kiely exhibited many of the attributes of transformational stewardship, and her leadership was viewed as critical even by others who had unsuccessfully sought the department directorship. The new director won them over with an open, collaborative leadership style that the change team worked to cultivate throughout the organization. Kiely fostered a culture of learning and sharing, where suggestions from staff were welcomed; many of those suggestions were pursued and decisions not to implement others were explained.
Other methods Kiely used to engage staff included:
• Developing a “learning opportunities program” to provide continuous staff improvement
• Using a “collaborameter” to assess the readiness of groups to collaborate
• Planning through charrettes, which involve the collaboration of all project stakeholders at the beginning of a project to develop a comprehensive plan or design
• Developing a “common vocabulary” for the change effort
• Sharing frequent and descriptive updates and disclosing the reasoning behind high-level decision-making.
Kiely recognized a constant need for the redesign team and top managers to work closely with other leaders and support teams to ensure that information about the change reached everyone. She took a very pragmatic approach to designing solutions and was able to adjust goals as conditions changed (such as the budget shortfall).
Mary Funke’s leadership of N Street Village (NSV) also demonstrated many of the attributes of transformational stewardship. Her strong faith provided an ethical foundation for all her actions. She demonstrated great empathy when making changes to staff or to benefits for NSV’s clients. While the vision of excellence began with her, her involvement of the staff and the board in detailed strategic planning helped everyone assume ownership.
Funke encouraged continuous learning, providing staff training funds even when cutting the total budget. She built coalitions with potential donors and encouraged staff to pay attention to the details of both fundraising and client services. As for personal characteristics of change leadership, Funke cited integrity, high expectations, empathy, a sense of humor, and an optimistic outlook as important.
Generating Support from Key Senior Leaders and Middle Management
Our case studies revealed that one of the major implementation challenges for leaders is communicating with and gaining the support of program leaders within the organization. Sometimes support from senior leadership and middle management is taken for granted; failure to adequately address these important groups can derail a change effort. Middle managers often provide the key link between the leadership vision and the rank-and-file in the organization.
In the case of Fairfax County, the DSMHS director recognized a constant need for the redesign team and top managers to work closely with other leaders and support teams to ensure that information about the change was vetted by everyone. Despite the efforts to incorporate buy-in and collaboration, resistance still existed and had to be managed. One interviewee volunteered that, if she faced the option of undertaking the change process all over again, she would incorporate mid-level managers to act as change champions to help with staff buy-in and thereby facilitate a quicker process of change.
Leadership also is widely fostered throughout the Coast Guard and at the Coast Guard Academy. Several interviewees noted that the majority of Coast Guard leaders come from the small Coast Guard Academy “society,” which creates a great deal of positive collegiality that may, in some ways, make it more difficult to initiate changes. Coast Guard officers, given this bond, constantly ask themselves, “How will this [change] be perceived by my peers?” Such trepidation may have led to more delays than necessary as various factions weighed in during the Deepwater planning process.
While Deepwater has had the backing of the top Coast Guard leadership, some other senior leaders in the Coast Guard remain opposed to the program. Opposition may fade as new assets are delivered, yet one pessimistic interviewee suggested that it might take a new generation to support fully the systems concept embedded in the Deepwater program.
Leadership Development
Continually strengthening organizational leadership is important to enhance the overall change capacity of an organization. In the Fairfax County case, in addition to involvement in the change effort itself, the director of DSMHS developed a variety of training opportunities for her employees. Also, the Fairfax Deputy County Manager had the idea of creating a “university” that would train workers in change- and transformation-related skills. Although this specific idea was not followed through because of budget constraints, it demonstrates the extent to which change-centric leaders think about long-term organizational development.
Transformational stewards look out for the long-term leadership of the organization. N Street Village director Funke is already training a potential successor. In contrast, one of the weaknesses cited in the Hillel transformation was the failure to develop widespread leadership throughout the organization, raising questions about whether the reforms would last after the change in national leadership.
The Coast Guard and other federal military branches include leadership development as part of their employee appraisal and development processes, providing an ongoing source of new leadership. However, strategic and funded leadership development is not widespread in all public agencies and is often lacking in nonprofit organizations. The lack of leadership succession planning constitutes a major challenge as public organizations begin to face a wave of retirements in the coming years (Newcomer et al. 2006).