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Policy&Practice
April 2016
6
P
roviding services to families and
communities is a voyage. The
condition of the waters changes with
federal and state mandates, budget
implications, shifts in the standards
of practice, gentrification, and com-
munities caught in the midst of
violence. Ultimately, we may not be
able to predict the exact nature of the
changes we face as human service
organizations, but we do know that
change is inevitable.
Realizing that many changes are
driven by external forces that are often
beyond our control, we, at the Fairfax
County Department of Family Services
(DFS), realize the import of intention-
ally developing internal capacity to
mobilize staff to navigate change,
whether external or internal.
So, while change is not a surprise,
the key to leading in times of major
disruption is how we prepare our
workforce for the calm times and for
weathering storms. Fundamental to
this preparation is assuring that they
have access to the developmental
opportunities and resources they need
to be a cohesive team—much like the
skilled crew of a ship. This involves the
pre-work of building a strong founda-
tion so that we are able to consistently
keep our bearings.
In
The Leader of the Future
, Harvard
University’s Ronald Heifetz describes
the kind of break from traditional lead-
ership we at DFS have adapted when
he states, “[i]magine the differences in
behavior between leaders who operate
with the idea that ‘leadership means
locally
speaking
Charting a Course for Change
Navigating Change with Intentionality and Courage
influencing the organization to follow
the leader’s vision’ and those who
operate with the idea that ‘leadership
means influencing the organization
to face its problems and to live into
its opportunities.’ That second idea—
mobilizing people to tackle tough
challenges—is what defines the new
job of the leader.”
1
Whereas traditional approaches
to leading change are centered on
reacting to the immediacy of external
influences, we have chosen to inten-
tionally maximize
internal
change
for a more long-term benefit. To
be clear, we do not neglect our
By Nannette M. Bowler and Stacey D. Hardy-Chandler
See Navigating Change on page 31
“Smooth seas do notmake
skillful sailors.”
—AFRICAN PROVERB
Illustration by Chris Campbell/Shuttersotck