Chief Transformation Officer
[WLOs: 2, 3, 4] [CLOs: 3, 4] [NACE: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8]
Prior to beginning work on this assignment,
Read Week 5 Lecture Notes. (copied & pasted down below)
Review the article, Three Key Principles To Guide Ethical Decision-Making In The Digital Era (Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2022/02/07/three-key-principles-to-guide-ethical-decision-making-in-the-digital-era/?sh=79e2c6d75900)
Review the article, The Rise of Ethical Leadership In Modern Business Enterprises (Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2023/02/28/the-rise-of-ethical-leadership-in-modern-business-enterprises/?sh=7f5bd05737dd)
Weekly Learning Objectives Covered
Analyze the various strategies associated with proficient communications.
Define the skills required to effectively communicate change initiatives.
Analyze the use of ethics in change processes.
The Chief Transformation Officer (CTO) is an organizational position that is gaining recognition within many organizations. You will explore the CTO’s role, which is a relatively new type of leadership position.
| Prepare
In your paper,
Develop an introduction informing your audience of the purpose of the assignment.
Define the role and function of the CTO.
Explain how a CTO can help an organization with change initiatives.
Analyze how using an ethically focused approach can benefit the CTO when leading organizational members through change processes.
Explain some of the disadvantages or limitations of the CTO position.
Describe how an organization’s employment of a CTO is different than the “Changing from the Middle” approach (mentioned in Chapter 12 of the course textbook).
Complete the assignment by developing a conclusion that restates the main points in your assignment.
| Write
The Chief Transformation Officer paper
must be 3 to 4 double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA Style.
must include a separate title page with the following in title case:
title of the paper in bold font
Space should appear between the title and the rest of the information on the title page.
student’s name
name of institution
course name and number
instructor’s name
due date
must utilize academic voice.
must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph.
Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
must use at least two credible sources in addition to the course text.
must document any information used from sources in APA Style.
must include in-text citations and a separate references page that is formatted according to APA Style.
Week 5 Lecture Notes
During the stages of planning, designing and implementation, leaders should pause and ask questions such as,
Is the change process ethically focused?
Has the team considered the ethical responsibility of the organization?
Has the company carefully considered possible risks?
How can those risks be minimized so that harm does not occur or is greatly reduced for stakeholders.
Having a strong ethical focus, when designing any change process will help create sustainable change.
If the change action has been properly designed to reduce or eliminate risks and implemented, it is now imperative that the leader pursues the organization’s culture and sees that the change is sustainable and embedded in the organization’s structure. This sounds like a simple task; one would assume that the change would be visible and therefore successful. However, here too, questions have to be asked, such as,
How does the leader know if the change initiative is actually embedded and part of the culture?
How does the leader know that the organization has become the new dynamic and is not just something they do – like a bullet point on the agenda?
How can the change practice be measured?
The leader must be fully committed at this point to devote their time and energy to ensure that the change is streaming throughout the organization.
The communication process plays a vital role to the success or failure of change. The leader has to take effective measures that will help the embedding process, such as:
Clearly explaining the roles of each player, so that they realize the purpose and importance of their role in the change process
Ensuring that change actions are tied to the strategic plan within the organization, thereby setting the path for its future growth and initiatives
Measuring the progress and celebrating the successes, as these will lessen the chaos that often accompanies change
Recognizing that productive failure is part of the process that allows participants to own the problem
Redesigning helps to develop collaborative effort
Review the video Lead Like the Great Conductors (Link: https://www.ted.com/talks/itay_talgam_lead_like_the_great_conductors).
Each of the conductors in the video had a specific technique and style of communication. The orchestra understood the visual actions of the maestro and performed the expected behaviors to achieve the desired outcome. While every situation required the same ending, the guidance of the leader was very different. Developing the communication pattern was not something that happened overnight. The understanding took time and effort.
“Crying wolf” is not an attractive behavior of the change manager. It is crucial that the change manager understands when to develop an urgency and an escalation of commitment for seeking ownership and assistance. If everything becomes an urgent matter, then nothing is an urgent matter! Likewise, declaring victory too soon could cause a critical aspect of the implementation to be overlooked. The savvy change manager carefully paces the process and the communication throughout the initiative. Exploring clear and concise leadership from within the organization helps to establish a new culture.
The leader must mirror the new culture and the behaviors expected with the initiative (Cignoranelli, 2003). Taking change to the personal level encourages the participant to develop an ownership and partnership in the change, often ensuring the desired outcomes. The language of change must fit the audience. The dialogue for selling change to the internal culture will likely differ when communicating the same to external shareholders.
The bottom line? Communication is a key ingredient for change implementation and overall sustainability. Recognizing that each phase of change requires a new path of dialogue will help participants move through each phase and partner in the process
Forbes School of Business Faculty
References:
Cignoranelli, D. A. (2003). Communicating change initiatives. The practicing CPA, 27(8), 3–4.
Talgam, I. (2009, July). Lead like the great conductors [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/itay_talgam_lead_like_the_great_conductors
