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Activity Chapter 2

Pelham took over as director of a charity facing a large deficit and threats to its reputation for care quality. She combined directive and collaborative leadership styles. She rapidly made clear decisions while also involving managers and staff. For example, she controversially stopped 15 minute visits but also gathered ideas from staff on fundraising. The story shows the importance of acting quickly when problems are severe, building credibility, involving others at all levels, and using symbolic actions to signal cultural changes. These tactics can help change managers in other organizations address challenges.

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83 views

Activity Chapter 2

Pelham took over as director of a charity facing a large deficit and threats to its reputation for care quality. She combined directive and collaborative leadership styles. She rapidly made clear decisions while also involving managers and staff. For example, she controversially stopped 15 minute visits but also gathered ideas from staff on fundraising. The story shows the importance of acting quickly when problems are severe, building credibility, involving others at all levels, and using symbolic actions to signal cultural changes. These tactics can help change managers in other organizations address challenges.

Uploaded by

nur atielyana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Activity – Chapter 2

Group Discussion – The Turn-around Story at Leonard Cheshire (Refer to Exercise 2.2 Page
53)
Q1. Describe the image or images of change management that Clare Pelham illustrate.
Pelham combined the director and caretaker images. When she took over, the charity had a
large deficit and its reputation for care quality was threatened. Rapid action and decisions
were required, and after meeting with all of the senior managers individually, Pelham made
clear what was going to happen. One example was her deeply controversial decision to stop
the „15 minute visits.‟ However, she was also clear about working together, transparency,
rapid problem solving, establishing procedures, and measuring progress with weekly reports.
She explored with the management board how they would work together to address the
challenges they faced. She met with staff to gather ideas and decide actions on fundraising.
She observes that, „leadership is a caring profession.‟

Q2. Explain what insights does this story have to offer concerning the role of the change
leader.
It is usually desirable to act with speed and clarity when an organization is facing difficulties
as severe as these, combining financial and reputational damage. 
Build credibility: Pelham was new to the organization, although she had previously worked
there as a volunteer. She had to establish her credibility with existing management and staff,
while recognizing that they had high expectations of her
Involve others (1): Pelham immediately involved the senior management team, capturing
their ideas on working practices and on solutions to the organization‟s problems. She quickly
convened a management board to discuss working methods. 
Involve others (2): Staff was asked to develop ideas on fundraising tactics, as everyone
became involved in that key part of the business. 
Symbolic actions: Pelham convened a board meeting with no agenda, signalling willingness
to listen to the suggestions of others. She banned the words „blame,‟ „fault,‟ and „failure,‟
signalling the desire to increase pride in the charity‟s work. She encouraged a culture of „you
don‟t walk past,‟ signalling that solving problems on personal initiative was to be expected
and rewarded. She led the „15 minute visit‟ campaign, which attracted external criticism, but
which staff supported. She accepted responsibility should things go wrong.
Q3. Discuss the lesson about managing organizational change that you can take from
this case study and apply to other organizations (of your own choice)
Acting rapidly to address severe problems, building personal credibility, involving others (at
all levels), and using symbolic actions to signal changes in approach and organization culture,
are tactics that change managers in other organizations and sectors should find useful.

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