We are currently working with a number of colleges to support transformative innovation through the use of utilization-focused, developmental evaluation (Developmental Evaluation: Applying Complexity Concepts To Enhance Innovation and Use, Patton, M. 2011). Although colleges aspire to support innovations, meaningful transformative change related to existing programmatic and student support structures often provides a unique set of challenges.
It is not enough to have good ideas. Nor is it sufficient to demonstrate through use of evaluation data that the good ideas work. Many seasoned administrators and faculty believe that organizational culture eats strategy for lunch. Effective leaders recognize the importance of culture. These leaders identify cultural and structural barriers and design strategies that align with culture. They are able to move successful innovations around or through organizational barriers into mainstream organizational practices.
Effective and focused leadership is difficult to measure, but most of us know it when we see it. We also notice when it is lacking. In his article “The Focused Leader” (Harvard Business Review, December, 2013), Daniel Goleman directs our attention to the following solution: “Every leader needs to cultivate a triad of awareness—an inward focus, a focus on others, and an outward focus.” Goleman then elaborates on this idea, suggesting that by focusing inward and focusing on others, leaders can enhance emotional intelligences. In addition, by focusing outward, leaders can improve their ability to design and manage strategies, innovations, and organizations.
To further explore the role of “focused leadership,” we have included leadership as a key variable in our current evaluation projects. Our observations point to positive leadership aspects across many of our colleges, however one particularly effective leader seems to more fully support the value of Goleman’s “triad of awareness” theory. The Executive Director of Missouri Healthcare TAA initiative is leading 13 colleges through the development and implementation of more than 30 new, short-term, educational programs designed to provide Missouri with the workforce needed to support its growing healthcare industry.
As a part of our implementation and progress evaluation process, we have noted the positive impact associated with this individual’s leadership. To test our observations, we conducted an interview with the Executive Director in an attempt to examine if an inward focus, focus on others, and an outward focus were part of her leadership style. The following excerpts from this interview confirm the existence and the positive influence of the Triad of Awareness.
- OUTWARD FOCUS AND FOCUS ON OTHERS: The Leader values the work of others and team building and understands how the work is positively impacting students and employers. She is especially pleased to see that progress is being made because “we are working together to make changes.”
- INWARD FOCUS: The Leader is personally committed to making changes and improving how colleges respond to students and employers. “The opportunity to be a part of the educational reform movement attracted me. I was frustrated by archaic processes that inhibited growth to better serve the needs of industry and its community’s workforce, which are our customers, our students. I saw this as the perfect chance to make changes happen. This is a personal mission of mine.”
- INWARD AND OUTWARD FOCUS: The Leader recognizes internal and external challenges and is willing to work through such challenges to help others. “The challenges are related to getting buy-in from others in order to scale some of these successes. This just isn’t another grant. This is a $35 million dollar opportunity to bring about transformative change to some very archaic educational systems. Every day in this job brings a new challenge to help change the way educational institutions deliver their services.”
- COMBINATION OF INWARD FOCUS, FOCUS ON OTHERS, & OUTWARD FOCUS: The Leader sees herself as a leader and understands her role as a change agent. “I see myself as a change agent. Colleges must change how they address the needs of students, and ensure those needs are aligned with labor market demands. The grant gives colleges an opportunity to make those changes and try out new delivery models. And as a change-agent . . . “rainmaker,” it’s my job to not only help them, but make them feel empowered to do so by motivation and recognition of these changes and their work efforts.”