December 2011 Newsletter

RFL December 2011 Session

“The ability to challenge yourself

TO MEET AND EXCEED YOUR POTENTIAL AS A HUMAN  

is a gift of a lifetime...”

Chris McDowell — Class of 2010   Director, Eagle Valley Medical Center

This year when you think about the best way for you to impact the valley through your philanthropic giving, think RFL. 

YOUR DONATION HAS A RIPPLE EFFECT — 
it directly impacts individuals through scholarships 
to RFL, as well as our greater community whose 
lives are enriched by RFL Alumni Leadership 
everywhere they turn.

Donate to the RFL Scholarship fund ONLINE NOW!

Leading Change with Ron Gager 

The December 2nd session of "Leading Change" focused on 7 best practices for engaging others and mobilizing their commitment - an acknowledgement that an elegant "technical" strategy for change will only be as good as the degree of acceptance in the organization for this new way to behaving. Based on research at the Harvard Business School and at General Electric, these seven "change leadership" practices begin with the need to enlist leaders at all levels, ready and able to lead change through all phases of the change cycle. Without strong leadership from start to finish, change initiatives languish and quickly become stale. Mobilizing commitment for change involves marrying a genuine "need for change" with a compelling and clear "vision" of the future state. Making change last and monitoring progress are change "levers" that help change initiatives survive beyond the initial euphoria of something new. And, modifying organizational systems and structures ensure individual and group behaviors are aligned with the change intent.

This workshop focused on simple tools change leaders and their teams can use to accomplish the ends described above. While the concepts of change leadership are quite simple, the tools help change leaders implement the obvious. If you want to engage others, you must create a shared need for change, formulate a vision of the future state that addresses individual behavior change, and work hard to ensure change is integrated into the fabric of the organization. It's NOT rocket science, but rather attention to simple change leadership practices.

“Ron was great. I learned more in this session than I did in my semester long Organizational Behavior class while getting my MBA.” Holly Upper

Ron Gager’s Leadership Read:

Switch, by Dan and Chip Heath seeks to answer the question, "Why is it so hard to make lasting change in our companies, in our communities, in our lives?". According to the authors, the primary obstacle is a conflict that is built into our brains - a rational mind and an emotional mind. The rational mind wants a trim, fit body, the emotional mind wants that extra Oreo cookie; the rational mind wants change at work while the emotional mind wants the comfort of the current routine. In Switch, the Heaths show how everyday people - employees, managers, parents - have successfully united both minds and, as a result, achieved dramatic results.

Support your local Booksellers as part of RFL's Team 3/50 Project and order or pick up this book locally:

Explore Booksellers

221 East Main Street 

Aspen, CO 81611-1996 

(970) 925-5336 

http://www.explorebooksellers.com/book-order

 Book Train 

723 Grand Avenue

Glenwood Springs, CO 81601-3401

(970) 945-7045