The U.S president Barrack Obama is under pressure in handling issues concerning the economy and national security since he became president in 2009. The most anticipating issue concerns the gays and the lesbians serving in the U.S military. In addressing these issues, the president came up with the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy that prohibited the exclusion of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals from the US army. The policy demanded, that an individual serving in the military should demonstrate morals that are of high standards, and create no risks to the armed forces. In the discussion below, the above policy is analyzed to show how leaders have reacted to the policy. In addition, it analyses the impact that the policy has created on the army changes and policies.
Identify the resistance encountered during the change process and analyze the response to this resistance
President Obama came up with the change campaign towards the military that was led by the DADT policy. Many people repelled the motion claiming that in encouraged unnecessary behaviors in the society. Church leaders and some military leaders were against the motion creating a lot of resistance towards its application. Obama’s motion, “Yes We Can”, was hit by many leaders who in the military who were against the motion. In addition, the policy faced opposition from LGBTQ and human rights association in courts and other congress meetings held by different leaders (Belkin & Bateman, 2003).
What forms of resistance did change leaders encounter?
Leaders holding campaigns on DADT policy faced many resistant from people who did not believe in same sex relationships. According to Belkin & Bateman (2003), the defense secretary Robert Gates was very stubborn in implementing the policy to the military making the change leaders face many challenges. Moreover, most people never paid attention to what these leaders were saying instead some bodies held demonstrations against the change.
How did it manifest throughout the organization?
Organization leaders had a hard task explaining to their staff the importance of the policy. In the army, the people’s religion, culture and beliefs led some individuals abolishing the president’s rule. Leaders used the military support model encourage their followers to adopt the policy. This made a negative manifest throughout the industry as some followers termed their leaders as possessed, and going against their cultures (Wilson, 2011).
Was any of this resistance anticipated?
The military people are fond of following commands from their leaders. Following the repeal by the president not to display someone’s privacy in public, the resistant to the change was not anticipated. Prevention of homosexuals from serving in the military was seen as a means of discriminating people from working in the government positions. In addition, the resistant was not anticipated because soldiers needed to cooperate while in the battle field to avoid defeat by enemies.
What strategies did change leaders use to overcome the resistance?
In overcoming the resistant changes developed some strategies as below. To start with, leaders came up with various education workshops in their organizations. The workshops taught the importance of accepting the discriminated in the society since they contribute to the nation’s economic growth. Secondly, they gave examples of military wars that different countries have experienced. This showed the importance of team work in every organization, and the need to take responsibility of others in times of crisis. According to Don (2009), some of the reactions shown towards the change on DADT rule created a lot of hatred among prominent people in the government. Finally, leaders used church leaders in pressing their followers to accept the changes in order to build a healthy and peaceful nation.
How effective were they?
The following strategies were very effective even though some people completely ignored the policy. The US defense forces lead the campaign with support from the Senator Carl Levin who claimed that gays have the right to serve in the military just as the straight people do (Henderson, 2010).
Describe strategies used to communicate and sustain the change in the organization.
There are a number of strategies that leaders use to communicate and sustain change in organizations. Leaders make use of the many change theories developed to communicate the importance of implementing a certain change in an organization. In addition, leaders also take advantage of their positions, for example, military leaders, in forcing people to change. Moreover, organizations first undergo internal changes whereby they educate employees on the importance of a given change before going out to the public (Saka, 2003).
What strategies were used to communicate the change plan before, during, and after the change was implemented?
Before the change was implemented leaders used to communicate change using the word of mouth to their followers. This strategy involved holding meetings with people and discussing the importance of adopting change. During the implementation process, leaders used to motivate people in following the change by offering additional incomes and extra allowances. After the change was implemented people who adopted change were used to communicate change to those who resisted.
What post-implementation strategies were employed to institutionalize and sustain the change?
In an effort to sustain the implemented change, the organization developed a team that ensured people worked towards achieving the set goals. According to Herbert (2007), the US military leaders had frequent workshops that used to remind the soldiers on the importance of abiding to the policy. Moreover, change was very closely monitored since it would end up changing the way people face the discriminated.
To what degree was this change institutionalized by the organization?
The anticipated change faced great support due to the fight by the human rights activists on the issue of Gay and Lesbianism in the organization. The organization leaders composed of generals, lieutenants, and army commanders went ahead and signed the statements to accept and maintain the change.
Do leaders and other members of the organization consider this change process a success or a failure? Why?
Following the above change, leaders and other organization members have faced the plan with a positive perspective. Research has indicated that most leaders give positive feedback to their employees concerned the success of a given change strategy. The main reason for the success of the change was the collaboration between the government and leaders in different institutions. On the other hand, leaders played an important role in supporting the success of the change through giving both verbal and practical reinforcements to enable build good change reputations.
Evaluate the overall effectiveness of the change process
The change process was very effective not only to the military but other organizations. This was because the armed forces are obliged to follow whichever policy that the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces issues, who is the president of the United States (Herbert, 2007). In addition, the change process was also effective in many public organizations since it was a government initiative.
What was done well throughout this change process?
The methods used leaders in implementing the change were excellent. Since most people were against the policy, especially those who are bound to culture and ethics, the leaders approached them with facts that made them accept the motion. In addition, the president was on the fore front in ensuring that military leaders gave the correct information to their followers.
What should have been done differently?
Although the change process was done accordingly without fair or discrimination, the leaders opted to have adopted some other strategies. While preaching on the importance of change, it would be important considering the degree of implementation. Some leaders were forced to follow the change in order to maintain their positions. The implementation could have given people an opportunity to state their stand and views.
How would you evaluate the overall effectiveness of the leaders and other change agents in guiding the organization through this change process?
Learning current change situations assists organization leaders in making decisions on the in educating employees and staff effectiveness of a given change process. In the above discussion, leaders in the army portrayed a sense of loyalty to the government. According to Seefried, the military had an opportunity to break the long silence after the policy was passed by the government through the help of defense leaders (2011).
How is this change process reflective of the diffusion of other innovation or changes in the organization?
The above change process indicates that, the future innovations in the military would be easier to adopt. The few people who were resistant to change were overcome by the large number of people who respected gay and lesbian rights. The diffusion of changes in the organization will face positive acceptance from members.
References
Belkin, A., & Bateman, G. (2003). Don't ask, don't tell: debating the gay ban in the military. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Don M. Snider, (2009). “Reacting to the Coming Changes in Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT),
Journal of Faith and War.
Henderson, M. (2010). Military Leaders Who Oppose Repeal of Don’t Ask. Retrieved from:
http://suite101.com/article/military-leaders-who-oppose-repeal-of-dont-ask-a218938
Herbert, M. S. (2007). The U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy: a reference handbook. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Security International.
Saka, A, (2003), Internal change agents’ view of the management of change, Journal of
Organizational Change Management, Oct 2003 Volume: 16 Issue: 5
Seefried, J. (2011). Our time: breaking the silence of "Don't ask, don't tell". New York: Penguin Press.
Wilson, S. (2011). Cultures--and Their Differences Matter. Army Magazine, 61(9), 32-34.
