Friend Interview

Liz Raterman

1) What was the biggest initiative she has ever been part of?

Liz Raterman stated that the biggest change initiative she has ever been a part of is advocating for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community.

2) Did this leader use rational or emotional approach to the group’s change?

Liz used a more emotional approach to advocate for the LGBT community. She was advocating for change on the Alfred State College campus to heighten awareness and acceptability of the club’s members. She feels that the initiative is slowly becoming more acceptable and therefore her change initiative has been progressing towards success.

3) How would this leader manage change differently if Jonathan Kotter’s suggestions were used?

Liz realized that this could be a difficult project because most people are resistant to change. Accepting a concept they know little about can promote fear. She felt a need for progression of the club and thought it was something that needed to happen soon. She also knew it was going to be more difficult because she was advocating from the bottom up rather than the top down. She knew she already had a strong coalition of support from other club members, but some were resistant because they feared they would be singled out and discriminated against. Some of the members of the club had the vision that the club could attract a larger membership if the overall campus climate was more accepting. 

She questioned if the campus had a readiness for change. What would be the correct timing? She realized that too much pressure can seriously affect the success of the change and that the large population base would make the change come slower. She felt that the club had formed due to common interest, but really did not have a firm structure. Because the club was already formed she knew that a strong structure had not occurred at the early formation of the club, therefore the preparation for the management of change needed to be accomplished at a much higher level. The vision of the change needed to clearly highlight the: who, what, why, when, and how the change process was to occur. Liz felt it was critical for the club members to see commitment to change. “If they cannot see this, the change effort will most likely fail. If they can see that change is possible and exciting, members will feel more empowered and are more likely to buy into the prospect of change and work hard to make it happen,” Liz commented. She continued by saying that she won strong support from the club members because they realized that they too felt that change was needed. She was highlighting the gaps in the current situation and opening up to the opportunities that the club could have for change to take place.

 She realized that to build effective communication, there needed to be clearly stated challenges, deadlines, and assignments for every member to complete. By stating all of the expectations, she strived to alleviate the members’ fears. She demonstrated an understanding that there was going to be resistance, questions, and concerns that club members would have. Often times change initiatives derail because leaders and club members are so focused on the end results that they are unwilling to change course, even in the face of obvious obstacles. Liz realized that now that the club is making strides to better recognize that sustainability is very important to keep the club on track.  She fears that the club may slip backwards into the “old ways of doing things” as the club continues with the change process moving forward.

Liz realized that she had many obstacles that she would face to have the club more organized. However, she stated that by trial and error she realized how to deal with the group as a whole and move forward. She had never studied change management and was at a deficit, but I feel that the challenges that she did overcome were multiple and highly charged issues and she was still able to rally the members and move on towards the change that she desired. I think these contests to Liz’s leadership skills.