Self-Differentiated Leadership and Crucial Conversations in Organizational Change
Leading Organizational Change Through Integration
In October of 2024, I started the Applied Digital Learning program. I was super excited to start my journey to learn how to become a more effective and beneficial leader. In January of 2025, I took a course called Disruptive Innovation in Technology. One of the very first assignments we had to come up with was our Innovation Plan. Little did I know this plan would be the basis of my entire program and what all of my coursework would evolve around. Therefore, I am even more excited about my topic of bringing virtual reality (VR) technology into the classroom for career exploration and being able to expound on this topic in each of my courses.
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Then, in the Spring of 2025, in the second 8-week course section, I took a class called EDLD 5304, Leading Organizational Change. The very first assignment for this course was called "What's your why?" With this assignment being just after 5305, I was able to bridge that gap and understand what Simon Sinek talks about in his TED Talk, "How great leaders inspire action," and connect that to my why with VR technology in the classroom. ​​Simon Sinek says, “People don’t buy what you do, but why you do it” (2013). Therefore, making the connection even stronger with people in our organization is crucial.
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My Why- We believe that students will gain valuable insights by discovering personal interests and aptitudes through interacting with virtual scenarios.
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My How- Incorporating VR headsets into CTE courses will allow students to visualize a more realistic view of different careers and experience potential careers in a controlled environment.
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My What- This will enhance students' critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities, help them make more informed career choices, and prepare them for success in post-secondary or the workforce by developing essential 21st-century skills.
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​Within any organization, change and new technology are challenging to incorporate with educators who are reluctant to learn new software and devices. To successfully inspire others to embrace this new "why", it's crucial to communicate clearly and effectively with their emotions before shifting their perspectives (Sinek, 2019).
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When reflecting on our why statement, we believe that students will gain valuable insights by discovering personal interests and aptitudes through interacting with virtual scenarios.
We also need to build COVA into a sense of urgency. This will allow students to have choice, ownership, voice, and authentic learning through this process (Harapnuik, 2018). It will take the matter of the heart and urgency to the next level and make it tangible. It will become the thread that helps motivate students to explore career options and learn about future endeavors while having fun.
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Connecting this to the heart adds an emotional element that helps students grasp the situation at hand fully. It puts it into perspective so that they can understand what is involved with career options and connect with them.
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Therefore, we need to help students connect on an emotional level to find their passions and interests to become better leaders, teachers, doctors, and lawyers (Kotter, 2013).
Some of the key factors that I need to address to become a self-differentiated leader are using the 4 Disciplines.
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Discipline 1: Keeping our WIG at the forefront will help us to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes by providing immersive, experiential learning opportunities while preparing them for real-world careers after graduation.
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Discipline 2: In the 4DX framework, lead measures are defined as specific, actionable behaviors that directly contribute to achieving the wildly important goals (WIGs). Some examples would be having weekly student feedback surveys to gauge engagement levels or career choices, setting up conference planning for teachers to collaborate on lesson plans, and ensuring alignment with curriculum goals.
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Discipline 3: Create a user-friendly digital or physical scoreboard highlighting key lead measures, such as the number of VR sessions conducted in class, the percentage of teachers trained, and student participation rates. Use graphs, charts, or color-coded indicators to make the information easily digestible and engaging. For example, a scoreboard can be kept in a shared drive or an informational hub/website where teachers can access it often.
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Discipline 4: Establishing a cadence of accountability is crucial for ensuring that the integration of VR technology into the classroom remains on track and aligned with the wildly important goals (WIGs). This structured routine creates a culture of responsibility and continuous improvement among team members. For example, monthly planning sessions or meetings, keeping a structured agenda, and encouraging open communication.
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Therefore, applying all these together helps create a harmonious and effective educational environment. This not only enhances learning outcomes but also builds a culture of trust and responsibility. Ultimately, it empowers everyone involved to take ownership of their roles, driving continuous improvement and innovation in the classroom. In this way, the 4 Disciplines serve as a framework for achieving lasting success in educational leadership.
​A self-differentiated leader refers to a leadership approach that recognizes and responds to the diverse needs, strengths, and challenges of individuals within a team or organization. Therefore, a self-differentiated leader can see that different people will need different types of leadership guidance and that no one size fits all. As leaders, we need to recognize that different group settings will need different aspects of the leader. For example, the way I lead in my classroom with 8th graders is not the same way I would lead a faculty/staff meeting, staff planning session, or professional development. We might need to use all 8 in a single setting. When we look at the eight processes of crucial conversations, they are the following:​
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Get unstuck
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Start with the heart
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Learn to look
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Make it safe
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Master my stories
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STATE my path
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Explore other paths
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Move to action
​Therefore, leaders must learn to lead with their hearts, looking from within and what our motives are. After this step, we need to look for the signs that the conversation has become crucial, and when people don't feel safe, they don't share their thoughts. Our goal as a leader in this regard is to make sure that the people/group/organization/ we are in charge of feel safe talking to us about issues that are concerning to them. If not, they will shut down, and we won't be able to accomplish our WIG. If we let our negative emotions lead us astray, then we have lost sight of our purpose and focus. Keeping these steps in the forefront will help each of us lead and become an effective leader.
References
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Harapnuik, D. (2018, July 14.). COVA — A learner-centered approach to education.
https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=6991
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Grenny, J., Patterson, K., McMillan, R., Switzler, A., & Gregory, E. (2021). Crucial
conversations (2nd). McGraw-Hill Education.
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Kotter, J. (2013). Leading change: Establish a sense of urgency.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yfrj2Y9IlI
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McChesney, C., Covey, S., & Huling, J. (2016). The 4 disciplines of execution:
Achieving your wildly important goals. New York: Free Press.
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Sinek, S (2019) Star with why: How great leaders inspire action. TEDXPuget Sound.