...A. Roberto and Lynne C. Levesque have described the four most important processes that must occur for an organization to make a strategic initiative "stick":

* Charting: The organization defines the initiative's purpose and scope, setting boundaries and defining team members' roles and responsibilities.

* Learning: This is the process of piloting the initiative and entails experimenting and refining ideas before full-scale implementation.

* Mobilizing: Symbols, metaphors, and stories are used to engage participants' hearts and minds to build commitment.

* Realigning: Change is institutionalized through the establishment of a formal structure (measurement, monitoring, and compensation systems). (1)

All these steps are essential, but mobilizing often presents the most difficulty because it requires a skill set not usually formally taught. As a behavioral healthcare executive, much of your time is spent attempting to influence the behavior of other people--a classic definition of leadership. You have to influence and motivate not only employees, but also consumers, board members, politicians, bureaucrats, and members of the public.

In an ideal world, mobilizing would be a straightforward, collaborative process. Having been presented with the facts, everyone simply and easily would agree to behave in certain ways. Follow-through could be taken for granted. The reality, of course, is quite different. Just getting everyone to attend to the issue is problematic enough. Retaining the information and actually acting upon it are even further downstream.

For example, despite repeated trainings staff may not remember what procedures to follow. Even with intensive education, board members may not be able to discriminate critical issues from trivial...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



More articles from Behavioral Healthcare
It's the bounce that counts: resilient people make effective leaders.(..., March 01, 2008
No library card needed: an online library of audiovisual presentations..., March 01, 2008
Beyond the blueprints: a construction manager adds a valuable perspect..., March 01, 2008
Understanding standards development: multiple organizations affect the..., March 01, 2008
Making the case for mental healthcare: those from outside the field ca..., March 01, 2008

Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.

Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication name or publication date.

About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company analysis or best practices in managing your organization, Goliath can help you meet your business needs.

Our extensive business information databases empower business professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible, authoritative information they need to support their business goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting, company research or defining management best practices - Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.