Process Theory

I always thought that the idea behind the process theory was just the steps someone had to take independently and intuitively in order to reach a decision. However, after reading both the Relational Leadership Model and the Strategies for Change, I feel like the process theory concept involves quite a lot more than just yourself. What I found particularly surprising about the Relational Leadership Model was the importance this theory places on relationships and how people interact with one another in order to promote positive change or execute a goal proactively.

This reading was especially good since it showed how relationships and interactions many times are more important than skill or expertise when it comes to execution. I say this because in previous experiences I had based my decisions on working with people on who was the most capable and proficient at the task needed to be completed rather than who I would work well with and would be able to share different points of view with. This especially became a problem when the people I had chosen to work with had very different points of view from mine and due to their self-proclaimed expertise in the area were very stubborn, uncooperative, and only accepted their ideas/opinions and refused to see someone else’s perspective or possible suggestions. Thus, unfortunately due to our extreme differences in both perspectives and attitudes, the project was executed poorly due to miscommunication and I realized that it would have been better to work with people who were more open minded and inclusive rather than arrogant and one-track minded even if they had not had as much knowledge of the project.

This idea of working in a group productively also reminded me of the Strategies for Change Model since it promotes the idea to be willing to “let go of the old and safe ways of doing things”(351). However, the element that I liked most about this model was that it did not only focus on the political or large scale change (governmental) but also on smaller scales such as being able to make a change in a persons life, or a students life. This model I felt could especially be something that I could apply to my life since it teaches you not only how to work on a goal to change a political resolution, or an environmental problem but also how to better yourself and make productive changes in your own life. I for one saw the seven characteristics of real change leaders (commitment, initiative, motivation, etc) to be applicable even in my personal goals such as losing weight, being better at the piano or building more houses for habitat for humanity than had been done the previous year, since it made me think of how I as an individual needed to improve and how I could work more effectively with society, a group and myself in order to make these goals happen. Ultimately I really liked the Strategies for Change model since I felt like it didn’t only apply to leaders but to every segment of the population since it focused on the interdependency of group values, individual values and society/community values and how if these work effectively together it can create great change in society.