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.I approached two colleagues whom I hadalways admired for their successes in moving their organ-ization from the Red Zone to the Green.Gail Carroll andMarilyn Field work collaboratively in the Human ResourcesDepartment of a large health agency which cares for theelderly.The following is part of my lengthy interview withthem.Bette: Thank you for agreeing to be interviewedfor our book The Art of Working in YourGreen Zone and for sharing your valuableexperiences and insights.Before we startcan you tell me a little about yourbackground and professional involvements?Let me start with Gail.Gail: I have a bachelor of Social Work fromMemorial University that I completed in1985 and then I went to Alberta andworked with handicapped children andDr.K.Sohai l and Bette Davi s RN MN 195 unwed mothers.Later on I worked withpeople struggling with addictions.I wasalso involved with Employee AssistanceProgram [EAP] when it was a new concept.My graduate studies were at University ofCalgary before I came back toNewfoundland and started working withaddictions.Since I had a special interest inthe work environment, I studied differenttypes of Mediation from the University ofWindsor and got involved with teambuilding and labor relations.Bette: That is very impressive.What about youMarilyn?Marilyn: My background is in Psychology andBusiness.I have lectured in the UnitedKingdom, York University and Queen sUniversity in Ontario.In the last twelveyears I have been involved with HumanResources Management and team building.Gail and I have worked together and offereda number of seminars and workshopsregarding employee labor relations.Bette: So both of you have mental healthbackgrounds.I had always admired yourstrategies and philosophies, as they werevery sensitive to the emotional needs ofworkers and managers, now I know why.Can you share with me about your worktogether?T h e Ar t o f Wo r k i n g i n Y o u r Gr e e n Z o n e 196 Marilyn: We have been working and growingtogether.We have learned from ouraccomplishments and also from ourmistakes.I think it is all part of growth.Wework in a large organization that hascomplex systems.In the beginning, many ofthese systems were in the Red Zone.Weworked hard in an effort to bring them intothe Green Zone and much of the time it hasworked.Bette: How big is the organization?Gail: Ranging from 1700 to 2000 people.Bette: It has been my observation that manyorganizations start on the right path in theGreen Zone but then they lose theirperspective and fall into the Red Zone.Whyis that?Gail: Different organizations grow at differentlevels.In the beginning, leaders are verymotivated and want to fulfill their dreamsbut as the organizations become morestable they loose their energy, motivationand enthusiasm, and the organizationsstarts to stagnate and slide into the YellowZone and finally fall into the Red Zone.Bette: What do you think are the characteristics ofthose leaders who tend to work more in theRed Zone?Marilyn: Leaders in the Red Zone have no vision andare closed-minded to new ideas.They arenot self-motivated for many reasons.Dr.K.Sohai l and Bette Davi s RN MN 197 Gail: I agree with Marilyn that leaders in the RedZone are close-minded and not supportiveof their workers.Rather than being a guide,they tell them to work it out themselves.Ifthe leader has a negative attitude it filtersdown through their staff who developnegative attitudes as well.Bette: And how are they different from leaderswho work in the Green Zone?Marilyn: Leaders in the Green Zone are open andflexible and do not mind sharinginformation with others.They have theability to resolve conflicts at work.They dealwith conflicts immediately and effectively.When the organization is in the YellowZone, they bring it back to Green before itslips into the Red Zone.Gail: Marilyn and I have discovered that theearlier the issues are addressed in theorganization, the better.In an organization,negativity spreads quicker so we need tocontrol the downhill slide.But when leadersconsciously encourage a positiveenvironment, they can maintain a GreenZone atmosphere.Sometimes we see thatwhen new leaders bring lots of enthusiasmand positive energy they transform theorganization by injecting positive energyand producing a cultural change [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]