Lesson 1 Overview

Lesson 1 will introduce the importance of understanding the fundamental message of leadership communication. It starts by defining organizational development and change with an emphasis on organizations conceptualized as open systems that interact with the environment. Thinking in these terms, the Nadler and Tushman Congruence model demonstrates the interdependence between the environment, strategy, and organizational components such as the formal systems, the informal organization, the people, the work, and leadership. As such, it is the organizing framework for the course and each module will touch on a different part of the congruence model with the goal of learning about communicating change from these different perspectives. This lesson will also explain current research related to the importance of communication trends among business professionals.

Lesson 1 Objectives

After completing this lesson, you should be able to do the following things:

• Define the concepts and evolution of organizational development, recognizing the need for change and renewal.
• Assess the environmental factors affecting an organization.
• Define the communicative role leadership has in organization development.
• Distinguish managerial communication as a complex task dependent upon analysis of audience, situation, environment, forum, and intended communication goals.
• Describe the five fundamental messages of communication.
• Discuss the importance of understanding the leader's role within the organization.

Lesson Readings and Activities

By the end of this lesson, make sure you have completed the readings and activities found in the Course Schedule.