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A review by carriekellenberger
Leading Change by John P. Kotter
5.0
John Kotter’s Leading Change is every bit as relevant today as when he wrote this in 1996. There are so many take-away lessons in this book, I know I will be coming back to it for more.
Kotter is a world-famous expert on leadership and the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus at the Harvard Business School. He is also a graduate of MIT and Harvard.
His eight-step process for change management and strategy execution helps organizations to drive change and reach sustainable results.
(These two terms have been over-used and abused. You'll find them with a quick glance on most LinkedIn profiles. It's hard to see the meaning of these terms when they are so overused in today's world, but this is one of the reasons why this book is still so relevant after all this time.)
Each step of his process is outlined in detail with a focus on identifying where things go wrong during the change process and what changes are necessary for a organization to achieve its goals. The eight steps are:
1. Establish a sense of urgency
2. Create the guiding coalition, which includes a group of people with enough power to make change happen and getting everyone to work together as a team
3. Develop a vision and strategy to help direct and achieve the vision
4. Communicate the change vision that includes a guiding coalition role model to correct behavior
5. Empower broad-based action by getting rid of obstacles and changing systems that undermine the new vision. Encourage risk-taking and non-traditional ideas. (YES!)
6. Generate short-term wins and visibly recognize and reward people who make wins possible
7. Consolidate gains and produce more change
8. Anchor new approaches in the culture
There is a lot to be said about these eight steps, but this is Kotter's process in a nutshell and his points make a lot of sense, especially in today's fast-paced world.
Leading Change is the best book I've read on the topic of leadership.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes from Leading Change:
“Management is a set of processes that can keep a complicated system of people and technology running smoothly. The most important aspects of management include planning, budgeting, organizing, staffing, controlling, and problem solving. Leadership is a set of processes that creates organizations in the first place or adapts them to significantly changing circumstances. Leadership defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision, and inspires them to make it happen despite the obstacles”
“Whenever smart and well-intentioned people avoid confronting obstacles, they disempower employees and undermine change.”
“Management is a set of processes that can keep a complicated system of people and technology running smoothly. The most important aspects of management include planning, budgeting, organizing, staffing, controlling, and problem solving. Leadership is a set of processes that creates organizations in the first place or adapts them to significantly changing circumstances. Leadership defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision, and inspires them to make it happen despite the obstacles”
“Employees in large, older firms often have difficulty getting a transformation process started because of the lack of leadership coupled with arrogance, insularity, and bureaucracy.”
“If you cannot describe your vision to someone in five minutes and get their interest, you have more work to do in this phase of a transformation process.”
“We need to become less like an elephant and more like a customer-friendly Tyrannosaurus rex.”
Kotter is a world-famous expert on leadership and the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus at the Harvard Business School. He is also a graduate of MIT and Harvard.
His eight-step process for change management and strategy execution helps organizations to drive change and reach sustainable results.
(These two terms have been over-used and abused. You'll find them with a quick glance on most LinkedIn profiles. It's hard to see the meaning of these terms when they are so overused in today's world, but this is one of the reasons why this book is still so relevant after all this time.)
Each step of his process is outlined in detail with a focus on identifying where things go wrong during the change process and what changes are necessary for a organization to achieve its goals. The eight steps are:
1. Establish a sense of urgency
2. Create the guiding coalition, which includes a group of people with enough power to make change happen and getting everyone to work together as a team
3. Develop a vision and strategy to help direct and achieve the vision
4. Communicate the change vision that includes a guiding coalition role model to correct behavior
5. Empower broad-based action by getting rid of obstacles and changing systems that undermine the new vision. Encourage risk-taking and non-traditional ideas. (YES!)
6. Generate short-term wins and visibly recognize and reward people who make wins possible
7. Consolidate gains and produce more change
8. Anchor new approaches in the culture
There is a lot to be said about these eight steps, but this is Kotter's process in a nutshell and his points make a lot of sense, especially in today's fast-paced world.
Leading Change is the best book I've read on the topic of leadership.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes from Leading Change:
“Management is a set of processes that can keep a complicated system of people and technology running smoothly. The most important aspects of management include planning, budgeting, organizing, staffing, controlling, and problem solving. Leadership is a set of processes that creates organizations in the first place or adapts them to significantly changing circumstances. Leadership defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision, and inspires them to make it happen despite the obstacles”
“Whenever smart and well-intentioned people avoid confronting obstacles, they disempower employees and undermine change.”
“Management is a set of processes that can keep a complicated system of people and technology running smoothly. The most important aspects of management include planning, budgeting, organizing, staffing, controlling, and problem solving. Leadership is a set of processes that creates organizations in the first place or adapts them to significantly changing circumstances. Leadership defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision, and inspires them to make it happen despite the obstacles”
“Employees in large, older firms often have difficulty getting a transformation process started because of the lack of leadership coupled with arrogance, insularity, and bureaucracy.”
“If you cannot describe your vision to someone in five minutes and get their interest, you have more work to do in this phase of a transformation process.”
“We need to become less like an elephant and more like a customer-friendly Tyrannosaurus rex.”