This work offers a summary of the book "Leading Change" by John Kotter. A variety of business initiatives have become fashionable in recent years – reengineering, acquisitions, downsizing, total quality management, and others. These programmes, however, do not necessarily deliver the anticipated results. Why is that? Predominantly because business leaders who cannot inspire and motivate the people within the organisation to act differently. John Kotter explains that the single most important challenge in transforming any organisation for the better is to find and develop strong leaders. In the volatile economic environment of the twenty-first-century, business leadership will be the key differentiator between success and failure.
John Kotter, a Harvard leadership expert of many years' standing, takes the reader through the characteristics of exceptional leaders, suggesting how to breakdown seemingly difficult goals into applicable steps. He believes you can build up a sense of urgency, for example, by setting ambitious, almost outrageous goals; by circulating data more widely, especially customer satisfaction measures; create situations where more employees have face-to-face interactions with disgruntled employees. In a similar fashion, Kotter discusses coalitions, strategy and vision, employees empowerment, short term wins, momentum, and culture. This is a comprehensive, exceptionally useful book.
