Leading Through Change

Harvard Business School Professor John Kotter is widely regarded as the world's foremost authority on leadership and change. His is the premier voice on how the best organisations actually "do" change successfully.

Here is Kotter's 8-Step Process of Successful Change:

SET THE STAGE

1. Create a Sense of Urgency.

Help others see the need for change and the importance of acting immediately.

2. Pull Together the Guiding Team.

Make sure there is a powerful group guiding the change—one with leadership skills, bias for action, credibility, communications ability, authority, analytical skills.

DECIDE WHAT TO DO

3. Develop the Change Vision and Strategy.

Clarify how the future will be different from the past, and how you can make that future a reality.

MAKE IT HAPPEN

4. Communicate for Understanding and Buy-in.

Make sure as many others as possible understand and accept the vision and the strategy.

5. Empower Others to Act.

Remove as many barriers as possible so that those who want to make the vision a reality can do so.

6. Produce Short-Term Wins.

Create some visible, unambiguous successes as soon as possible

7. Don’t Let Up.

Press harder and faster after the first successes. Be relentless with instituting change after change until the vision becomes a reality.

MAKE IT STICK

8. Create a New Culture.

Hold on to the new ways of behaving, and make sure they succeed, until they become a part of the very culture of the group.