Linking Rapport training to leading change concepts
MONTHLY BOOK FEATURE:
Leading Change by John Kotter
John Kotter’s Leading Change is a highly respected work about understanding the nature of change in an organization. The book’s teachings clearly lay out eight steps to effectively leading change. Kotter highlights the controlling forces that keep an organization stuck in old habits and complacent when implementing new initiatives. His first of eight steps, establishing a sense of urgency, goes to the heart of this month’s featured article, “Never Underestimate the Power of Your Comfort Zone.” Kotter states that without a sense of urgency, people will not give that extra effort and make the needed sacrifices that are often essential to drive change. Establishing this sense of urgency demands that an organization takes bold action through great leadership!
The second essential step to Leading Change is to create a powerful guiding coalition. It is extremely important to have the senior leadership team, executive team members and additional key leaders that have a strong circle of influence united with the strategic change. Without this guiding coalition, the “organizational comfort zone” prevents sustainable change from being anchored into the culture. Kotter emphasizes that even the most charismatic CEO will be unable to sustain any significant transformation without the commitment of an aligned team.
Both of Kotter’s first two steps to leading change are key reasons Rapport Leadership International recommends penetrating your business with as many leadership graduates from your core leadership team in the shortest possible timeframe. When your leadership team goes to a Rapport class to learn and practice the leadership competencies of teamwork, passion, focus, taking action, and accountability, they will gain a common framework from which to operate. Our powerful leadership process creates a sense of urgency and builds a strong team to lead strategic change in your organization. The Rapport training experience has the power to accelerate focused action toward a common goal and vision. Leaders now hold each other accountable because they clearly understand what it means to break through old thinking habits. Common classroom anchors like “it’s okay to move quickly,” “get out on the skinny branches,” and “Just Focus and Do It” become real performance behaviors that produce high impact results.
Read Kotter’s Leading Change to learn more about his eight steps. For more information on how Rapport Leadership International can help to drive change into your organization, contact your Leadership Training Advisor at (800-989-0715).
