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Getty Images Leader’s Bookshelf

by John P. Kotter and Dan S. Cohen

In his 1996 book, Leading Change, John Kotter, professor Kingdom surrounded by a bright blue circle. As the
emeritus at Harvard Business School, outlined an eight- image moved around the screen, the words “We
stage process that leaders should follow in leading major will be #1 in the UK market by 2001” appeared. The
change. With this book, The Heart of Change, Kotter screen saver technique took everyone by surprise
teamed up with consultant Dan Cohen to look at the typi- and got people talking about the vision.
cal problems leaders face at each of the eight stages. • Stage 5: Empowering employees. One manufacturing
The authors’ main finding is that the biggest barriers to plant’s early efforts at empowerment were total chaos.
change involve people’s attitudes and behaviors. Employee involvement meetings deteriorated into gripe
sessions, and morale declined rather than improved.
HOW PEOPLE CHANGE Leaders decided to try a different approach. With the
Change comes easier, the authors argue, when people approval of some of their best teams, they began
see potent reasons for change that touch their emotions videotaping what they did on the factory floor—
rather than being presented with rational analysis that everything from grabbing the raw material off the
attempts to change their thinking. Consider these exam- shelf to taking the finished product off the line. When
ples connected to three of the eight change stages: people later viewed the tape, ideas for improvement
started flowing immediately—such as reorganizing the
• Stage 1: Establish a sense of urgency. One leader at
machines to cut down on how far people had to walk
a company struggling to cut costs was curious about
or setting up a rack with all the tools needed for a pro-
what his company was spending on gloves in its
cess right at hand. Teams now have “before and after”
manufacturing plants. His summer intern found that
tapes and feel a sense of pride as they show the quality,
the plants purchased 424 different types of gloves
safety, and cost improvements they have made.
that were roughly equal in quality but varied widely
in cost. The two gathered a sample of each type of
REAL-LIFE STORIES; PRACTICAL GUIDELINES
glove, tagged it with a price on it, and made a pile in
The Heart of Change is based on interviews with about
the executive boardroom. When division managers
400 leaders at 130 organizations in the midst of major
saw the display, they were astounded. The gloves
changes. The numerous personal anecdotes include both
became a traveling road show that managers used to
successes and fumbles, and each chapter ends with
show people how bad things had gotten.
a “What Works/What Does Not Work” guide for each
• Stage 4: Widely communicate the vision and strat-
of the eight change stages. With The Heart of Change,
egy. At a company in the United Kingdom, leaders
Kotter and Cohen have combined a lively, highly read-
personally communicated a new vision with people
able story with a practical, no-nonsense guide to leading
all around the company, but they wanted to keep
successful change.
the vision fresh in everyone’s mind. One morning,
when employees turned on their computers, the first
Source: The Heart of Change, by John P. Kotter and Dan S. Cohen, is
thing they saw was a multicolored map of the United published by Harvard Business School Press.
in following the eight-stage change process discussed earlier. Leaders also use a
number of specifi c implementation techniques to smooth the change process.
• Communication and training. Open and honest communication is perhaps
the single most effective way to overcome resistance to change because it
reduces uncertainty, gives people a sense of control, clarifies the benefits of the
change, and builds trust. In one study of change efforts, the most commonly
cited reason for failure was that employees learned of the change from
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outsiders. Top leaders concentrated on communicating with the public and
shareholders, but failed to communicate with the people who would be most
intimately affected by the changes—their own employees. It is important that
leaders communicate with people face-to-face rather than relying solely on

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