Chapter 107

I learnt a couple of ideas that could change my life immensely, especially in the corporate world. I saw the need to distinguish between management and leadership, and that management alone cannot run an organization effectively, rather, leadership is the most important trait a manager should possess.

Book Summary

Kotter begins by informing us of the importance of change in every aspect of life, he mentions globalization as a major force pushing firms towards implementing change (Kotter, p. 10). He takes the long-established differentiation of management against leadership. From this comparison, we learn why Kotter chose Leading Change as his title rather than something like Managing Change for it takes leadership rather than merely management to steer firms through times of great change.

Kotter puts forward 8 steps that are vital to effect change in any firm as outlined below:

Establishing a sense of urgency