4mat Book Review Of John P. Kotter's Leading Change

What is management? According to Kinicki Williams textbook “Management, management is defined as the pursuit of organizational goals efficiently and effectively by integrating the work of people through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the organization resources (Ch. 1, pg. 5 Management: A practical introduction). I believe in order to be an effective manager you must be a positive, goal orient, organized individual. I also believe an effective manager is an individual that motivates their staff and leads by example. I believe all managers should follow the management process.

Management is a planning and controlling process for reaching organizational goals by working with peoples and other organizational resources.

This book presents an array of practical procedures which can assist the prudent practitioner in preparing for change and how to handle all of the up’s and downs which accompany change. The two strengths in this book revolves around asking the right diagnostic questions which pave the way for change and the many characteristic of leaders who lead.

When initiating change, the role of top level leadership is vital and can be one of the most demanding elements of leadership. Leading change entails directing,

John Kotter is the Konosuke Matsushita professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School and the founder and a principal of Kotter Associates in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Professor Kotter is the author of the General Managers (1982): The leadership Factor (1987) Leading Change (1995) etc. He is the best sellers among business books in the United States. Professor Kotter is also a frequent speaker at top management meetings around the world. Know days there are many different tools for leaders to use and create successful changes in today’s ever shifting environment. However, the economic and social changes force the need for major changes in organizations. Leaders are facing the need for change in transition to be successful, market changes and competition increase the need for transformation with specific strategies leaders and organization are looking for ways to keep up with the increasing change. This book titled “Leading Change (1995) by Kotter outlines an

Kotter, J.P. (1996) asserts, a high level of complacency and low sense of urgency are the two most significant obstacles to change. He explains most companies face some level of complacency even when highly intelligent and competent individuals are leading the organization. Implementation of the Eight-Stage process begins with (1) embracing the importance of urgency dealing with a known or unknown crisis is essential for managers and employees to see that status quo holds greater danger to their existence than any fear a minor or a major change represents; (2) the leader needs to identify a guiding coalition others respect to share in the leadership role of organizational change; (3) the leader needs to communicate an ambitious but attainable vision the group finds convincing —with clarity and simplicity; (4) repeated communication of the vision is necessary. The leader’s message needs consistency and delivered in various ways reaching all interested parties. Persistence is vital since

Leading change within an organization is challenging regardless of the leader adeptness. Therefore, there are ten necessities to potent transformation if the organization desires a positive outcome.

Competitive imperatives of market forces and customer demands in today’s environment have led to the emergence of less hierarchical and more flexible organisations (Doyle, 2001). In working towards this paradigm shift, a distinction and clarification of the relationship between leadership and management in the change process needs to be addressed. According to Caldwell (2003), change leaders are executives or senior managers at the very top of the organisation who envision, initiate or sponsor strategic change of far-reaching or transformational nature by challenging the status quo, communicating a vision that employees believe in, and empowering them to act. In contrast, change managers are usually middle level managers and functional

Kouzes and Posner (2011) propose that to lead you must first have self-awareness. In leading change it is therefore important for the change leader to be aware of their style of leadership and their approach to change. This section examines the Author’s styles and is then followed by a description of their recommended approach for the change. The Balogun’s and Hope Hailey’s (2004) framework is used to describe this approach.

Management is managing; the processes of telling people what to do, and how to do said thing. Leadership is similar, yet different. Leadership is allowing people to achieve these goals (in the processes some “making/telling” does occur inevitably”. Not all managers have the capacity to lead, and nor do all leaders have the capacity to manage.

The concept of leadership revolves around the process of which a leader moves and motivate a group to change the current state to a preferred state of existence or operation. You can use this same definition for a manager if you remove the word motivate. Leaders can be managers because leadership activities can contribute to managing. A leader must demonstrate some proficiency and the capacity to manage and lead and focus on guiding the change process.

Management is defined as, the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. Some people manage effectively but some manage ineffectively. Everybody has a different management style. My management style is Authoritative, which I will touch on later in my paper. Management is so important because a manager affects everything from production to their employees. A good manager realizes that their employees strive to reach the team’s goals but also individual goals. Another thing that makes a good manager is that they meet with their team individually to discover strengths and try to work on weaknesses. But also understanding their own strengths and weaknesses.

Management and Leadership are two different skill sets and positions, however, it is believed by some organizations that they go hand in hand. I believe that management is a learned concept that is taught in schools. Universities and colleges offer degrees in Management and/or Leadership. Authentic leadership is not actually taught but can be learned as a practical skill through being coached and mentored by a true effective leader. Leadership skills are gained by completing research, gaining ideas to inspire and help others achieve new skills to move into a better position or advanced career. Achieving new leadership skills is always a work in progress. In my IMG 233 class I learned that Management is the formal influence of the organization. Managers develop strategic goals, establish performance control mechanisms, and communicate instructions and information to ensure probability and production to meet the overall demands. Leaders are the heart of the organization and their role is to informally influence and inspire employees while creating visions and direction and at the same time building strong team relationships. An effective and dynamic leader empowers their team with the knowledge to be innovative and generate new ideas to increase productivity and performance.

Management has been defined in a very simple but comprehensive way as the art of getting things done through people. According to Peter F. Drucker, “management is the specific and distinguishing organ of any and all organizations”. (Domènec, 2011) Good management is organized, managed and establish organizational structure. It is clear about the relationship between job and position, so that the members of the

Management is an art of getting things done through others. Management can be defined as, the process of getting things done with the aim of achieving goals effectively and efficiently.