Can You Spare Some Change?

Organizations with a high number of actively engaged employees have an average of 147% higher earnings per share than the norm (Kotter, 2015). These numbers illustrate the correlation and importance of obtaining buy-in from all employees. Buy-in will lead to more actively engaged change agents until there is a large volunteer army dedicated to the change process and striving toward a common goal. After all, large-scale change can only occur when very significant numbers of employees amass under a common opportunity and drive toward the same

Step 2 is forming a powerful guiding coalition. Leadership will have to be on board and on the same page in regards to the change. Kotter and Cohen reveal the core problems people face when leading change. Their main findings are that the central issue concerns not structure or systems but behavior and how to alter it (Farris, 2008). The success of the changes will depend on the ability of the managers to show their commitment to change and motivate the employees to do the same. Without any process to track the implementation, the change can also fail.

Our history records many events that took place, whether they were times of plenty or times of famine. “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” dealt with the Great Depression of 1929. This song became the anthem for this time period because of its description of the calamity that would strike the United States. It was an outcry of what was to come; the stock market would crash and the economy would fail. The dreams that the “Roaring Twenties” had promised were no longer in sight but the fear and disillusionment of the thirties became a reality.

Change is difficult. Walking with people through change can be challenging and often draining. Bringing change, that persists is even harder. Most people resist even when they see the need for change and believe that it has to occur (p. 52).

Change is a strange word and brings up many different responses. According the Merriam-Webster (2016) the simple definition of change is “:to become different: to make (someone or something) different: to become something else” Just the word change can bring a great array of emotions from fear, to dread, all the way to utter satisfaction. This paper will look more closely at the hard questions that must be asked before a change can be made. Taking into consideration the leader’s behavior, the followers experience, commitment, and values. The paper will wind up looking at change coming to fruition and what is to come. Now on to the hard questions.

in our fast paced world, things and environments change rapidly. In order to meet the needs and demands of an ever changing marketplace, organizations also need to change and adapt very quickly. With success hinging on the ability of the institution to analyze, predict and adjust in order to meet the market demands and successfully cope with rapidity of change (IKM, pg 7) "establishing a sense of urgency" as explained by Kotter would be critical (Leading Change, pg 35). To influence anyone or any organization to move towards any type of behavior requires the three critical factors of direction,

Organizations must respond to their internal and external environment. Therefore, organizational success heavily relies on leaderships ability to manage change. Unfortunately, many leaders struggle to effectively lead change initiatives. In fact, Ashkenas (2013, para. 1) reported 60 – 70% of organizational change initiatives fail to meet their objectives.

A useful concept that John Kotter provides is empowering people to effect change. I have understood that effective change is harvested in the purpose organizations serve to establish. This empowerment derives from the ability to communicate a vision that initiates a sense of purpose and action. I understood that maintaining a purpose for change is imperative in organizing the structure and cohesiveness of dyads and individuals. It is essential for me to analyze my values and core culture to the relevance and alignment towards changes. If I do not position my intent to the organization’s interests and objectives, I may be unable to deliver effective change models and patterns. I would like to implement powerful conditions and alliances to support both the organization’s mission and the individuals’ collective visions.

Change can only be unleashed when most of those involved in the activity have a common understanding and commitment to its goals and direction; their shared sense of a desirable outcome will help motivate and coordinate the kinds of actions that create transformations (Kotter, 1996). In the case below, the role of communication amongst change recipients and from change agents seems to have been a significant determinant in the outcomes at FGBS

There are many different strategies of change for the different organizations of today. Initiating changes to an organization, whether it’s a small change or a system wide change it can make many feel uncomfortable. There are many theories about how to complete the change. Some begin with leadership and change management. In addition, you can follow eight steps for leading change that will guide the leader on how to go about delivering it. These steps are create urgency, form a powerful coalition, create a vision for change, communicate the vision, remove obstacles, create short-term wins, and build on the change (Thompson, 2012). I like the eight-step process that was introduced by John Kotter in the book Leading Change in his 1995 book.

The steps being presented were developed in the book A Sense of Urgency by Dr. John Kotter, “internationally known and widely regarded as the foremost speaker on the topics of Leadership and Change” (“Facility & Research”, para. 1). He is a Harvard and MIT graduate, currently teaching at Harvard as a Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership. As an author, 12 of his 18 books are bestsellers with sales exceeding three million copies. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Society for Training & Development in 2009 for “his extensive body of work and the significant impact he has had on learning and performance in organizations” (“Facility & Research”, para. 4).

Now, it is time to pass along that enthusiasm to other members. The idea is for others to become motivated and excited about the possibilities of change as well. The authors were able to clearly express this by encouraging others to become involved in the changes that were going to impact everyone on

The course focuses on how leaders use and apply change theories to craft and execute strategic management decisions. The course introduces best practices for leading and implementing change that addresses: leader / follower relations, their effect on corporate culture, employee resistance to change, and methods to assure that change will be successful.

For successful commitment from those involved towards organisational change, information won 't convert these individuals to believers of change. As the authors of this article want to point out, individuals also need to be encouraged by leaders who recognise a mixture of heart and mind are key to successful change.

Change models involve complex processes and in order to make sure that this change is successful there has to be a leader in places that has certain skill sets (Kin, Kareem, Nordin and Bing, 2014). The important aspects drawn from this model are that before initiating change, there has to be a recognition of a need for change. Then the change process has to be started and this can happen back setting a clear vision and creating a plan with which to implement this vision (Kim et. al, 2014). The second important aspect is preparing for change. Overcoming resistance to change is what happens at this stage and removing obstacles. Momentum develops towards the followers executing the change. The leader must be equipped with the necessary skills, and have the trust of the followers.