How to Get Aboard a Major Change Effort: An Interview with John Kotter

John Kotter, Harvard Business School Matsushita Professor of Leadership, looks at major change efforts from the viewpoint of those being led rather than senior management. Many large organizations are taking on several separate change efforts simultaneously. Consequently, even middle-level managers are being drawn in, and not just as passive followers of some great leader. What if it means your job will be eliminated? All the more reason to cooperate, because you want to be able to say, "I helped with this effort and as a matter of fact its end result was eliminating my own job but, I did the right things, and it helped the company." That's a terrific pitch in getting your next job. What if you'll be okay, but your people may be eliminated? Kotter says you do have a responsibility to these people, but it isn't to protect their status quo. Your responsibility is to help them grow and position themselves for a better future. Finally, what's different about being a follower these days? Followers, Kotter says, must learn to be change agents themselves.