Mastering the challenges of leading change : inspire the people and succeed where others fail

Conquer the most daunting change initiative with the right people, tools, and strategies. James Dallas' Mastering the Challenges of Leading Change is an informative, insightful guide to effectively leading the transition through change. While most change management books present case studies about what happened at other companies, this book is based on the author's own experiences managing over 10 transformational and turnaround initiatives, 15 acquisition integrations, and 5 operations/quality shared services centers of excellence. By relating personal lessons learned, how they were subsequently applied, and how you can benefit from them, this book provides a unique first-hand perspective on successful agents of change. You'll learn the qualities and skills required to usher in the new paradigm, and how to break a large initiative into manageable chunks that are more likely to proceed as planned. By crafting your strategy based on proven methods, you're far and away more likely to meet or even exceed your change objectives. The majority of change initiatives fail because people mistakenly think that a change agent is the same as a project leader. They're not. This book shows you why, and how get the tools, strategies, and people you need at the helm of your initiative to come out the other side much stronger as an organization. Learn the critical skills required for effective change management Assess the difficulty and politics of a change initiative Choose the right people to help implement the change See past obstacles and lead effectively in a crisis Change is occurring within and across all industries, countries, and organizations. They begin with the best of intentions, but most fail to meet their objectives. Don't let your organization be one of the failures. Mastering the Challenges of Leading Change shows you how to plan, lead, and manage a successful transition. Title Page 5 Copyright 6 Table of Contents 2 Dedication 7 Foreword 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction: It Ain't Easy Being Green 11 Part I: Priorities 15 Chapter 1: Set a Course for Change 16 The Three Questions 16 Assessing the Culture 17 Ghosts, Hubs, and Mavericks 21 Wisdom from the Front Line 23 Measure Leaders by Their Front-Line Relationships 24 The Importance of Looking Outward 24 The Value of Conviction 26 Coaching Moments 29 Chapter 2: Create the Core Team 30 Who's Not on the Team 31 The Two Questions That Count 32 Picking the Program Leader 33 Two Key Roles That Are Too Often Ignored 33 Moving beyond “Off with Their Heads” 35 Don't Partner with Cab Drivers 36 Team Diversity 37 Coaching Moments 40 Chapter 3: Set Expectations and Decide Where to Start 41 A Tour of the Matrix 42 Coaching Moments 48 Part II: Politics 49 Chapter 4: Become a Communicator 50 Never Soft-Pedal 51 Brush Up Your Speaking Skills 52 When to Tell Tales 56 Coaching Moments 59 Chapter 5: Craft Messaging That Motivates 60 Become an Amateur Anthropologist 61 Coaching Moments 66 Chapter 6: Overcoming Resistance 67 The Many Faces of Resistance 68 The Fifth Type of Resister: The Machiavelli 69 Removing a Toxic Player 71 Cleaning Up the Sludge 72 Influencing the Narrative on the Front Line 73 Coaching Moments 75 Part III: People 76 Chapter 7: Reading Minds and Other Methods for Assessing Progress 77 Read Faces, Not Reports 78 Adjust for Culture 79 Never Kill the Messenger 80 Combating Groupthink with Anonymous Feedback 80 Third-Party Evaluations 82 Don't Forget Your Hubs 82 Coaching Moments 84 Chapter 8: Alignment and Group Dynamics 85 The Six-Pack Approach 85 Alignment Sessions 87 When and How to Make an Executive Decision 88 Brokering Deals 89 The Importance of Reaching Up 90 Coaching Moments 92 Chapter 9: Master the Humble Art of Building Trust 93 Building Inner-Circle Relationships 93 Step Outside of Your Own Boundaries 95 Eight Practices for Building Trust 96 Put Your Pride to the Side 99 Coaching Moments 102 Part IV: Perseverance 103 Chapter 10: Put Out Every Fire 104 Forming a Crisis Management Team 104 Getting in the Trenches 105 In Crisis, Don't Ever Make It about You 107 How to Elevate a Discontented Team 108 Step into Your Power 110 Coaching Moments 112 Chapter 11: Institutionalize and Leverage Change 113 Why Organizations Lose Their Focus 113 Evolving the Culture 116 Making Metrics Matter 117 The Power of Documentation 118 To Leverage Change, Keep Tearing Down Walls 118 Coaching Moments 123 Chapter 12: Developing Talent as a Sponsor 124 Whom to Sponsor? 124 Awaken New Leaders 127 Develop Their Personal Brand 128 Put Them in the Hot Seat 129 When Sponsorship Fails 130 Provide Air Cover for Risk Taking 130 Coaching Moments 132 Epilogue 133 About the Author 135 Links to James Dallas's Website and Videos 135 Index 136 End User License Agreement 150 **Conquer the most daunting change initiative with the right people, tools, and strategies.**James Dallas' __Mastering the Challenges of Leading Change__ is an informative, insightful guide to effectively leading the transition through change. While most change management books present case studies about what happened at other companies, this book is based on the author's own experiences managing over 10 transformational and turnaround initiatives, 15 acquisition integrations, and 5 operations/quality shared services centers of excellence. By relating personal lessons learned, how they were subsequently applied, and how you can benefit from them, this book provides a unique first-hand perspective on successful agents of change. You'll learn the qualities and skills required to usher in the new paradigm, and how to break a large initiative into manageable chunks that are more likely to proceed as planned. By crafting your strategy based on proven methods, you're far and away more likely to meet or even exceed your change objectives. The majority of change initiatives fail because people mistakenly think that a change agent is the same as a project leader. They're not. This book shows you why, and how get the tools, strategies, and people you need at the helm of your initiative to come out the other side much stronger as an organization. * Learn the critical skills required for effective change management * Assess the difficulty and politics of a change initiative * Choose the right people to help implement the change * See past obstacles and lead effectively in a crisis Change is occurring within and across all industries, countries, and organizations. They begin with the best of intentions, but most fail to meet their objectives. Don't let your organization be one of the failures. __Mastering the Challenges of Leading Change__ shows you how to plan, lead, and manage a successful transition. "Conquer the most daunting change initiative with the right people, tools, and strategies. James Dallas'Mastering the Challenges of Leading Change is an informative, insightful guide to effectively leading the transition through change. While most change management books present case studies about what happened at other companies, this book is based on the author's own experiences managing over 10 transformational and turnaround initiatives, 15 acquisition integrations, and 5 operations/quality shared services centers of excellence. By relating personal lessons learned, how they were subsequently applied, and how you can benefit from them, this book provides a unique first-hand perspective on successful agents of change. You'll learn the qualities and skills required to usher in the new paradigm, and how to break a large initiative into manageable chunks that are more likely to proceed as planned. By crafting your strategy based on proven methods, you're far and away more likely to meet or even exceed your change objectives. The majority of change initiatives fail because people mistakenly think that a change agent is the same as a project leader. They're not. This book shows you why, and how get the tools, strategies, and people you need at the helm of your initiative to come out the other side much stronger as an organization. Learn the critical skills required for effective change management Assess the difficulty and politics of a change initiative Choose the right people to help implement the change See past obstacles and lead effectively in a crisis Change is occurring within and across all industries, countries, and organizations. They begin with the best of intentions, but most fail to meet their objectives. Don't let your organization be one of the failures. Mastering the Challenges of Leading Change shows you how to plan, lead, and manage a successful transition."--EBSCO Change is occurring within and across all industries, countries and organizations. Unfortunately, the majority of change initiatives fail to meet their objectives because people mistakenly think that a change agent is the same as a project leader. They are not. Most change management books include case studies about what happened at other companies, frameworks and theories. This book consists of actual experiences, personal lessons learned, how they were subsequently applied, and how others can benefit from them. Readers will learn: What the most critical skills are for successful change agents. Ways to See over mountains. How to assess the difficulty of a change initiative and then how to break it up into manageable pieces. How to assess the politics that might come into play and how to mitigate them. How to pick a third party, strategic partners who will assist you implementing the change initiative. How to lead through a crisis.