Ever heard of the Kotter Change Model? It’s one of the most popular approaches to managing change.
The ability for managers to lead change has become one of the most fundamental skills In today’s business world. Whilst it can sound like a daunting task, with the right tools and approach, it can be done successfully… step forward Dr. John Kotter and his 8 step model!
Used by organisations of all shapes and sizes, Kotter’s change model is considered to be a massive success for its simplicity, practicality, and ultimately, the results it gets when navigating the complex process of change management.
Let’s take a deeper look at Kotter’s 8 steps, and explore how you can put them into action and effectively implement change within your organisation.
Dr. John Kotter is an American management consultant and author. His work has been influential across the leadership and management field and he is credited for being one of the most important thought leadership thinkers of our time. Kotter’s theory is widely used on the majority of change management training courses that are run.
Kotter is currently the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School where he has taught for over 30 years. He is Chairman of Kotter International, which he co-founded in 2008, and he acts as a management consultant where he applies his research to help organisations transform and execute large scale changes.
He has also written several books, including, “Our Iceberg is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions”, “Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World” and “Leading Change”. “Leading Change” is considered a classic in the field of organisational change and is where Kotter’s 8 step model for leading change is introduced…
The first step in Kotter’s 8-Step process for leading change is to create a sense of urgency within your organisation. Kotter presents that in order to create change, there’s a requirement to build a sense of urgency around the “need for the change” itself amongst employees.
One way of driving urgency is by communicating the clear vision of the future and highlighting any potential threats that could hinder that future. This will naturally encourage all employees to take action and to tackle any issues standing in the way.
On the flip side, another way to encourage urgency is to highlight the consequences of not making the changes within your organisation. For example, by not doing XYZ, the organisation will not be able to keep up with competitors. This reverse psychology approach is a sure fire way to light an urgent flame under anyone’s butt – because who wants to come second or to miss out on success?
Essentially, the main objective of this step is to inspire and mobilise employees into rapid formation. To get them battle ready and prepared to take action on the change initiatives now rather than later.
The next step in Kotter’s change model involves pulling together a group of stakeholders who hold sufficient power and influence around your organisation to guide and lead the change.
The main role of the coalition is to support the change. To push its direction forward. They become the lieutenant’s of change implementation, removing any obstacles, and eliminating any resistance across the organisation.
Kotter suggests that ideally the coalition should be a diverse mix of employees and that the members should be represented by different levels and areas. Additionally, and this goes without saying, all members should be able to get along with each other. That’s because it will only improve the most important part of the Guiding Coalition – everyone being on the same page and committed to change!
The importance of this step allows you to produce an alliance of employees that can come together and become a force committed to supporting your vision as a leader and helping to drive change forward.
Updated on: 18 January, 2023
Related Articles
Search For More 
