Kotter International brings the personal involvement of Dr. John Kotter, the world’s leading expert on organizational change, together with world-class practioners in change leadership to transform the way organizations change. In doing this work, Kotter Internationalr offers a suite of advisory services, executive consultation, learning tools and other approaches to develop leaders capable of taking organizations through faster, smarter and more efficient change no matter the initiative or obstacles.
An organization sees a unique opportunity for growth, and needs to move quickly to take advantage of it against the competition. Another organization is faced with a major obstacle and must move quickly in a different direction or risk going out of business. Yet another organization has grown through acquisition, and now wants to adeptly reorganize and integrate the various subsidiaries to reduce costs and present one face to the customer. These are but a few examples of corporate transformations that involve the entire organization, where the financial and competitive stakes are enormous, and the risks of failure can be catastrophic. When these systemic, organization-wide change initiatives arise, it is important to have a partner that is adept at implementing change to come alongside the leadership of the organization and help make the organization’s specific transformation initiative successful. The ability to change quickly and efficiently is not a core competency of most organizations. For most organizations, change is difficult, painful and costly. In a world of ever increasing rates of change and where entire economies can shift almost overnight, an inability to change quickly and well can mean the difference between an organization thriving or dying. When a major transformation initiative arises, getting it right the first time often becomes an imperative. As the organization successfully navigates through the immediate hazard or opportunity, and successfully emerges stronger, leaders often turn their attention to creating a new culture within the organization that is adept at change. Creating the competency to adaptively change starts with an organization’s leadership. Indeed, Dr. Kotter’s lifetime of research conclusively demonstrates that genuine leadership and the ability to effect quality change are deeply connected. Until organizational leaders understand the dynamics of change, develop the capabilities to lead change, and can effectively align others around change initiatives, the organization itself cannot declare its ability to navigate change as a core competency.
The benefits of creating a core competency in navigating change are overwhelming. Organizations that change effectively can take advantage of significant opportunities, avoid looming hazards, and thereby create enormous value for their stakeholders. Organizations that are adept at change grow faster, create wealth, enhance customer success, gain public support, and compete more effectively across the board.
The process, most of all, requires leadership from the top echelons of the organization. Senior management must be adept at understanding frameworks for change and facile with engaging their people in ways that ensure the success of change initiatives. For most leaders, their theory of change is “plan-execute” which has been shown over and over again to be a recipe for failure and disappointment. The cost in terms of money and morale of failed change is staggering. However, when leaders both understand and effectively implement a proven model for change, and can win the minds and hearts of their people in predictable and repeatable ways, change becomes a seamless skill within an organization.
Truly great organizations drive these beliefs and skills all the way through the ranks—often literally into the cultural DNA of the organization. Organizations that “get” how to do change, and develop that ability as a core competency, adapt to changing environments quickly and efficiently. They become learning organizations to move with agility in the face of opportunities and hazards. It is these organizations that become “great” at what they do. The resulting energy, alignment of collective action, and movement of the organization in smart directions is what makes CEOs (and those around them) successful, yes, but heroes too, and justifiably so. When executives understand the importance of this core competency, both intellectually and emotionally, and devote themselves to leading their organizations into that competency, they become those leaders who have made a real and lasting impact through their work.
Kotter International offers a two to three year intensive corporate transformation process that supports the execution of a major change initiative identified by top leadership within the organization, and installs the ability to change effectively as a core competency into an entire organization. By using the flow of whatever core challenges and opportunities the business faces, and working on organization-wide change initiatives, Kotter International works with organization leadership, management and workers to develop the capacity to think, feel and act differently with respect to change. Through the personal involvement of Dr. Kotter and the work of a skilled engagement leader and subject matter experts, Kotter International walks along side of the organization and installs Dr. Kotter’s proven frameworks for change. The organization learns not only how to effect the one important change it faces now, but how to adaptively change to meet future challenges and opportunities. The individuals and the teams involved develop the capacity to lead, not simply manage, change.