Kotter's 8 Steps for Leading Change

This assignment delves into John Kotter's renowned 8-Step Process for Leading Change. It outlines each step in detail, from establishing a sense of urgency to institutionalizing new approaches. The document explores how organizations can effectively implement these steps to achieve successful change initiatives.

Fact Sheet
Kotter’s Eights Steps to Successful Change
Over four decades, Dr. Kotter observed countless leaders and organizations as they were trying
to transform or execute their strategies. He identified and extracted the success factors and
combined them into a methodology, the award-winning 8-Step Process for Leading Change.
Kotter’s defined 8 step process are as follows:1. Establish a sense of urgency
For change to happen, it helps if the whole
department/organisation really wants it.
Develop a sense of urgency around the need
for change. This may help you spark the initial
motivation to get things moving.
 Examine market and competitive
realities.
 Identify and discuss crises, potential
crises or opportunities.
 Create the catalyst for change.
5. Empowering others to act on the
vision
If you follow these steps and reach this point
in the change process, you've been talking
about your vision and building buy-in from all
levels of the organisation.
 Removing obstacles to change.
 Changing systems or structures that
seriously undermine the vision.
 Encouraging risk taking and non
traditional ideas, activities and actions.
2. Form a powerful coalition
Convince people that change is necessary.
This often takes strong leadership and visible
support from key people within your
organisation. Managing change isn't enough
– you have to lead it.
 Assemble a group with enough power
to lead the change effort.
 Develop strategies for achieving that
vision.
6. Planning for and creating short
term wins
Nothing motivates more than success. Give
your organisation a taste of victory early in
the change process. Within a short time frame
(this could be a month or a year, depending on
the type of change).
 Planning for visible performance
improvement
 Recognising and rewarding employees
involved in these improvements.

3. Create a Vision
When you first start thinking about change,
there will probably be many great ideas and
solutions floating around. Link these concepts
to an overall vision that people can grasp
easily and remember.
 Create a vision to help direct the
change effort.
 Develop strategies for achieving that
vision.
7. Consolidating improvements
and producing still more change
Kotter argues that many change projects fail
because victory is declared too early. Real
change runs deep.
 Using increased credibility to change
systems, structures and policies that
don’t fit the vision.
 Hiring, promoting, and developing
employees who can implement the
vision.
 Reinvigorating the processes with new
projects, themes and change agents.
4. Communicating the Vision
What you do with your vision after you create
it will determine your success. Your message
will probably have strong competition from
other day-to-day communications within the
organisation, so you need to communicate it
frequently and powerfully, and embed it within
everything that you do.
 Using every channel and vehicle of
communication possible to
communicate the new vision and
strategies.
 The guiding coalition teaching new
behaviours and leading by example.
8. Institutionalising new
approaches
Finally, to make any change stick, it should
become part of the core of your organisation.
Your corporate culture often determines what
gets done, so the values behind your vision
must show in day-to-day work.
 Creating the connections between new
behaviours and corporate successes.
 Developing channels to ensure
Leadership development and
succession.