The Manager As Change Agent

Increasingly, managers at all levels of the organization are being called upon to serve as "change agents," responsible for developing, implementing, and sustaining HRD initiatives, regardless of whether they have been formally trained to do so. In The Manager as Change Agent, Jerry W. Gilley, together with a team of experts in the field of internal consulting, offers a practical approach to developing the skills necessary for leading change in your organization, including motivating people who are resistant to change, resolving conflict, and building consensus.

Explains the global changes confronting business leaders. This book includes strategies for managing major change, creating an organizational culture conducive to change, and leading change effectively. It contains tools that managers need to get a handle on the change management strategies and ensure the success of their business improvement.

If we are to impact any nation for Jesus Christ, then we must affect the seven spheres, or mountains of society that are the pillars of any society. These seven mountains are business, government, media, arts and entertainment, education, the family, and religion.

"A good balance between theory and practice . . . it definitely fills a void in the [lack of] texts in the area and the change literature in general . . . a good fit for my graduate class on 'Managing Organizational Change.'" —Anthony F. Buono, McCallum Graduate School of Business, Bentley College "Like Gareth Morgan's Images of Organization, this book is a superb blend of theory and practicality. It demystifies chaos and paradox, and it encourages the understanding of organizational dynamics from multiple perspectives. It is refreshing to read a book that presents diverse theories and interventions so even-handedly." —Andrea Markowitz, Ph.D., President, OB&D, Inc. Learning to Change: A Guide for Organizational Change Agents provides a comprehensive overview of organizational change theories and practices developed by both U.S. and European change theorists. The authors compare and contrast five fundamentally different ways of thinking about change: yellow print thinking, blue print thinking, red print thinking, green print thinking and white print thinking. They also discuss in detail the steps change agents take, such as diagnosis, change strategy, the intervention plan, and interventions. In addition, they explore the attributes of a successful change agent and provide advice for career and professional development. The book includes case studies that describe multiple approaches to organizational change issues. This book will appeal to both the practitioner and academic audiences. It can be used as a text in graduate courses in change management and will also be a useful reference for consultants and managers. Features: Discusses the abilities, attitudes, and styles of successful change agents Describes five fundamentally different ways of thinking about change Presents a state-of-the-art overview of change management insights, methods, and instruments Summarizes an extensive amount of organizational change literature Supplies readers with useful insights and courses of action that will allow them to design and implement change professionally Learning to Change became a bestseller upon its initial publication in the Netherlands. The color-model on change is very popular among thousands of managers and change consultants and presents a new approach to change processes and a new language for change.

The Project Management as Change Agent examines the often overlooked role of the project manager. It is not enough to rely on the relationship between manager and project team. The authors collective experience widens our view beyond this stage to that of relationships with indirect influences such as owners, sponsors, resource providers and consumers. In fact, anyone whose lives are affected by the project' '''s work and outcome. This radical re-evaluation is a comprehensive preparation and guide for any project manager wanting to maximize strategic and successful change as an integral part of their project objective.

James H. Lowry encapsulated his thirty plus years of experience in the field of minority business development in the book he co-authored in 2011, Minority Business Success: Refocusing on the American Dream. In his new book, Change Agent: A Life Dedicated to Creating Wealth for Minorities, Lowry delivers a deeply personal, candid, and often humorous, portrayal of his life from the South Side of Chicago to Wall Street and trailblazing entrepreneur. Often the first black in many rooms, at eighty years old, he continues the fight so he will not be the last. More than just a story of his life, this memoir illustrates the power of iconic mentors and pivotal opportunities leveraged across the globe, demonstrates how breakthroughs can be achieved through years of lessons learned, and offers real solutions to the ever widening wealth gap that plagues minority communities today. Unlike like many who only diagnose the problem, Lowry delivers a plan to accelerate economic development in the black community. This book is a road map for the next generation of leaders and will inspire new change agents to take the reins.

Leaders today—whether in corporations or associations, nonprofits or nations—face massive, messy, multidimensional problems. No one person or group can possibly solve them—they require the broadest possible cooperation. But, says Harvard scholar Dean Williams, our leadership models are still essentially tribal: individuals with formal authority leading in the interest of their own group. In this deeply needed new book, he outlines an approach that enables leaders to transcend internal and external boundaries and help people to collaborate, even people over whom they technically have no power. Drawing on what he's learned from years of working in countries and organizations around the world, Williams shows leaders how to approach the delicate and creative work of boundary spanning, whether those boundaries are cultural, organizational, political, geographic, religious, or structural. Sometimes leaders themselves have to be the ones who cross the boundaries between groups. Other times, a leader's job is to build relational bridges between divided groups or even to completely break down the boundaries that block collaborative problem solving. By thinking about power and authority in a different way, leaders will become genuine change agents, able to heal wounds, resolve conflicts, and bring a fractured world together.

The expert guide to effective internal consulting This book guides internal consultants through the steps necessary to bolster their credibility, build relationships within the organization, develop internal marketing abilities, and apply proper methodologies to their work. Alan Weiss, an experienced consultant, provides practical techniques the internal consultant, internal human resources practitioner, and any other internal change agent can use to excel at work, advance their careers, and become valued assets to their organizations. Some of the major subjects covered include setting up the proper environment for success and establishing peer-level interactions. Alan Weiss, PhD (East Greenwich, CT), has consulted with hundreds of organizations around the world, including Mercedes-Benz, Hewlett-Packard, Merck, and Chase. He lectures widely and appears regularly on radio and television to discuss productivity and performance. He is the author of twelve books, including Getting Started in Consulting (Wiley: 0-471-38455-0), The Ultimate Consultant (Jossey-Bass: 0-7879-5508-6), How to Acquire Clients (Jossey-Bass: 0-7879-5514-0), and Process Consulting (Jossey-Bass: 0-7879-5512-4).

The second edition of Agile Change Management provides essential tools to build change manager capabilities and ensure change initiatives are embedded effectively throughout the organization. This book is a comprehensive resource for creating a roadmap that is flexible and unique to each organization to manage any type of change initiative. Detailing all the processes, activities and information needed, from creating the right environment for change to completing iterative tasks, it shows how to respond to different needs as they arise, reducing the potential for wasted time and resources. The updated second edition features chapters on behavioural change and decomposition in planning iterations, and new material on prototyping for business needs and virtual leadership. Whether implementing a large-scale transformation or working through projects at micro-level, Agile Change Management provides tools, frameworks and examples necessary to adapt to and manage change effectively.

Any human resource development (HRD) initiative involves change; by definition, HRD implies a commitment to improving organizational effectiveness & enhancing employees' performance & productivity. Managers at all levels of the organization are being called upon to serve as "change agents," responsible for developing, implementing, & sustaining HRD initiatives. Here, Gilley offers a practical approach to developing the skills necessary for leading change at any level of your organization. From motivating people who are resistant to change, to resolving conflict & building consensus, this book shows how managers can bring out the best in everyone, with a direct effect on corporate competitiveness & productivity.