Beyond Change Management: Advanced Strategies for Today's Transformational Leaders

Implementing transformational change in an organization can be a daunting task. Current statistics indicate that nearly 70% of all change efforts fail. This book introduces the concept of conscious transformation as a proactive approach to transformational change, and its main focus is building change leadership competency. Sections of the book discuss the leader's mindset as a leverage point for change and challenge a leader to examine their fundamental assumptions about reality. There are also a number of tools that can help build a leader's capacity to successfully lead transformational change. Finally the authors outline in detail their Change Process Model, listing specific activities to undertake as an organization moves through transformational change. This is a particularly valuable book in combination with the authors' subsequent book, The Change Leader's Roadmap.

Rarely are leadership books so practical. Beyond Change Management is chucked full of ideas that you can put to use immediately. Linda and Dean get to the heart of what it takes to make real change happen. They're masters at offering easy to grasp solutions for busy leaders. In this rich book are a million dollars worth of consulting ideas!

Every now and then, a book comes along that begs to be read. Beyond Change Management and its companion piece, The Change Leader's Handbook, are two such books. In an easy to read style, the authors, Dean Anderson and Linda Ackerman-Anderson, have wonderfully elucidated the key principles of organizational transformation. Every leader of an organization seeking to transform the context, culture, and quality of their organization need to be familiar with these principles. Based on my 20 years of experience helping organizations transform, I know first hand that the process of transforming and organization, large or small, is fraught with pitfalls, twists, and turns. Without a roadmap, such an endeaver is often destined to fail. The authors, through these companion pieces of work, provide such a roadmap. Equally as important, they clearly describe the principles of action and thought that underlie this roadmap. All too often, authors give the "how-tos" of change, but do not give ample focus on the mindset needed to effectively lead such a change. Here, in these companion pieces, the authors do both. For this alone, the book is worthy of applause.And yet, the authors of this book do more. The level of detail provided by these books match the complexity of the change process. Rather than reduce the process to a nifty little model, they have clarified a way of thinking that is complex enough to mirror the difficult challenge of transformation. By providing a clear, intelligent framework of thinking, and map for transformation, the authors have provided a gift to leaders and facilitators, that if followed, will be a crucial support for action. I highly recommend these books.

Every now and then, a book comes along that begs to be read. Beyond Change Management and its companion piece, The Change Leader's Roadmap, are two such books. In an easy to read style, the authors, Dean Anderson and Linda Ackerman-Anderson, have wonderfully elucidated the key principles of organizational transformation. Every leader of an organization seeking to transform the context, culture, and quality of their organization need to be familiar with these principles. Based on my 20 years of experience helping organizations transform, I know first hand that the process of transforming and organization, large or small, is fraught with pitfalls, twists, and turns. Without a roadmap, such an endeaver is often destined to fail. The authors, through these companion pieces of work, provide such a roadmap. Equally as important, they clearly describe the principles of action and thought that underlie this roadmap. All too often, authors give the "how-tos" of change, but do not give ample focus on the mindset needed to effectively lead such a change. Here, in these companion pieces, the authors do both. For this alone, the book is worthy of applause.And yet, the authors of this book do more. The level of detail provided by these books match the complexity of the change process. Rather than reduce the process to a nifty little model, they have clarified a way of thinking that is complex enough to mirror the difficult challenge of transformation. By providing a clear, intelligent framework of thinking, and map for transformation, the authors have provided a gift to leaders and facilitators, that if followed, will be a crucial support for action. I highly recommend these books.

As a practioner in the organization development field for several years, I have worked on a number of organizational change initiatives. This book is both clearly written and masterfully integrates all of the people, process and content components necessary for successful change. It offers both brilliant theoretical insights, as well as practical applications. It is obvious that the authors have "been there and done it" and they generously share their insights. This is a tremendous contribution to the field and should "raise the bar" for anyone responsible for major change. I strongly recommend it as the change management book to have on your bookshelf.