Books
Leading Change
By John P. Kotter
Publisher: Harvard Business School Press | Released: 15 January, 1996
John Kotter
Kotter is one of the leading experts on how to successfully guide change in organizations. He lays out the steps and the pitfalls learned from studying change efforts in many different organizations.
Kotter's eight step method is just as appropriate to churches as to business organizations:
1. Establishing a sense of urgency
2. Creating the guiding coalition
3. Developing a vision and strategy
4. Communicating the change vision
5. Empowering people to take action
6. Generating short-term wins
7. Consolidating gains and producing more change
8. Anchoring new approaches in the culture
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Comments on this Entry:
Kotter presents a wonderful roadmap for creating change. Church leaders who ignore these steps often stumble and their efforts stall. Creating a sense of urgency often requires that we bring long-simmering conflict to the surface. Or, that we help a people in denial of the changes affecting them to see reality more clearly.
Until a critical mass of leaders in the church agrees that something must change, not much movement will occur. Hence, step two, creating a guiding coalition should guide and focus your efforts at building a sense of urgency. The essence of step three is finding a picture of the future that these leaders will agree about and join in creating.
So, the entire effort starts with identifying the spiritual leaders in your midst. Search for two key characteristics: a commitment to a deepening spiritual walk, and the gift of leadership. Whose opinion does your church value? Those are the leaders. Which of them are growing deeper in God? Those are your potential spiritual leaders.
Work with the spiritual leaders to build a sense of urgency, and seek to form them into a formal or informal team to guide your visioning and change efforts. In all these steps, prayer will be the most important tool you can use.
Posted by: Gregg Burch at October 20, 2004 06:21 PM
Author David Roper has put it this way:
Change, as it comes to us, is the fruit of our association with God. As we draw close to Him day by day, walking with Him, talking to Him, listening to His words, relying on Him, asking for His help, His beauty-the beauty of holiness-begins to rub off on us. Quietly and unobtrusively His influence softens our wills and inclines us to deep righteousness. In His quiet love He takes all that's ugly in us and gradually turns it into something beautiful for Him.
Posted by: Gregg Burch at December 10, 2004 09:02 AM
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