A book about the why and how of making change happen
Some business books ask why. Others tell you how. Uniquely and powerfully, Re–energizing The Corporation explains why you must lead change and how to do it. The book is built on the groundbreaking 3E leadership model which makes sense of the three Es of Envisioning, Engaging and Executing. By understanding and following the model, you will be able to create compelling pictures of the future of your organization; build a following of individuals committed to getting the vision into reality; and maximize team performance to deliver on your dream.
The “why” part of the book explores the criticality of being the surprise rather than settling for merely belonging to the group of the surprised. Leading change requires momentum. Velocity, in turn, is a function of mass and energy. Unfortunately, most executives have neglected the second variable as they have spent so much time “demassifying” their organizations by out-sourcing and off-shoring. Now, the challenge is to maximize the utilization of not only the remaining intellectual capital, but also the psychological- and social capital of the firm.
Sadly, our track-record is quite dismal. During the last century, most organizations were killed by management. We defined the concept as the art and science of destroying deviance – primarily negative deviance, but if a couple of positive deviants got killed in the process that was ok. In effect, many companies became really good at what was important yesterday, but often missed the train departing for the future. They died super-efficient but completely irrelevant. To succeed, we must build an organizational architecture allowing us to use positive deviance to our advantage.
Envisioning is the art of using your intellectual capital to think differently. It requires us to construct a competence campus where people spend more time thinking about how to create the future. Engagement is all about building commitment by using your own psychological skills to infuse self-belief, hope and optimism into your troops. The best leaders of such confidence clinics therefore practice personalized leadership. Execution requires audacity. Only faith can remove mountains. Great leaders therefore build a courage cathedral and boost the internal levels of social capital by instituting a corporate religion. They aspire, inspire and perspire to make a difference.
In the “how” part, the book offers a uniquely practical approach to turning ideas into action. It blends ideas, cases, models and practical examples into a framework that enables you to master the art of making positive change happen. Included is also a self-assessment test so that you can find out if you have the proper attributes, focus your attention on the right things, and take appropriate action to succeed in envisioning the future, engaging talent and executing the strategy.
