Bob Knowling's Change Manual

What I now know is, if you do this thing right, if you've got a point of view, if you are bold and free, you've become one of the most valuable people in the organization. People with those qualities can work anywhere. In a technical company like this one, give me a choice between somebody who understands bits and bytes or a change agent, and I'll take the change agent.

Sixth, you have to understand what the job of a change agent is. It's about talking about the issues that we don't want to talk about, the ones that drive the business. It's about moving people out of their comfort zones. It's also about focusing on financial performance and creating shareholder value. This is not just about the "soft stuff." Change agents who don't really understand the financial issues of the company aren't worth much.

Seventh, if you want to self-destruct as a change agent, practice the notion of, "Don't do as I do, do as I say." A change agent has got to walk the talk. After all, if you're doing this work the right way, you're completely exposed. And the moment you compromise your integrity, you're rendered ineffective. That's Change Agent 101. A change agent who doesn't walk the talk? I don't think so.

Finally, if you're going to be a change agent, I think you come to a point where you no longer think of what you do as a change program. It just becomes the way you do business. I can't imagine doing any job in any corporation where I wouldn't have a change agenda.

Noel Tichy is one of the world's leading experts on large-scale corporate change. He is a professor at The University of Michigan Business School, where he is director of the Global Leadership Program. From 1985 to 1987 he led management education at General Electric, where he was manager of the company's Leadership Development Institute, Crotonville. His many books include "Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will: How Jack Welch is Making General Electric the World's Most Competitive Company" (Currency Doubleday, 1993), coauthored with Stratford Sherman.