John P. Kotter

John P. Kotter, author and leadership consultant, was the guest of honor at Tuesday’s Keynote Luncheon here in Orlando.

He began his intriguing presentation with the comparison of two CEOs.

Those in attendance were forced to focus on how the leadership and management styles of the two men differed drastically.

After in-depth studies and interviews were done with each CEO’s employees, it was revealed that CEO number two (GE’s Jack Welch) was praised as a better superior because he focused more on leadership than management, especially in times of change.

This, in a nutshell, is what John P. Kotter is all about: telling the corporate world that leadership, not necessarily management, is how successful companies operate. “The critical ingredient in all of this is leadership — and you can learn it.”

In addition, he offered his eight steps for successful large-scale change:

1. Increase urgency
2. Build the guiding team
3. Get the vision right
4. Communicate for buy-in
5. Empower action
6. Create short-term wins
7. Don’t let up
8. Make it stick

If you want to hear more from Kotter on the topic, you can buy his book Leading Change on Amazon.