Quotes from John P. Kotter

More and more I'm finding that I'm reading history, I'm reading biography, I'm reading autobiography for a sense of people who've been able to provide leadership. I don't read leadership books anymore.

Most people don't lead their own lives - they accept their lives

Never underestimate the magnitude of the power of the forces that reinforce the status quo.

Great vision communication usually means heartfelt messages are coming from real human beings.

Good communication does not mean that you have to speak in perfectly formed sentences and paragraphs. It isn't about slickness. Simple and clear go a long way.

Sometimes it doesn't hurt to talk around a little and see what lights people's eyes up and what makes them cloud over.

All organizations start with a structure that looks like a dynamic solar system. They can be very fast, agile. They attract people who play around with crazy ideas.

Never underestimate the power of a good story.

Those in leadership positions who fail to grasp or use the power of stories risk failure for their companies and for themselves.

Neurologists say that our brains are programmed much more for stories than for abstract ideas. Tales with a little drama are remembered far longer than any slide crammed with analytics.

Effective leaders help others to understand the necessity of change and to accept a common vision of the desired outcome.

Leadership defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision, and inspires them to make it happen despite the obstacles.

Leadership produces change. That is its primary function

Most US corporations today are over-managed and under-led. They need to develop their capacity to exercise leadership.

We know that leadership is very much related to change. As the pace of change accelerates, there is naturally a greater need for effective leadership.

Leadership is about coping with change

Great leaders motivate large groups of individuals to improve the human condition.

I'm impatient. Typically people think they know all about change and don't need help. Their approach tends to be more management-oriented than leadership-oriented. It's very frustrating.

It's very difficult to innovate without requiring people to do something different. And whenever you require people to do something different, you're talking about change.

A higher rate of urgency does not imply ever-present panic, anxiety, or fear. It means a state in which complacency is virtually absent.

Complacency is almost always the product of success or perceived success

Great leaders understand that historical success tends to produce stable and inwardly focused organizations, and these outfits, in turn, reinforce a feeling of contentment with the status quo.

If the culture you have is radically different from an 'experiment and take-risk' culture, then you have a big change you going to have to make - and no little gimmicks are going to do it for you.

A culture truly changes only when a new way of operating has been shown to succeed over some minimum period of time.