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Force For Change: How Leadership Differs from Management
John P. Kotter shows with compelling evidence what leadership really means today, why it is rarely associated with larger-than-life charismatics, precisely how it is different from management, and yet why both good leadership and management are essential for business success, especially for complex organizations operating in changing environments.
The critics who despair of the coming of imaginative, charismatic leaders to replace the so-called manipulative caretakers of American corporations don't tell us much about what leadership actually is, or, for that matter, what management is either.
Leadership, Kotter clearly demonstrates, is for the most part not a god-like figure transforming subordinates into superhumans, but is in fact a process that creates change -- a process which often involves hundreds or even thousands of "little acts of leadership" orchestrated by people who have the profound insight to realize this. Building on his landmark study of 15 successful general managers, Kotter presents detailed accounts of how senior and middle managers in major corporations, in close concert with colleagues and subordinates, were able to create a leadership process that put into action hundreds of commonsense ideas and procedures that, in combination with competent management, produced extraordinary results.
This leadership turned NCR from a loser to a big winner in automated teller machines, despite intense competition from IBM. The same process at American Express and SAS helped businesses grow dramatically despite the fact that they were "mature" and "commodity-like." Kotter also shows how leadership turned around operations at P&G and Kodak; produced huge business successes at PepsiCo, ARCO, and ConAgra; and made the impossible occasionally happen at Digital.
Thousands of companies today are overmanaged and underled, John Kotter concludes, not because managers lack charisma, but because far too few executives have a clear understanding of what leadership is and what it can accomplish. Without such a vision, even the most capable people have great difficulty trying to lead effectively and to create the cultures which will help others to lead.
The critics who despair of the coming of imaginative, charismatic leaders to replace the so-called manipulative caretakers of American corporations don't tell us much about what leadership actually is, or, for that matter, what management is either.
Leadership, Kotter clearly demonstrates, is for the most part not a god-like figure transforming subordinates into superhumans, but is in fact a process that creates change -- a process which often involves hundreds or even thousands of "little acts of leadership" orchestrated by people who have the profound insight to realize this. Building on his landmark study of 15 successful general managers, Kotter presents detailed accounts of how senior and middle managers in major corporations, in close concert with colleagues and subordinates, were able to create a leadership process that put into action hundreds of commonsense ideas and procedures that, in combination with competent management, produced extraordinary results.
This leadership turned NCR from a loser to a big winner in automated teller machines, despite intense competition from IBM. The same process at American Express and SAS helped businesses grow dramatically despite the fact that they were "mature" and "commodity-like." Kotter also shows how leadership turned around operations at P&G and Kodak; produced huge business successes at PepsiCo, ARCO, and ConAgra; and made the impossible occasionally happen at Digital.
Thousands of companies today are overmanaged and underled, John Kotter concludes, not because managers lack charisma, but because far too few executives have a clear understanding of what leadership is and what it can accomplish. Without such a vision, even the most capable people have great difficulty trying to lead effectively and to create the cultures which will help others to lead.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1990
21 people are currently reading
310 people want to read
About the author
John P. Kotter
130 books501 followersJohn P. Kotter, world-renowned expert on leadership, is the author of many books, including Leading Change, Our Iceberg is Melting, The Heart of Change, and his latest book, That's Not How We Do It Here!. He is the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus at the Harvard Business School, and a graduate of MIT and Harvard. He is co-founder of Kotter International, a change management and strategy execution firm that helps organizations engage employees in a movement to drive change and reach sustainable results. He and his wife Nancy live in Boston, Massachusetts.
http://www.kotterinternational.com/ab...
http://www.kotterinternational.com/ab...
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 10, 2015
This was a great book! I highly recommend it to anyone in a leadership or management role (or aspiring to one) as food for thought on how they are structuring their efforts and how their corporation is structuring its overall efforts. Kotter argues that most organizations are over-managed and under-led, which is admittedly a little hip and trendy and cliche; however he does an excellent job of defining leadership versus management and proceeds to explain what leadership looks like in comparison to management in various contexts. He does all this while simultaneously respecting both leadership and management as important concepts. Helpfully, he also dives into leadership traits and how they can be acquired or promoted by an organization. The strength of this book is that it is academic and practical -- it isn't a raah-raah fad book. It isn't particularly passionate or aggressive. It is simply an exploration of data Kotter gathered in the course of his research. Ultimately, I think it would help any leader think critically about what he or she was doing on the job and would give them an idea of other, more effective paths to take as they both managed and led.
September 20, 2016
Good insights, but it is a bit old. I have to wonder how much might have changed in the last 26 years.
January 7, 2022
The author is trying to show the difference between leadership and management without even asking the question of why one should do it at all.
Leaders guide and motivate and managers plan and control, wow, that's a "phenomenal" difference...
Well, the next time you are going to give instructions to your subordinates do not forget to specify, whether you are engaged in leadership or management at this time!
In general the book is worthless, just like most of other books on the subject.
The very fact that you have to write a mountain of junk just to clarify the differences between management and leadership speaks for itself.
Leaders guide and motivate and managers plan and control, wow, that's a "phenomenal" difference...
Well, the next time you are going to give instructions to your subordinates do not forget to specify, whether you are engaged in leadership or management at this time!
In general the book is worthless, just like most of other books on the subject.
The very fact that you have to write a mountain of junk just to clarify the differences between management and leadership speaks for itself.
November 3, 2021
John Kotter has done a thorough job of studying and articulating the difference between leadership and management while not elevating one function above the other. This is a critical lesson for leaders and aspiring leaders to learn. It is also a lesson that is as applicable today as it was when the book was written.
November 14, 2020
Flipped through the pgs. Didnt read it.
August 16, 2015
While a little dated at this point (published in1990) "A Force For Change" makes a powerful argument for the importance of leadership in the modern business world.
John Kotter argues that modern businesses typically produce managers rather than leaders. Kotter goes to great lengths to distinguish between the two. Essentially management keeps things moving in a constant direction whereas leadership makes change happen. Both are necessary but businesses tend to produce only managers, with disastrous results.
Kotter uses anecdotes from from successful corporations in the '70s and '80s to illustrate his points. Personally I feel he overstates the difference between "big-L" Leadership and more routine "small-l" leadership. But he does make a convincing case that those who can only manage are unlikely to produce meaningful change.
This book is useful for those keen to understand what makes corporations succeed in adversity, and how the ultimate act of leadership is developing a corporate culture which values and promotes leadership.
John Kotter argues that modern businesses typically produce managers rather than leaders. Kotter goes to great lengths to distinguish between the two. Essentially management keeps things moving in a constant direction whereas leadership makes change happen. Both are necessary but businesses tend to produce only managers, with disastrous results.
Kotter uses anecdotes from from successful corporations in the '70s and '80s to illustrate his points. Personally I feel he overstates the difference between "big-L" Leadership and more routine "small-l" leadership. But he does make a convincing case that those who can only manage are unlikely to produce meaningful change.
This book is useful for those keen to understand what makes corporations succeed in adversity, and how the ultimate act of leadership is developing a corporate culture which values and promotes leadership.
July 24, 2011
Kotter's earlier work. I love the clarity of his distinctions between leadership and management. We use this as the foundation for our discussion in class. Being older now, this book can be tough to find. You can also get the concepts from his Harvard Business Review article.
My Tweet: Establishing direction, aligning people, motivating and inspiring produces change vs. actions that produce predictable results and order. Leaders can be built.
My Tweet: Establishing direction, aligning people, motivating and inspiring produces change vs. actions that produce predictable results and order. Leaders can be built.
May 7, 2012
A must read book for those who are interested in leadership.
November 18, 2014
im not done yet.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 21, 2017
Could have been written *yesterday*. Timeless leadership principles and description of culture creation. Loved it.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews