Agents of Change @ Work

by Bill Walsh

Do they think of you as a "changer" or "changee" at work? In today's dynamic world of enterprise every employee must continually choose to become an empowered "changer" or risk becoming a helpless "changee". With this provocative thought the new book, "Agents of Change @ Work" explores the attitudes and approach of today's job-effective, make-it-happen employees.

Business writer and consultant, Bill Walsh, first analyses how the intersecting forces of globalization, the rise of a service-dominated economy, and the explosive proliferation of information technologies have forever altered the organizational landscape of today's successful business enterprises and the job demands of their employees. In this new economy employees at all levels must come to terms with a working world where change is the only constant; up-to- date information and speed of response are the ultimate competitive weapons; and individual resourcefulness always trumps organizational resources.

In the early chapters the author introduces a customer-focused, three-step work process that consistently leads to job-effective results. Next six key attributes are developed that define the work ethic of today's agent of change. These are initiative, credibility, energy, self-adaptability, commitment, and follow-up. With job approach and job attitude firmly established, Walsh next deals with two very timely issues : the ever expanding leadership roles of knowledge workers, and the leadership of teams.

There is an insightful chapter on how today's job leaders put the well-known business concepts of core competency and strategic intent to work for themselves by pinpointing their individual "performance" and "opportunity" gaps. Readers will also be amused and forewarned by a chapter tour of the "company zoo", where mavericks, psuedo-heroes and incompetent employees eventually wind up. In the concluding chapter seven powerful levers for effecting meaningful enterprise change are described.

Throughout the book, the wisdom of renowned leaders, from Henry Ford and Winston Churchill to Jack Welch and General Colin Powell, serve as the basis for the development of key leadership concepts. Key ideas are also illustrated by examining the underlying reasons for the continuing growth success of companies such as General Electric, Wal Mart, Merck, and Best Buy. At the end of each chapter there is a set of discusion questions that help to guide the reader in becoming a job-efffective and highly sought-after change agent.

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 5, 2001

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