Leading Change Step-by-Step. Tactics, Tools, and Tales

A twenty-first-century update to the modern business classic . . . For more than fifteen years, this handy guide has provided entrepreneurs and small business owners with a simple, step-by-step plan for buying or selling a business-without their own special team of lawyers and accountants. Written by leading business attorney Robert Klueger, this up-to-date guide now includes everything you need to know about recent tax law changes, as well as an entirely new chapter on limited liability companies. It answers all your critical questions, covering everything from the valuation of a business through the negotiation stages to closing the deal. Packed with the kind of real-world guidance you can only get from a professional, Buying & Selling a Business, Second Edition shows you how to: * Choose a business that's right for you * Evaluate the business, determine why the seller is selling, analyze the seller's operations, and analyze balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow * Negotiate effectively-including negotiating for price, timing, stock and asset agreements, noncompetitive agreements, and more * Buy a franchise-key considerations that make a franchise different * Ensure a hassle-free closing with no surprises

Visualization—in your own imagination, on the wall, and with media—supports any consultant who is learning to design and facilitate transformational change, leadership development, stakeholder involvement processes, and making sense of complex challenges. This book, from leaders in the field, shows you how. Building on Peter Block’s Flawless Consulting, it explains how to visually contract and scope work, gather data, provide feedback, plan interventions, implement, and support on-going sustainability in organizational and community settings. Unlike Block’s work, Visual Consulting addresses the challenging problems of guiding organizational and social change processes that involve multiple levels and types of stakeholders, with interests in both local and global environments. It demonstrates how visualization and design thinking can be used to get more creative and productive results that are “owned” by everyone. The practices described apply to organizational as well as diverse, cross-boundary consulting projects. In this book, you will. . . Learn powerful visual tools for all key stages of the consulting process, including marketing your services Understand the predictable challenges of change and how to successfully guide organizations and communities through them Learn how to collaborate with clients to get sustainable results Find tools for using visualization comprehensively, for both inner and outer work Successfully guide change in both organizations and communities The fourth installment in the Visual Facilitation series, this book teaches you how to activate the full range of visual tools, methods, and models to support stepping into successful, contemporary consulting relationships.

A detailed guide to successful, efficient project management, written by two pros with a combined 55 years «in the trenches!» Project management is a vital and growing component of many organizations and can literally make or break a company. In this step-by-step guide, two project management consultants present a comprehensive guide to effective project management, complete with real stories and case studies from actual project managers. This straightforward guide cuts through the technical jargon to present an easy-to-follow, easy-to-learn approach to executing any project from beginning to end. Project managers, as well as those who want to learn more about project management, will find this guide to be an indispensable resource for all their projects.

Harness the seven key elements of successful organisational change Leading for Organisational Change is an intelligent and practical guide to the human side of merger integration and other organisational change. Building a clear sense of common purpose and then reinforcing it through storytelling can underpin the success of an integration or significant change programme. Pulling together the best thinking from neuroscience, psychology and business, and her rich personal experience in twenty years of leading change projects in professional services organisations and other people-centred businesses, author Jennifer Emery presents a framework for change rooted in seven key themes that help organisations establish their BECAUSE: belonging, evolution, confidence, agility, understanding, simplicity and energy. Exploring the role each theme plays in the context of change, this insightful and warm book shares real-world examples and provides advice on building purpose and culture and strengthening motivation through listening, empowering and collaborating. Clear understanding of purpose, powerful communication techniques and carefully planned implementation strategies assist in navigating an often stressful and uncertain period of change, and can even enable organisations to thrive throughout this period. This book encourages you to apply important lessons to your own context, allowing you to: Focus on the human, cultural and practical elements of organisational change Apply central concepts of communication and motivation to a wide array of situations in your personal and business life Understand perspectives on change from a broad range of professional sectors Build and strengthen communication skills to promote a sense of shared purpose Leading for Organisational Change offers a warm and intelligent perspective on the personal and inter-personal factors that contribute to successful integration. An invaluable resource for professional services and people-focused organisations, this book provides advice that can cross sectors and lend insight to any major change programme.

Few business activities can match Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) in terms of the potential for reward and for danger. A successful merger or acquisition can allow a mid-tier company to leap into the top tier, bringing rich rewards to that company, and its employees and shareholders. The failure of a merger can, on the other hand, have a devastating impact, resulting a loss of credibility, destruction of value and in some cases bringing the parties to ruin. Depending on how you measure it, between 50% and 80% of M&A deals fail to attain their objectives, before or even after the deal is done. Practical M&A Execution and Integration is all about maximising your chances of success. Merging, de-merging, acquiring or acquired, if your organisation is involved, or likely to be involved, you will need to manage the process, and following this Handbook will give you a clear, simple framework to get the job done and help your organisation move on and attain the benefits and promise of the deal. The book covers the following core topics: Fundamentals of M&A; the reasons for M&A, types of M&A deals and the challenges they present M&A Regulation Successful M&A, covering M&A power and providing a detailed look at the processes and people involved Delivering M&A The unique issues of Banking M&A, which differs significantly from other types of M&A deals. The final section consists of document templates and suggested tables of contents which are designed to be used alongside the advice in the book, thus making Practical M&A Execution and Integration the complete guide to constructing a successful M&A deal.

The new edition of the best-selling guide for powerful, morally-grounded change leadership in any organization. Change is an inevitable, essential part of the modern world. Change prevents stagnation, fosters creative solutions, and propels innovation. With change comes challenges: to survive and prosper, organizations need to adapt to shifting market dynamics, volatility in the public arena, disruptions brought on by new technologies, and many more. Leaders need to understand the dynamics of change to cope with the complexities of the change process. Leading in a Culture of Change describes the key dimensions of leadership that are crucial in times of change. This innovative guide helps readers master the five components of change leadership—moral purpose, understanding change, building relationships, creating and sharing knowledge, and creating coherence—and mobilize others to accomplish shared goals in often difficult conditions. Extensively revised and updated throughout, this market-leading book continues to help leaders from across sectors understand the dynamics of change and navigate the end-to-end change process. The second edition is now thoroughly grounded in the various forms and interpretations of successful change and includes more precise definitions of the core competencies of change, contemporary case studies of their development and practical application, and increased guidance on their effective use through new concrete examples. Combining knowledge from the worlds of education and business, this unique book will help you: Integrate proven, time-tested methods of education reform and the most current insights in leadership and organizational change Develop and implement positive, sustained systematic change strategies in any organization Increase performance, optimize learning, and improve leadership Understand the key principles of leading change through specific, real-world examples Embrace a morally-grounded process of effective organizational change Leading in a Culture of Change is an indispensable source of information for leaders in business, non-profit, and public sectors seeking to understand, influence, and lead the change process.

Leading in a Culture of Change: Personal Action Guide and Workbook is an essential companion to Michael Fullan's bestselling book, Leading in a Culture of Change. This practical guide is designed to help leaders in all sectors (corporate, education, public, and nonprofit) manage and drive productive change within their organizations. The workbook is filled with illustrative case examples, exercises, and resources that you can use with individuals or groups. It will help you (and any change agent) integrate the five core competencies—attending to a broader moral purpose, keeping on top of the change process, cultivating relationships, sharing knowledge, and setting a vision and context for creating coherence in organizations—and empower you to deal with the issues of complex change.

"At the very time the need for effective leadership is reaching critical proportions, Michael Fullan's Leading in a Culture of Change provides powerful insights for moving forward. We look forward to sharing it with our grantees." –Tom Vander Ark, executive director, Education, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation «Fullan articulates clearly the core values and practices of leadership required at all levels of the organization. Using specific examples, he convinces us that the key change principles are equally critical for leadership in business and education organizations.» –John Evans, chairman, Torstar Corporation «In Leading in a Culture of Change, Michael Fullan deftly combines his expertise in school reform with the latest insights in organizational change and leadership. The result is a compelling and insightful exposition on how leaders in any setting can bring about lasting, positive, systemic change in their organizations.» –John Alexander, president, Center for Creative Leadership «Michael Fullan's work is remarkable. He masterfully captures how leaders can significantly improve their learning and performance, even in the uncontrollable, chaotic circumstances in which they practice. A tour de force.» –Anthony Alvarado, chancellor of instruction, San Diego City Schools «Too often schools and businesses are seen as separate and foreign places. Michael Fullan blends the best of knowledge from each into an exemplary template for improving leadership in both.» –Terrence E. Deal, coauthor of Leading with Soul Business, nonprofit, and public sector leaders are facing new and daunting challenges–rapid-paced developments in technology, sudden shifts in the marketplace, and crisis and contention in the public arena. If they are to survive in this chaotic environment, leaders must develop the skills they need to lead effectively no matter how fast the world around them is changing. Leading in a Culture of Change offers new and seasoned leaders' insights into the dynamics of change and presents a unique and imaginative approach for navigating the intricacies of the change process. Michael Fullan–an internationally acclaimed expert in organizational change–shows how leaders in all types of organizations can accomplish their goals and become exceptional leaders. He draws on the most current ideas and theories on the topic of effective leadership, incorporates case examples of large scale transformation, and reveals a remarkable convergence of powerful themes or, as he calls them, the five core competencies. By integrating the five core competencies–attending to a broader moral purpose, keeping on top of the change process, cultivating relationships, sharing knowledge, and setting a vision and context for creating coherence in organizations–leaders will be empowered to deal with complex change. They will be transformed into exceptional leaders who consistently mobilize their compatriots to do important and difficult work under conditions of constant change.

Bridge the achievement gap with proven strategies for student success Breakthrough Principals debunks the myth of the 'superhero' principal by detailing the common actions and practices of leaders at our nation's fastest-gaining public schools. Based on the authors' Transformational Leadership Framework, which they developed through in-depth study of more than 100 high-gaining, high-poverty schools, the book distills findings into a practical, action-focused plan for diagnosing school needs and implementing structures, systems and practices that accelerate student achievement. Brought to life by case studies of principals who have led dramatic gains in student achievement, the book is a how-to guide for increasing the quality of teaching and learning; improving school culture; attracting and supporting high-performing teachers; and involving parents and community to help students achieve. You'll learn how breakthrough principals make the school's mission a real part of both strategy and practice, and set up sustainable systems that support consistent, ongoing improvement. High-impact practices are organized into five broad categories: learning and teaching, school-wide culture, aligned staff, operations and systems, and personal leadership. The primary job of school leadership is to help students succeed. It begins with first recognizing and prioritizing areas of need, then finding and implementing the most effective solutions. Whether you work in a turn around environment, or want to make a good school better, this book will give you a set of concrete practices—illustrated through examples of real principals in real schools—that have been proven to work. Discover the primary drivers of student achievement Work toward the school's vision in staffing, operations, and systems Set the tone for all relationships and practices with good leadership Closing the achievement gap is a major goal of educational leadership, and principals are forever searching for viable methods that help them better serve their students. Breakthrough Principals unveils the details behind the success stories from across the nation to provide a roadmap to transformative gains.