By Dawn-Marie Turner, PhD, CMC

Organizations have ranked change management as the fourth most important competency for leadership development.¹ Unfortunately for those looking to build their organization’s change capability, there is not much literature available to help them identify which skills to develop.

My colleague, Dr. Karen Somerville, has been exploring this subject for a couple of years, and she has identified 11 organizational change skills that are necessary for successful change. Dr. Somerville is an Assistant Professor at Hamline University and member of the International Council on Organizational Change.

by Dawn-Marie Turner, PhD, CMC

I recently reaffirmed my belief that change management tools are not inherently valuable. That is not to say they have no value, but that their worth is dependent on the knowledge the leader applies when using them.

David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, reminded me of this in his recent blog post about time management, where he said, “the tools are neutral”. Yes, they are important, but the “secret sauce” is your focus on the system and its purpose. The same is true when it comes to organizational change. The value of any change management tool is embedded in the leadership of your organization.

by Dawn-Marie Turner, PhD, CMC

Planning to lose weight in 2011? Spend more quality time with family? Advance your career? Applying the elements of change management to your New Year’s resolution can help you be more successful in reaching your goal.