Review
Launch Lead Live
- Dr. Dawn-Marie Turner
- Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing, 2015
Maybe you’re an employee who’s been accused of resisting organizational change—let’s face it: many of us have been. Or maybe you’re a business executive who believes most employees actively resist organizational change. Whatever your role in your organization, whatever business or service you’re in, in her new book, Launch Lead Live, Dawn-Marie Turner has something to say to you: employee resistance to change is a myth.
Change is the one commonplace in business: for most organizations, it’s change or fail. But constant change—to technology, systems, processes, staff roles, even staffers themselves—has a real cost. As Turner observes, “Organizations are struggling to survive under the weight and expense of what feels like overwhelming, but necessary, change.” So a book that can help reduce the costs of change—not just financial, but also human—is very welcome. Turner proposes that leaders demystify change by making it meaningful to the people it affects and motivating them to move through the stages of change. Turner describes such efforts as “Building readiness instead of trying to manage resistance.” Leaders support readiness by developing an organization’s capacity to change.
The centrepiece of the book is Chapter 3, which discusses the need for leaders to shift their own thinking from resistance to readiness. This chapter is packed with clear, insightful explanation and direction. Like the rest of the book, it’s presented in tightly articulated steps, extended by charts, point-form lists, and summaries. This format makes the book a great source of information for readers themselves and for the employees and colleagues they teach or train.
The value of this book for training and teaching cannot be understated. Turner points to people she calls “informal leaders,” those who have no official leadership or management role but whom other employees look to as a leader, for guidance. These folks are important because they, and not the leadership, ultimately determine the success of organizational change. It’s vital for executives and managers to recognize and support the informal leaders; without them, organizational change may founder because these people control informal information and communication—the day-to-day culture.
An attractive little book, Launch Lead Live is packed with accessible ideas. There’s some “business speak” in the text, but the overall presentation is straightforward and accessible to a wide audience, not just executives and managers. This book will be valuable to many organizational leaders, including small-business owners and non-profit directors.
This review was originally published on www.skbooks.com .
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