The Art of Change: Influence Skills for Leaders

An organization’s ability to make improvement, whether for greater agility or other goals, involves two components—a technical component and a people component. The technical component is generally logical, linear, and relatively straightforward, and the technical change agents are often skilled at implementing the technology. On the other hand, the people component is never straightforward. Change agents, especially ones whose expertise is in technology, often find themselves overwhelmed at the messy, chaotic, and unpredictable responses that occur whenever real change bumps up against real people. Twenty years ago, Dale Emery was an overwhelmed technical change agent. Since then he’s learned key principles and practices for guiding, nudging, and supporting organizational improvements. Learn how to work with people to create improvements that stick, how to sort through the chaos of change to tap the energy and ideas hidden within, and how to stay focused, flexible, and sane as you promote, implement, and support your organization’s evolution.