Abstract

John Kotter is perhaps the most authoritative figure in change leadership and change management. The best known of his work is dedicated to identifying, understanding, and enhancing the factors leading to the success of significant organizational change, and also recognizing the most important problems that impede successful transformation. Kotter has also made considerable contributions to our understanding of leadership in general. He has accomplished this work as a scholar at the Harvard Business School. The impact of his research on peers, students, and business executives earned him the distinction of being America’s foremost ‘leadership guru’, according to a Business Week 2001 survey of 504 enterprises. In 2009, at the age of 62, Kotter was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Society for Training and Development. This article reviews some of his most central publications/contributions.