The Life and Presidency of Abraham Lincoln - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 729 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/10/30 Category People Essay Level High school Tags: Abraham Lincoln Essay Did you like this example? Ive read a lot about the president of the United States of America through, The Life And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, by Allan Nevins. This book helped me learn a lot about him that I did not know so lets begin. It all started in a log cabin, his mother was in labor and on February 12, 1809 a child was born Near the village of Hodgenville, Kentucky. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Life and Presidency of Abraham Lincoln" essay for you Create order Abraham Lincolns parents came from pioneer stock and he ended up growing up on a farm. Abrahams Lincoln was raised on Sinking Spring Farm Lincolns father bought the farm for two hundred dollars and he received 300 acres of land, the farm land was known for a great water source and fertile soil. Lincoln had it rough as he was growing up. Yet again title trouble for the land rights drove the father to build a raft and put his whiskey and tools and left for Indiana. There he found his spot and came back for his family to take them down to Indiana and they took off in 1816 so they could have a new start. When they arrived in Indiana it was nearly Winter, and they had to act quickly to not die of the cold. Abraham and his father built a shelter that was half built and half open where a fire was to heat the interior of the shelter. Relatives came to join the Lincolns and they took more than half the half-faced shelter the Lincolns had to move to their other unfinished shelter where they had to live again in hardship through the winter and the cold. Abrahams mother passed away due to sickness that hit the family because of the cold and them not being warm enough and the shelter not helping with heat. Years later when Abraham was older he ran for Congressmen and won even though he was small he made a name for himself an d worked his way up to have a legacy for himself. Nearing the end of Abrahams term at congress he threw all his support in to the Whig party, and he worked to elect Zachary Taylor he travelled throughout Europe looking to do better. Even though the party died out in 1852 all the members found a new party, at the end of his term Abraham started to think of himself as an old man who married many times mainly due to his wives dying of disease and illness. Abraham Lincoln started his campaign for office of presidency, he travelled all about giving speeches and talking to the people and how he was going to change their lives and that he did. Abraham was a great president including he was a great father Abraham motivated every single person at every speech and town, village, and city Abraham touched every single hand and heart and whoever he talked to. He built the nation from ashes and in remembrance he is a national monument. But that happened in the future lets get back to the past and find out more about Abraham Lincoln. Abraham was a man of great respect, responsibility, and integrity to where everybody loved him and felt him touch their lives. Abraham was a man of curiosity and through all the biographies we will never have a complete history on Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln became the president of the United States of America because his speech touched the lives of every single kid women and man. Lincoln successfully was able to win due to his speeches and his opponent not touching every women child and man but how he was courageous and brave Lincoln won over the troops and as able to give each one of them pride and dignity of his braveness to help them move forward through the darkness and to stager forward to the end of the light. So, In short there is much to be said about Abraham Lincoln he surely did make a impression on the American public and he surley was a great president who had a great impact on slavery as he was the head to stopping slavery and the American public who used slavery as it was a big adjustment for the American people to stop the slavery resigned and that ended up closing slaver,. and that is what Abraham is most commonly known for in American history through the decades since he abolished slavery.

Customer Service Essay - 1509 Words

THIRTEEN CUSTOMER SERVICE FACTS BY: Michael A. Aun, CSP, CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame Reference - http://www.nsacentralflorida.com/Articles/Thirteencsfacts.pdf Thirteen Customer Service Facts. Fact Number One Dissatisfied customers tell an average of ten other people about their bad experience. Twelve percent tell up to twenty people. In very simple terms, bad news spreads rather quickly. Dont think for a moment that your poor performance in servicing your client goes unnoticed. Not only does it go unnoticed, but you pay a very dear price for that kind of publicity. Fact Number Two Satisfied customers will tell an average of five people about their positive experience. Conversely, the good news, unfortunately, doesnt†¦show more content†¦So when a sale is made, make it clear to the client that you welcome their input and that you would be disappointed if a problem exists that you were unaware of. This permits the client to let you know that they are experiencing a problem. Fact Number Seven In many service industries (yours included), quality of service is one of the few variables that can distinguish a business from its competition. In the Scientific Apparatus Makers Association, your members may be competing with dozens of other similar companies that make similar products. In many cases, theres not a nickels worth of difference between the vast majority of products and services that you and your competition offer. The only appreciable difference is in the service rendered by the sales and service people. For 99.9% of your clients, the SALES AND SERVICE PEOPLE are the company. Most of the time, they are the only people with whom the client will ever be in contact. Fact Number Eight The first thirty seconds of a call or meeting sets the tone for the remainder of the contact. The last 30 seconds are critical to establishing last rapport. You only get one opportunity to make a first impression...dont screw it up! If you want to be accepted as a professional, you must look and act the part. If you look and act shabby, you will be perceived as shabby. If you plant peas you get peas, not corn. People will expect of you what you expect of yourself: what youve invested inShow MoreRelatedCustomer Service2488 Words   |  10 PagesCustomer Service Research Paper Before I get into further analysis of my own personal experience, I am going to explain about different characteristics that are involved in customer service. Most businesses will tell you that quality customer service is the keystone to success. An essential component of outstanding customer service is the possession of a great staff. Larger companies may be weighed down by employee handbooks that specify the customer service guidelines. Independent, smaller businessesRead MoreCustomer Service2541 Words   |  11 Pagesï » ¿Customer Service at Datatronics Datatronics is an organization that serves their customers with Enterprise Resource Planning integrated solutions. Their growth is mainly attributed to acquisitions of smaller competitors. E-Z RP was such a company that despite its inferior size compared to Datatronics was able to succeed and outperform Datatronics on grounds of customer service and customer satisfaction. Datatronics recognized the fact and acquired E-Z RP with the aim to improve in that respectiveRead MoreCustomer Service Services And The Service Sector2162 Words   |  9 PagesSince+ the global economy embraced customer service, issues regarding levels of customer service have become more prominent in service organisations. Even now there are organisational managers with no training or knowledge of how organisations in the service sector require a high level of customer service. This is ignorance of the fact good customer service can create a competitive advantage; increase profit; efficiency; and increase staff a nd customer retention and satisfaction. Based on comprehensiveRead MoreCustomer Service And An Organization1445 Words   |  6 Pagescontinuously fail in customer service satisfaction for many reasons. As service failures are inevitable, it is important for companies, especially small businesses, to capitalize on learning the importance of reducing service failure. Just as the seed is the core of the fruit, customer service is the core of an organization; its meaning is the primary function for organizations to retain business and discover new ventures. Customer service is the primary source of business-to-customer communication andRead MoreCustomer Service Essay641 Words   |  3 Pagesto communicate with customers to identify and agree on product/ service specifications. It is crucial to be aware that customer expectations and needs will change from time to time and will be affected by market trends, fashions and changes in external environments. This means the business plans need to be adapted to changing needs of customers and is important that organisations communicate with its customers. Profiling is a method to understand the needs of the customers. Profiling enables organisationsRead MoreThe Etiquette Of Customer Service1601 Words   |  7 PagesThe Etiquette of Customer Service – Instructional Guide Overview Objective Key points How to say â€Å"I’m sorry† without apologizing in customer service? There are justifiable situations that require customer service representatives to say â€Å"I’m sorry† without apologizing. Situations include: a plan benefit that is not covered, denial of a pre-authorization, or an appeal denial. Session#1 I’m Sorry When this occurs, there are phrasesRead MoreCustomer Service Representatives1622 Words   |  7 PagesZappos. This is followed by a hierarchal ranking of the four major presenting problems for the company, which are: maintaining the â€Å"wow† image without overspending, inventory management/distribution problems, transportation efficiency problems and customer behavior problems. Each of these problems is addressed in more detail in the discussion section and the recommendations section at the end of the analysis. Prior to the conclusion and recommendations section, a list of possible strategic alternativesRead MoreCustomer Service At The Restaurant2103 Words   |  9 Pages†¢ Execute exceptional outstanding customer service by recruiting, leading and developing people and planning, organising, directing, controlling and evaluating all the operations of the restaurant to build sales and control costs to deliver optimum business results for the restaurant †¢ Understand, enforce and train Crew and Managers on all appropriate policies, award minimums, security and safety procedures. †¢ Modifying the operational procedures as per the requirement of the profitability of theRead MoreEssay on Customer Service1144 Words   |  5 PagesSection 1 – Understand the factors that affect an organisation and the customer service role 1. Complete the table below with a description of the products and services for at least two commercial organisations, public organisations and third sector organisations. Please ensure you provide a description for each organisation, rather than a list. Organisation type Name of organisation Description of products and services Commercial organisation Commercial organisation Read MoreCustomer Service1186 Words   |  5 Pagessome companies aim to look after their customers well, ensuring that the customer is at the heart of their business and everything they do. In marketing terms this is called being customer focused. It is important to realise that customers can take their business anywhere they want to and if they are not satisfied they will take their business elsewhere. Therefore, it is very important to understand who our customers are, their expectations of the service they experience and how that effects future

The Revealing Of Evil And Loss Of free essay sample

Faithl: Nathaniel Hawthorne # 8217 ; s # 8220 ; Young Goodman Brown # 8221 ; Essay, Research Paper # 8220 ; Young Goodman Brown # 8221 ; by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a narrative about uncovering true immorality and the loss of one adult male # 8217 ; s religion. Nathaniel Hawthorne left # 8220 ; Young Goodman Brown # 8221 ; up for many readings. After reading the narrative a twosome of times, one thing became clear to me. What I absorbed from this narrative was that evil exists in everyone, does non count how good we may believe we are. Things aren # 8217 ; t ever what they seem. I say this because the people who attended the Satan # 8217 ; s meetings, were the 1s who attended church with him. The people whom he though were holy and Christian. These people were non holy at all. They were idolizing, praying, and obeying the Satan. As Goodman Brown started his journey into the wood, he met an older adult male. The old adult male, # 8220 ; was about 50 old ages old, seemingly in the same rank of life as Goodman Brown, and bearing a considerable resemblance to him, though possibly more in look than characteristics # 8221 ; ( DiYanni, 273 ) . We will write a custom essay sample on The Revealing Of Evil And Loss Of or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In Brown # 8217 ; s ignorance, he does non recognize that the 1 he is with is in fact the Satan. This is shown when Brown asks a inquiry in fright before run intoing the old adult male, # 8220 ; There may be a diabolic Indian behind every tree, # 8221 ; said Goodman Brown to himself ; and he glanced fearfully behind him, as he added, # 8220 ; What if the Satan himself should be at my really elbow! # 8221 ; ( DiYanni, 273 ) . This to me is dry because so, # 8220 ; His caput being turned back, he passed a criminal of the route, and looking frontward once more, beheld the figure of a adult male, in grave and nice garb, seated at the pes of an old tree. He arose at Goodman Brown # 8217 ; s attack, and walked forth, side by side with him # 8221 ; ( DiYassi, 273 ) . Here Goodman Brown does non recognize that the Satan is, in fact, walking # 8220 ; side by side with him # 8221 ; ( DiYassi,273 ) . # 8220 ; Goodman Brown recognized a really pious and model doll, who had taught him his catechism in young person, and was still his moral and religious adviser # 8221 ; ( DiYassi, 275 ) . This dames name was Goody Cloyse. When Brown sees that Goody Cloyse recognizes the old adult male and cries out, # 8220 ; the Satan # 8221 ; ( DiYassi, 275 ) , he can # 8217 ; t believe it. He now sees her as a # 8220 ; wretched old adult female # 8221 ; ( DiYassi, 276 ) . Brown is experiencing his loss of religion and attempts to get the better of this by stating, # 8220 ; What if a deplorable old adult female does take to travel to the Satan, when I though she was traveling to heaven! Is that any ground to go forth my beloved Faith buttocks, and travel after her? # 8221 ; ( DiYassi, 276 ) . Though Brown is defeated, he has non yet lost his religion. Goodman Brown finds his religion disrupted, one time once more, when he observes the curate and deacon in secret from behind a tree. These two # 8220 ; holy work forces # 8221 ; ( DiYanni, 276 ) are the two people that Brown admires ; they are the religious leaders of the community. As Goodman Brown listens to their discoursing the unhallowed meeting Brown becomes # 8220 ; swoon and over-burthened with the heavy illness of his bosom # 8221 ; ( DiYanni, 276 ) . At this point he was in uncertainty of his religion, but in a battle to maintain his religion he says, # 8220 ; With heaven above, and Faith below, I will yet stand house against the Satan! # 8221 ; ( DiYanni, 277 ) . # 8220 ; Faith # 8221 ; , Goodman Brown # 8217 ; s married woman, is his religion in God. Brown loses all religion in God, but he believes that he is better than everyone else. Showing his pride and ignorance. This was Goodman Brown # 8217 ; s ruin. Critics tend to concentrate on different scenes from narratives. This critic, Bert A.Mikosh, focuses on his position of # 8220 ; Young Goodman Brown # 8221 ; . # 8220 ; The narrative # 8220 ; Young Goodman Brown # 8221 ; is about a adult male and his religion in himself, his married woman, and the community they reside in. Goodman Brown must venture on a journey into the local wood garbage the enticement of the Satan and return to the small town before dawn. The clip epoch is about a coevals after the clip of the enchantress tests # 8221 ; ( Mikosh ) . He leads on by stating, # 8220 ; The lead character is happy with the locals and his religion until this trip, when he is convinced they are all evil. Upon this find he, in a sense, becomes evil # 8221 ; ( Mikosh ) . Bert continues in authorship, # 8220 ; When Goodman comes back he thinks he is better than the remainder and Judgess everyone immediately. He so comes to the decision that he is the lone individual that is non a devil worshipper. Just as earlier with the enchantress tests, he is judging so as the alleged enchantresss were judged by his ascendants. A mention to Martha Carrier is made in the narrative, Goodman # 8217 ; s quandary is similar to his. She was isolated from the community because of her beliefs merely like Goodman. The difference is that Martha # 8217 ; s community isolated her, and Goodman felt stray or isolated himself # 8221 ; ( Mikosh ) . This was a really interesting point. Bert terminals by saying this, # 8220 ; The positions and beliefs of people of that epoch were if anything to an extreme. Whatever they believed they worshipped with a retribution. This utmost religion can be compared to the current clip # 8220 ; Career Goal. # 8221 ; If the people today can non prosecute a calling and win, the feel as if their life has no significance # 8221 ; ( Mikosh ) . I don # 8217 ; t agree 100 % but I understand what he is seeking to state. # 8220 ; This most likely has its roots from the Protestant work ethic. The ethic, in general, says that you must work hard to delight God and complete for a topographic point in Eden. This narrative is about such people. The modern twenty-four hours individual has taken this work ethic and given it a avaricious turn. Peoples of today battle for place, position or power merely every bit much as the innovator Puritans worshiped and studied the bible. The Puritans would take the word of the bible as the word, without reading, merely interlingual rendition by the curate of the ommunity. Although these calling driven people do non hold a book to steer their way, they pursue it none the less. Some of these people have lost, or neer had the belief, of making Eden, or even its being. These people are the equals of the trusters and put the regulations or guidelines for calling ends. So in consequence the position in the community is a manner of stating they are better. The people who do non believe in any god-like being fight in an attempt to do their grade on the universe, for this is the merely was they can be recognized or remembered # 8221 ; ( Mikosh ) . This is his position of # 8220 ; Young Goodman Brown # 8221 ; . Another critic is Joan Elizabeth Easterley who focuses on the lachrymalimagery in Hawthorne # 8217 ; s # 8220 ; Young Goodman Brown # 8221 ; . # 8220 ; Literary critics have interpreted the significance of Goodman Brown’s experience in many fashions–allegorical, moral, philosophical, and psychological. However there is an challenging absence of any mention to the last line of the Sabbath scene to explicate Hawthorne’s word picture of the immature Puritan, despite the fact that Hawthorne signals the importance of the cold beads of dew in a periodic sentence. In kernel, Hawthorne here carefully delineates the image of a immature adult male who has faced and failed a critical trial of moral and religious maturity† ( Easterley ) . # 8220 ; Young Goodman Brown is reproached by his Godhead because he shows no compassion for the failings he sees in others, no compunction for his ain wickedness, and no sorrow for his loss of religion. The one action that would show such deep and redemptional human feelings does non take topographic point. Goodman Brown does non cry. Therefore, Hawthorne softly and gently sprinkles # 8220 ; the coldest dew # 8221 ; on his cheek to stand for the absence of cryings # 8221 ; ( Easterley ) . # 8220 ; The deficiency of cryings, the outward mark of an inward world, posits the absence of the innate love and humbleness that would hold made possible Brown # 8217 ; s moral and religious patterned advance. A punctilious creative person and a maestro of symbolism, Hawthorne uses the branchlet and the dewdrops intentionally. Drops of H2O on a adult male # 8217 ; s cheek suggest cryings # 8221 ; ( Easterley ) . # 8220 ; On a moral degree, Brown # 8217 ; s credence of others as they are # 8211 ; progressive and capable to enticement # 8211 ; would hold made a mature maturity and productive and healthy relationships with others possible. But his deficiency of compunction and compassion, as symbolized by the absence of cryings, condemns him to an tormented life that is spiritually and emotionally desiccated. The beads that Hawthorne topographic points on Brown # 8217 ; s cheek are of # 8220 ; the coldest dew, # 8221 ; lay waste toing in their intension, for they represent the coldness of a psyche that is deceasing, in contrast to the regenerative heat of true cryings and love # 8221 ; ( Easterley ) . # 8220 ; Human cryings are an emotional response, and Hawthorne # 8217 ; s allusion to the deficiency of cryings underlines Brown # 8217 ; s emotional barrenness. Critical analyses have hitherto focused chiefly on Brown # 8217 ; s faulty or immature moral logical thinking, reasoning that the Puritan fails the trial of the Sabbath because he fails to ground on a mature moral degree, either because of the legalism of Puritan philosophy or because of his refusal to acknowledge his ain wickedness ( Frank 209, Folsom 32, Fogle23, Stubbs 73 ) ( Easterley ) . Joan Elizabeth Easterley has opened my eyes. It is interesting to see different positions on one narrative. To wrap up her essay, she ends it by stating, # 8220 ; Nathaniel Hawthorne, the maestro of symbolism and suggestion, quietly sprinkles cold cryings on the cheek of immature Goodman Brown. This lacrimal image, so finely shaped, is the key to construing the immature Puritan # 8217 ; s failure to accomplish moral and religious adulthood. Brown can non accommodate the struggle caused by his legalistic rating of others, nor can he exceed this moral quandary by demoing compassion and compunction. In concluding sarcasm, Hawthorne tells us that the adult male who sheds no cryings lives the remainder of his life a # 8220 ; sad # 8221 ; adult male, whose # 8220 ; deceasing hr was somberness # 8221 ; ( Hawthorne, 90 ) ( Easterley ) . # 8220 ; Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, the descendant of a long line of Puritan ascendants. After his male parent was lost at sea when he was merely four, his female parent became excessively protected and pushed him toward more stray chases. Hawthorne # 8217 ; s childhood left him excessively shy and bookish, and molded his life as a author. Hawthorne turned to composing after his graduation from Bowdoin College # 8221 ; ( Authoritative Notes by Gradesaver ) . # 8220 ; In June, 1849, Hawthorne was discharged from his three twelvemonth long occupation with Salem Custom House. He was 40 five old ages old, and although get downing to derive a repute as a author, remained unable to back up himself from composing entirely. To do the calamity even worse, merely a few hebdomads subsequently his female parent passed off. Hawthorne fell badly as a consequence of the troubles he was confronting # 8221 ; ( Authoritative Notes by Gradesaver ) . # 8220 ; Upon his recovery tardily in the summer, Hawthorne sat down to compose The Scarlet Letter. He zealously worked on the novel with finding he had non known earlier. His intense agony infused the novel with inventive energy, taking him to depict it as the # 8220 ; hell-fired story. # 8221 ; On February 3. 1850, Hawthorne read the concluding pages to his married woman. He wrote, # 8220 ; It broke her bosom and sent her to bed with a dangerous concern, which i took upon as a triumphant success # 8221 ; ( Authoritative Notes by Gradesaver ) . # 8220 ; Hawthorne was profoundly devoted to his married woman, Sophia Peabody, and his two kids. Hawthorne, though, had small engagement with any kind of societal life. Hawthorne passed off on May 19, 1864 in Plymouth, New Hampshire. Emerson described his life with the words # 8220 ; painful solitude. # 8221 ; Hawthorne # 8217 ; s authoritative remains one of the most flawlessly composed plants of American fiction # 8221 ; ( Authoritative Notes by Gradesaver ) . Fogle, Richard Harter. # 8220 ; Hawthorne # 8217 ; s Fiction: The Light and the Dark. Norman: Uracil of Oklahoma P, 1964. Folsom, james K. Man # 8217 ; s Accidents and God # 8217 ; s Aim: Multiplicity in Hawthorne # 8217 ; s Fiction. New Haven: College A ; UP, 1963. Frank, Neal. Hawthorne # 8217 ; s Early Narratives: A Critical Study. Durham: Duke UP, 1972. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. # 8220 ; Young Goodman Brown. # 8221 ; Moses from an Old Manse. Ohio State UP, 1974. 74-90. Stubbs, Joan Caldwell. The Pusuit of Form: A Study of Hawthorne and the Romance. Chicago: Uracil of Illinois P, 1970. Easterley, Joan Elizabeth. Lachrymal imagination of Hawthorne # 8217 ; s # 8220 ; Young Goodman Brown. # 8221 ; Surveies in Short Fiction, Summer91, Vol. 28 Issue 3, p339, 5p. ( Located in EBSCOhost ) . Mikosh, Bert A. A position of # 8220 ; Young Goodman Brown. # 8221 ; Uniform resource locator: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~daniel/amlit/goodman/ygmikosh. hypertext markup language ( 11/26/99 ) . Hawthorne, Nathaniel. # 8220 ; Young Goodman Brown. # 8221 ; Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essays. 4th erectile dysfunction. DiYanni, Robert, erectile dysfunction. New york: The McGraw Hill Companies, 1998. Nathanliel Hawthorne: Authoritative Notes by GradeSaver. Uniform resource locator: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Authors/hawthorne.html ( 12/14/99 ) .

The 8-Step Process for Leading Change free essay sample

By improving their ability to change, organizations can increase their chances of success, both today and in the future. Without this ability to adapt continuously, organizations cannot thrive. Dr. Kotter has proven over his years of research that following The 8-Step Process for Leading Change will help organizations succeed in an ever-changing world. Step 1: Establishing a Sense of Urgency Step 2: Creating the Guiding Coalition Step 3: Developing a Change Vision Step 4: Communicating the Vision for Buy-in Step 5: Empowering Broad-based Action Step 6: Generating Short-term WinsStep 7: Never Letting Up Step 8: Incorporating Changes into the Culture STEP 1: Create a Sense of Urgency Help others feel a gut-level determination to move and win, now In their rush to make a plan and take action, most companies ignore this step — indeed close to 50% of the companies that fail to make needed change make their mistakes at the very beginning. Leaders may underestimate how hard it is to drive people out of their comfort zones, or overestimate how successfully they have already done so, or simply lack the patience necessary to develop appropriate urgency. We will write a custom essay sample on The 8-Step Process for Leading Change or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Leaders who understand the importance of a sense of urgency are good at taking the pulse of their company and determining whether the state of the organization is: Complacency Complacency can occur whether your organization is at the top of their market or facing bankruptcy. Its a state where people fail to react to signs that action must be taken, telling themselves and each other, Everything is fine. False urgency People are busy, working-working-working, but their actions dont result in helping the business succeed in their primary goal. This leads to unproductive results, and eventually, burnout. True urgency People are clearly focused on making real progress every single day. Urgent behavior is driven by a belief that the world contains great opportunities and great hazards. It inspires a gut-level determination to move, and win, now. There are some tried and true ways companies go about creating true urgency. Usually the urge is to skip to the doing rather than spend the required time it takes to get a significant number of employees urgent.Here are the most common ways companies fail and succeed at establishing true urgency: Guaranteed to Fail: The problem in failed change initiatives is rarely that the case for change is poorly thought out, or not supported with sufficient facts. A solid business case that has a theoretically compelling rationale only appeals to peoples head and not their heart. Guaranteed to Succeed: Leaders who know what they are doing will aim for the heart. They will connect to the deepest values of their people and inspire them to greatness.They will make the business case come alive with human experience, engage the senses, create messages that are simple and imaginative, and call people to aspire. STEP 2: Creating the Guiding Coalition Putting together a group with enough power to lead the change No one person, no matter how competent, is capable of single-handedly: †¢developing the right vision, †¢communicating it to vast numbers of people, †¢eliminating all of the key obstacles, †¢generating short term wins, †¢leading and managing dozens of change projects, and †¢anchoring new approaches deep in an organization’s culture.Putting together the right coalition of people to lead a change initiative is critical to its success. That coalition must have the right composition, a significant level of trust, and a shared objective. The Importance of Teams to Decision Making In a rapidly changing world, complex organizations are forced to make decisions more quickly and with less certainty than they would like and with greater sacrifice than they would prefer. It is clear that teams of leaders and managers, acting in concert, are the only effective entities that can make productive decisions under these circumstances.It is essential that the team develop a level of trust in one another. This is the glue that makes the team function well. In today’s world, team building has to happen quickly. Typically, this occurs in an off-site with carefully facilitated activities that allows for team members to make connections between both hearts and minds. Constructing the right team and then combining a level of trust with a shared goal in which the team believes can result in a guiding coalition that has the capacity to make needed change happen despite all of the forces of inertia. The Four Qualities of an Effective Guiding CoalitionIn putting together a Guiding Coalition, the team as a whole should reflect: †¢Position Power: Enough key players should be on board so that those left out cannot block progress. †¢Expertise: All relevant points of view should be represented so that informed intelligent decisions can be made. †¢Credibility: The group should be seen and respected by those in the firm so that the group’s pronouncements will be taken seriously by other employees. †¢Leadership: The group should have enough proven leaders to be able to drive the change process. STEP 3: Developing a Change VisionClarify how the future will be different from the past A clear vision serves three important purposes. First, it simplifies hundreds or thousands of more detailed decisions. Second, it motivates people to take action in the right direction even if the first steps are painful. Third, it helps to coordinate the actions of different people in a remarkably fast and efficient way. A clear and powerful vision will do far more than an authoritarian decree or micromanagement can ever hope to accomplish. Many visions are deceptively mundane. Often the vision is part of a larger system that includes strategies, plans and budgets.However, the vision is the glue that holds these things together and makes sense of them both for the mind and the heart. A good vision can demand sacrifices in order to create a better future for all of the enterprise’s stakeholders. Such visions must be seen as strategically feasible. To be effective, a vision must take into account the current realities of the enterprise, but also set forth goals that are truly ambitious. Great leaders know how to make these ambitious goals look doable. When a vision is undergirded with a strong, credible strategy, it becomes evident to the stakeholders that the vision is not a pipe dream.A vision must provide real guidance. It must be focused, flexible and easy to communicate. It must both inspire action and guide that action. It should be a touchstone for making relevant decisions, but not be so constricting as to reduce the possibility of empowering action. Finally, it must be communicable. If it cannot be explained quickly in a way that makes intuitive sense, it becomes useless. Thus, effective visions have six key characteristics. They are: †¢Imaginable: They convey a clear picture of what the future will look like. †¢Desirable: They appeal to the long-term interest of those who have a stake in the enterprise. Feasible: They contain realistic and attainable goals. †¢Focused: They are clear enough to provide guidance in decision making. †¢Flexible: They allow individual initiative and alternative responses in light of changing conditions. †¢Communicable: They are easy to communicate and can be explained quickly. STEP 4: Communicating the Vision for Buy-in Ensuring that as many people as possible understand and accept the vision Gaining an understanding and commitment to a new direction is never an easy task, especially in complex organizations.Undercommunication and inconsistency are rampant. Both create stalled transformations. Most companies undercommunciate their visions by at least a factor of 10. A single memo announcing the transformation or even a series of speeches by the CEO and the executive team are never enough. To be effective, the vision must be communicated in hour-by-hour activities. The vision will be referred to in emails, in meetings, in presentations – it will be communicated anywhere and everywhere. Executives will use every effective communication channel possible to broadcast the vision.They turn boring and unread company newsletters into lively articles about the vision. Ritualistic and tedious quarterly meetings are turned into exciting discussions about transformation. Generic education programs are thrown out and replaced with sessions that focus on business problems and the new vision. In communicating the vision for the transformation, there are some things to keep in mind. The vision should be: †¢Simple: No techno babble or jargon. †¢Vivid: A verbal picture is worth a thousand words – use metaphor, analogy, and example. †¢Repeatable: Ideas should be able to be spread by anyone to anyone. Invitational: Two-way communication is always more powerful than one-way communication. In pursuit of simplicity, fewer words are better. Consider the following: Version 1: Our goal is to reduce our mean time to repair parameters so that they are perceptually lower than all major competitors inside the United States and out. In a similar vein, we have targeted new product development cycle times, order process times, and other customer-relevant processes for change. Version 2: We are going to become faster than anyone in our industry at satisfying customer needs.Actions Speak Louder Than Words Even more important than what is said is what is done. Leaders who transform their organizations â€Å"walk the talk. † They seek to become a living example of the new corporate culture that the vision aspires to. Nothing undermines a communication program more quickly than inconsistent actions by leadership. Nothing speaks as powerfully as someone who is backing up their words with behavior. When an entire team of senior management starts behaving differently and embodies the change they want to see, it sends a powerful message to the entire organization. These actions increase motivation, inspire confidence and decrease cynicism. STEP 5: Empowering Broad-Based Action Removing as many barriers as possible and unleashing people to do their best work Structural Barriers Many times the internal structures of companies are at odds with the change vision. An organization that claims to want to be customer focused finds its structures fragment resources and responsibilities for products and services. Companies that claim to want to create more local responsiveness have layers of management that second guess and criticize regional decisions.Companies that claim to want to increase productivity and become a low-cost producer have huge staff groups that constantly initiate costly procedures and programs. The list is endless. Many times, these are the most difficult barriers to get past because they are part of the internal structure of the company. Realigning incentives and performance appraisals to reflect the change vision can have a profound effect on the ability to accomplish the change vision. Management information systems can also have a big impact on the successful implementation of a change vision.Up-to-date competitive information and market analysis, and the ability to communicate powerfully and effectively throughout the company in a cost effective way can speed up feedback loops and provide information necessary for people to do their jobs more efficiently. Troublesome Supervisors Another barrier to effective change can be troublesome supervisors. Often these managers have dozens of interrelated habits that add up to a style of management that inhibits change. They may not actively undermine the effort, but they are simply not â€Å"wired† to go along with what the change requires.Often enthusiastic change agents refuse to confront these people. While that approach can work in the early stages of a change initiative, by Step 5 it becomes a real problem. Easy solutions to this problem don’t exist. Sometimes managers will concoct elaborate strategies or attempt manipulation to deal with these people. If done skillfully this only slows the process and, if exposed, looks terrible – sleazy, cruel and unfair – and undermines the entire effort. Typically, the best solution is honest dialogue. STEP 6: Generating Short-term Wins Creating visible, unambiguous success as soon as possibleFor leaders in the middle of a long-term change effort, short-term wins are essential. Running a change effort without attention to short-term performance is extremely risky. The Guiding Coalition becomes a critical force in identifying significant improvements that can happen between six and 18 months. Getting these wins helps ensure the overall change initiative’s success. Research shows that companies that experience significant short-term wins by fourteen and twenty-six months after the change initiative begins are much more likely to complete the transformation.Realizing these improvements is a challenge. In any change initiative, agendas get delayed, there is a desire to ensure that customers are not affected, political forces are at work – all of which slow the ability to perform as promised. However, short-term wins are essential. To ensure success, short term wins must be both visible and unambiguous. The wins must also be clearly related to the change effort. Such wins provide evidence that the sacrifices that people are making are paying off. This increases the sense of urgency and the optimism of those who are making the effort to change.These wins also serve to reward the change agents by providing positive feedback that boosts morale and motivation. The wins also serve the practical purpose of helping to fine tune the vision and the strategies. The guiding coalition gets important information that allows them to course-correct. Short-term wins also tend to undermine the credibility of cynics and self-serving resistors. Clear improvements in performance make it difficult for people to block the needed change. Likewise, these wins will garner critical support from those higher than the folks leading the change (bosses, board, and shareholders).Finally, short-term wins have a way of building momentum that turns neutral people into supporters, and reluctant supporters into active helpers. Planning not Praying Short-term wins rarely simply happen. They are usually the result of careful planning and effort. Why don’t people plan for these? Often they are overwhelmed with the tasks of the change effort and simply take their eye off this particular ball. In other cases, people don’t even try because they believe that you can’t produce major change and short-term performance results. Finally, the lack of short-term wins can often be traced back to insufficient management expertise on the Guiding Coalition or a lack of commitment by key managers to the change initiative. Pressure to Perform Clearly the need to get short-term wins adds a great deal of pressure to an organization in the midst of a transformation effort. However, when done skillfully, the need to create short-wins can actually increase the sense of true urgency and actually accomplishing these goals does much to cement the change initiative. STEP 7: Dont Let Up! Consolidating gains and producing more changeResistance is always waiting in the wings to re-assert itself. Even if you are successful in the early stages, you may just drive resistors underground where they wait for an opportunity to emerge when you least expect it. They may celebrate with you and then suggest taking a break to savor the victory. The consequences of letting up can be very dangerous. Whenever you let up before the job is done, critical momentum can be lost and regression may soon follow. The new behaviors and practices must be driven into the culture to ensure long-term success. Once regression begins, rebuilding momentum is a daunting task.In a successful major change initiative, by step 7 you will begin to see: †¢More projects being added †¢Additional people being brought in to help with the changes †¢Senior leadership focused on giving clarity to an aligned vision and shared purpose †¢Employees empowered at all levels to lead projects †¢Reduced interdependencies between areas †¢Constant effort to keep urgency high †¢Consistent show of proof that the new way is working A Long Road Leadership is invaluable in surviving Step 7. Instead of declaring victory and moving on, these transformational leaders will launch more and more projects to drive the change deeper into the organization.They will also take the time to ensure that all the new practices are firmly grounded in the organization’s culture. Managers, by their nature, think in shorter timeframes. It is up to leaders to steer the course for the long-term. Without sufficient and consistent leadership, the change will stall, and succeeding in a rapidly changing world becomes highly problematic. STEP 8: Make It Stick Anchoring new approaches in the culture for sustained change New practices must grow deep roots in order to remain firmly planted in the culture. Culture is composed of norms of behavior and shared values.These social forces are incredibly strong. Every individual that joins an organization is indoctrinated into its culture, generally without even realizing it. Its inertia is maintained by the collective group of employees over years and years. Changes – whether consistent or inconsistent with the old culture – are difficult to ingrain. This is why cultural change comes in Step 8, not Step 1. Some general rules about cultural change include: †¢Cultural change comes last, not first †¢You must be able to prove that the new way is superior to the old †¢The success must be visible and well communicated You will lose some people in the process †¢You must reinforce new norms and values with incentives and rewards – including promotions †¢Reinforce the culture with every new employee Tradition is a powerful force. We keep change in place by creating a new, supportive and sufficiently strong organizational culture. A Guiding Coalition alone cannot root change in place no matter how strong they are. It takes the majority of the organization truly embracing the new culture for there to be any chance of success in the long term.