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Spark a Movement

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Engaging Stakeholders to Spark a Movement

Igniting Urgency + Building a Guiding Coalition

A Sense of Urgency is arguably the most critical – and often under-leveraged – ingredient in both inspiring and sustaining change. Learn how to create true urgency, and practice how to keep people on board and energized about your change. Then explore how to identify, recruit, engage, and equip a set of people to serve as your Guiding Coalition – spearheading the coordination of efforts over the course of your change.

About This Course

Engaging Stakeholders to Spark a Movement was designed by Kotter experts based on all we have learned through decades of empirical research observing, analyzing, and documenting patterns across thousands of change efforts. This course offers a deep dive into Accelerators 1 + 2 in Kotter’s change framework: Create a Sense of Urgency and Build a Guiding Coalition.

Dr. Kotter wrote the book A Sense of Urgency as, working side by side with organizations undergoing change, he observed that an overwhelming number of those organizations underestimated the importance of creating true urgency as a success factor in achieving their vision.

Too often, leaders believe they have generated a healthy level of urgency across their organization when, in fact, the “urgency” they observe is either insufficient or is masquerading as complacency or false urgency. This course begins by teaching you how to recognize the characteristics of true urgency, and then practice ways to energize large groups of people to move forward together with a sense of shared purpose.

In this course, you will also have the opportunity to dive into the construct of a Guiding Coalition. In the dual operating model – the organizational structure outlined in the Science of Change – the Guiding Coalition serves as the nucleus of the network and the connective tissue to the hierarchy.

As part of the experience, you’ll practice igniting true urgency and building a Guiding Coalition through practical, real-world experiences, including case studies, simulations, and application to your own change initiatives.

With the Science of Change and an Action Plan as your guide, you’ll immediately practice applying what you’re learning, and you will leave the course with tools and techniques for carrying your learning forward.

Core Content

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Who This Course Is For

Engaging Stakeholders to Spark a Movement is ideal for change leaders who are either at the beginning of a change effort or are in the midst of a transformation and are struggling to build sufficient momentum for the change.

While not required, we recommend completing Foundations of Change prior to taking this course.

How Much Time You Can Expect to Invest

4-6 hours of total learning (including interactive activities, practical exercises, and reflection time)

What You’ll Learn

At the completion of this course, you can expect to:

Apply core principles of effective change to your own change initiative(s) and identify ways to enhance your success
Recognize behaviors that occur when people are on board, truly urgent, and actively supporting a change
More effectively engage others in change by addressing their diverse needs, with an emphasis on building an increased sense of urgency
Articulate why a Guiding Coalition is uniquely positioned as an essential driver for successful change
Recruit and engage a diverse set of people who can have the greatest impact on guiding the successful realization of the change
Craft a concrete Action Plan for advancing your individual change initiative(s)

Course Outline | Engaging Stakeholders to Spark a Movement is based on two core content modules:

In this module, you will explore the difference between true urgency, false urgency, and complacency. You will decipher how to identify each, and will learn how to ignite true urgency using an understanding of various styles you can expect to encounter in your change efforts. You will also practice communicating for urgency using a series of tips and tactics for building and maintaining urgency throughout the course of any transformation.

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Once you have practiced building and maintaining urgency for your change, learn about the role of Guiding Coalitions in coordinating, scaling, and sustaining change. Explore the characteristics of an effective Guiding Coalition, and learn how to recruit and build a Guiding Coalition that will help you to move your change forward with far greater chances of success.

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After the Course

Completion Badge

Upon successful completion of this course and your demonstration of understanding of the content, you will receive a verified badge that you can share on LinkedIn, in your email signature, and on your CV. Your badge will be unique to you and will be verified by Credly.

Community Access

Upon completion of this course you will receive a complimentary 6-month subscription to the online Kotter Community, where you can access exclusive content and connect with other Kotter change practitioners, fellow course participants, and Kotter experts.

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