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Three Easy Ways to Share Knowledge

We commit to provide you FREE online Change Articles and Tools of real value, and to make it easy to share them with your colleagues and clients. Below is a list of ALL of our free articles and tools (the articles are presented first, followed by the change tools), including the title and description for each. Next to each article and tool you will find three buttons that will make reprinting or emailing to your colleagues easier:

• Use the button to view and download the PDF version of each article and tool. The PDF version is optimized for printing. It's also easy to attach the PDF file to an email message to share it with a colleague.



• Use the button to email the title, description and link for an article or tool to as many as five colleagues at a time. You can even include a personalized note.
This is especially helpful to those recipients who are reluctant to open a PDF attachment from any email message.


• Use the button to view and copy HTML code to be pasted into the pages of your website.
Once the code is pasted into your website (or e-Newsletter, or email, etc.) your site will have a link to a free article or tool. This is a great way to add value to your website and give your website's visitors a reason to return.

View Just the Tools and Articles You Need!

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Use the following links to view tools and articles by topic:

All Change Articles PDF Email HTML A Candid Message to Senior Leaders: Ten Ways to Dramatically Increase the Success of Your Change Efforts http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200401/ Description: A frank and pragmatic letter to senior executives about what they need to start doing, stop doing, or change doing to effectively sponsor and lead large, transformational change efforts. .................................................................................................................................. A Candid Message to Senior Leaders: Ten Ways to Dramatically Increase the Success of Your Change Efforts, Part II http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200402/ Description: Learn the dos and don'ts of executive sponsorship. In this second installment, we offer pragmatic guidance about human and cultural dynamics, project integration and setting realistic timelines for transformational success. .................................................................................................................................. A Candid Message to Senior Leaders: Ten Ways to Dramatically Increase the Success of Your Change Efforts, Part III http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200403/ Description: Increase your change leadership expertise. In this third installment, you will learn key engagement strategies, how to course correct your change to find your best solutions, criteria for choosing the right change leaders, and how to best manage your external consultants. .................................................................................................................................. A Note to Employees: How to Contribute to Your Organization's Change Effort http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200503/ Description: This article challenges frontline workers and staff to consciously choose how they want to contribute to their organization's change efforts. It also offers pragmatic advice and frames key issues to consider. .................................................................................................................................. Awake at the Wheel: Moving Beyond Change Management to Conscious Change Leadership http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/12001/ Description: Discover what you need to become a successful change leader, and why change management is insufficient to support transformational change. .................................................................................................................................. Building Union/Management Partnerships for Enterprise Success http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200311/ Description: Performance losses from finger-pointing and blame often permeate union-management relations. In this article, we will outline the keys to building successful union-management partnerships that will dramatically improve your organization's performance and simultaneously increase employee morale. .................................................................................................................................. Building Your Change Strategy: How to Ensure Your Effort Is on Track http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200505/ Description: In this article, we identify the three key aspects of a comprehensive change strategy and the ten core elements you will need to consider in developing your own. .................................................................................................................................. Ensuring Stability During Change http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200611/ Description: During the complexity of change, one of the smartest things you can do as a leader is to consciously create the experience of stability. This article presents six strategies for ensuring stability while your organization changes. .................................................................................................................................. Ensuring Your Organization's Capacity to Change http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200601/ Description: Do you have the capacity in your organization to succeed at change AND current operations? Or, will one succeed at the expense of the other? This article examines the issue of managing capacity across change and operations, and recommends how leaders can deal with it to increase their success at both. .................................................................................................................................. Getting Smart About Employee Resistance to Change: Part One http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200204/ Description: Overcome one of the primary challenges of leading change. Learn what causes employee resistance, what resolves it, and how to work with it to maximize the results you achieve in your change efforts. .................................................................................................................................. Getting Smart About Employee Resistance to Change: Part Two http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200205/ Description: Gain insight about how to deal with the deep-seated resistance catalyzed by peoples' core psychological issues, and how you can work with these substantial mental, emotional and behavioral forces to make your change efforts more successful. .................................................................................................................................. How Command and Control as a Change Leadership Style Causes Transformational Change Efforts to Fail http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200206/ Description: Discover the limitations of command and control as a change leadership style, and why a "co-creative" style produces significantly greater results in nine out of ten transformational change efforts. .................................................................................................................................. How Developing Breath Control Can Make You a Better Change Leader http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200308/ Description: Learn a very simple and practical breathing technique to deepen your relaxation, increase your concentration, and optimize your performance during challenging situations. .................................................................................................................................. How To Be A Strong Leader In The Face Of Uncertainty http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200406/ Description: The fear and confusion of uncertainty can tarnish your change effort. Rather than feel responsible for providing answers, learn how to use uncertainty to engage your people and deepen their commitment to your transformation. .................................................................................................................................. How to Build a Critical Mass of Support to Accelerate Your Change http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200212/ Description: Support from stakeholders is essential to the success of every change effort. In this article, we will first define critical mass, and then outline how to develop a critical mass strategy. .................................................................................................................................. How To Build Your In-House Change Resources To Maximize Your ROI From Change http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200310/ Description: Continually relying on external change expertise is not a sound long-term strategy. Developing your organization's internal change capability is key to your sustained success. This article describes why, and outlines the nine key components that will get you on your way. .................................................................................................................................. How to Hire the Right Kind of Change Consultant http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200304/ Description: With major change so widespread in organizations, the need for consulting support has grown exponentially-as have the number and kinds of change consultants to service it. As a leader of complex transformational change, how do you know what kind of help you need, and when? .................................................................................................................................. How to Implement a Common Change Methodology to Increase Your Organization's Change Results and Skill http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200208/ Description: In this article, we outline a seven-step process that will enable your organization to actually implement a common approach to change and maximize your return on this key investment. .................................................................................................................................. How to Increase Employee Commitment to Change http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200112/ Description: Employees more readily commit to change when they understand why it is occurring and how it will benefit them and their organization. Learn how to use a very effective tool to provide this "big picture" understanding and generate greater employee commitment. .................................................................................................................................. How to Simultaneously Build Your Organization's Capacity for On-going Change WHILE You Succeed in Your Current Change http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200203/ Description: Learn seven key practices for building your organization's change capability that you can immediately implement without burdening your organization with yet another improvement program. .................................................................................................................................. How to Use a Change Audit to Ensure That Your Change Effort is on the Right Course http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200305/ Description: Wouldn't you REALLY like to know if the change you are leading is happening in a way that will actually produce the results you need? .................................................................................................................................. How to Use Decision-Making as a Tool for Successful Transformation http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200210/ Description: In this article, we will reveal the keys to effective decision-making, identify why decision-making has such widespread impact on the success of transformational change initiatives, and provide tips and a simple yet effective decision-making tool to increase the positive impact of your decision-making. .................................................................................................................................. Letting Go of the Past: A Proactive Strategy to Lower Resistance and Accelerate Change http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200511/ Description: Discover how to support your people to emotionally let go of their past practices in order to take on and accelerate the success of your new directions. .................................................................................................................................. Making In-Roads With Senior Leaders http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/32001/ Description: This article provides proven tips and strategies to OD Practitioners and other consultants about how to have greater impact with their senior leader clients. .................................................................................................................................. Mindset: The Unseen Reason Why Enterprise-wide Change Efforts Fail http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200209/ Description: In this article, we will address the usually unspoken about, central reason why enterprise-wide change fails. .................................................................................................................................. Selecting The Best Change Process Leader To Oversee Your Transformation http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200404/ Description: Choosing the right change leader to oversee your transformation is one of the most important decisions you can make. In this article, you will learn their required attributes, how to define their role and authority, and how to select and position them for maximum success. .................................................................................................................................. Self Mastery: Why It Is Key to Your Change Leadership Success http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200306/ Description: Discover the personal changes that most leaders need to make in order to successfully meet the challenges of leading transformation in their organizations. .................................................................................................................................. Strategies and Tactics for Executive Change Sponsors http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200509/ Description: Change sponsorship is a hot topic these days, and for good reason. Our nearly thirty years of research shows that few change efforts succeed if they have inadequate executive level sponsorship. We find that most senior executives do not understand what is required of them as a sponsor of change, especially transformational change. Some lack the skills or desire; others simply do not put in the time required on the right sponsorship tasks. Some executives get too involved in the details of change; others are nowhere to be found. Most put their operational duties ahead of their change sponsorship duties, and wonder why their change efforts flounder. And the vast majority of change sponsors simply think their sponsorship job is done once the change effort is adequately kicked-off. Do you fit any of these scenarios? Do you have what it takes to succeed as a change sponsor? This article reveals the eight key skills and responsibilities that you need to develop, and clarifies your role and interface with your executive peers. The change leaders and practitioners your work with will also find this article invaluable. .................................................................................................................................. Ten Questions that Catalyze Great Change Leadership, Part One http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200301/ Description: A good change consultant's primary job is to catalyze insight and clear thinking in their clients so they are able to lead their organization's change efforts with greater skill and competency. Sometimes the catalyst for such insight is another executive who knows to ask the questions that promote the right type of thinking and actions to support change. .................................................................................................................................. Ten Questions that Catalyze Great Change Leadership, Part Two http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200303/ Description: This article contains the second set of questions used to catalyze insight and clear thinking in your clients so they are able to lead their organization's change efforts with greater skill and competency. .................................................................................................................................. The Change Leader's Roadmap: How To Navigate The Complexities Of Your Organization's Transformation http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200405/ Description: Transformation is complex and dynamic. Knowing what to do -- and when and how to do it -- is a major challenge. In this overview, you will discover how to use the nine-phase Change Leader's Roadmap to plan, design and implement your major change efforts successfully. .................................................................................................................................. The Five Keys to Successful Executive Coaching http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200211/ Description: Executives have never before been as challenged in their roles as they are today. In this article, we describe the five keys to success that we believe will make every coach, and the executives they work with, far more successful. .................................................................................................................................. The Principles of Conscious Transformation http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200410/ Description: After twenty years of coaching change leaders and consulting to their transformation efforts, we have identified ten operating principles that promote conscious transformational leadership. Inevitably, when we see transformational change efforts working, we can trace the success to these principles being used, purposefully or intuitively, in the shaping of the change strategy, plan and communications. When the change effort sputters, the cause is more often than not because the change leaders have made decisions or taken action inconsistent with these principles. .................................................................................................................................. The Principles of Conscious Transformation, Part I http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200411/ Description: Learn about the ten operating principles that promote conscious transformational leadership. Experience demonstrates that applying these principles in the planning and oversight of change increases the probability of your success. .................................................................................................................................. The Principles of Conscious Transformation, Part II http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200501/ Description: In this issue, we will complete the list of ten and continue to provide examples of how they can be used to shape your change strategy and activities. Read the entire list with through the eyes of how to use them to assess your current change plans, how they can inform your plans going forward, and how to make them overt as principles that can support not only your changes but sound business strategy. .................................................................................................................................. The Six Faulty Assumptions About Change Communications http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200602/ Description: This article identifies the six faulty assumptions and practices that limit the effectiveness of change communications. Are these occuring in your organization? If so, try these strategies to correct them. .................................................................................................................................. The Strategic Importance of Change Leaders Modeling the Change http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200409/ Description: This article addresses the critical importance of leaders walking the talk of the changes they are asking of their organizations -- in mindset, behavior, and relationships. It poses three questions to raise this flag, identify the personal changes leaders need to make, and explore strategies to accomplish this development in support of the change. .................................................................................................................................. The Ten Critical Actions For Leading Successful Transformation http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200312/ Description: Based on twenty-five years of action research, here are the ten most critical actions you can take to ensure the success of your transformational change efforts. .................................................................................................................................. Transformational Sponsorship: How To Create A Project Leader/Sponsor Partnership That Maximizes Change Results http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200309/ Description: In this article, we will provide tips and tools for building a sponsor / project lead partnership that will virtually guarantee that your change efforts produce maximum results. .................................................................................................................................. Tying Your Change Strategy To Your Business Strategy http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200111/ Description: Many of the classic employee resistance and commitment problems miraculously disappear when you overtly demonstrate how your change effort is the implementation of your business strategy. Here's why, and how to make it happen in your organization. .................................................................................................................................. Upgrade Your OD and Project Management Staff to Change Strategy Consultants http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200507/ Description: Internal OD, Project Management and Change Management staffs are useful but inadequate support to the high level needs of transformational change. Read how to upgrade them all into Change Strategy Consultants, and reposition them to support the success of major changes from the beginning. .................................................................................................................................. Which Will Be Most Successful for Your Current Change Effort - A Change Process Approach or a Change Tool Approach? http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/200202/ Description: Both the change process and the change tool approach have their benefits and limitations. Learn the differences between the two, which generates greater success, and how to make your decision about which approach you should take. .................................................................................................................................. Why Leading Transformation Successfully Requires a Shift of Leadership Mindset http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/articles/22001/ Description: This article explains why transforming leadership mindset is a critical requirement of all successful transformational change efforts. ..................................................................................................................................

All Change Tools PDF Email HTML Change Leadership Team Assessment http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/tools/CT005/ Description: Use this tool to assess and improve the operational and relationship effectiveness of each of your change teams. .................................................................................................................................. Creating Conditions For Success http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/tools/CT004/ Description: Establish the greatest probability of achieving your desired change results. Use this change tool to identify, build and maintain the conditions most critical to your change effort's success. .................................................................................................................................. Defining Your Key Change Leadership Roles And Responsibilities http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/tools/CT010/ Description: Learn the six most critical change leadership roles and their unique responsibilities, then tailor them to fit your particular change effort. .................................................................................................................................. Determining the Accurate Scope of Your Change Effort http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/tools/CT012/ Description: Mis-diagnosing the scope of your change effort ensures its failure. Use this tool to accurately diagnose your initiative's scope and its organizational and human impacts so you can plan effectively. .................................................................................................................................. Hearing The Wake-Up Call For Change http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/tools/CT008/ Description: Hear the early warning signals. Avoid upheaval. Get focused on your needed change. Use this tool to sort through the many signals calling for change in your organization so you minimize disruption and maximize progress. .................................................................................................................................. How To Design A Course Correction System That Accelerates Your Results From Change http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/tools/CT011/ Description: Successful change always entails numerous course corrections. Use this tool to determine your methods for continuously discovering how you need to alter your change effort to succeed. .................................................................................................................................. How To Determine Your Desired Outcomes For Change http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/tools/CT007/ Description: Use the tips in this tool to determine and refine your desired outcomes so they generate high levels of commitment and align collective action across your organization. .................................................................................................................................. How to Identify Your Project Community http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/tools/CT013/ Description: Use this tool to "map" your change project community so you can clearly see who is involved, who is impacted, who must provide support, and who must participate to succeed. .................................................................................................................................. Identifying and Understanding the Targets of Your Change http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/tools/CT014/ Description: This tool assists you to determine the various groups impacted by your change effort, and to identify what they each will need to fully commit to making the change a success. .................................................................................................................................. Identifying The Initiatives Within Your Change Effort, And How They Fit Together http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/tools/CT009/ Description: Un-integrated change initiatives consume more resources than necessary, slow progress and produce confusion. Use this tool to identify, integrate and coordinate your initiatives so you can get the greatest results with the least effort. .................................................................................................................................. Identifying The Type Of Your Change http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/tools/CT006/ Description: Avoid numerous costly mistakes by accurately identifying the specific type of your organization's change, so you can create a change strategy and process plan suited to your unique challenges and needs. .................................................................................................................................. Identifying Your Drivers of Change http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/tools/CT003/ Description: Identifying your drivers of change will enable you to make many critical change activities better, such as your case for change, change strategy, communication plan, project integration strategy, and change leadership development process. .................................................................................................................................. The Drivers of Change: Sample Case Application http://www.beingfirst.com/changeresources/tools/CT002/ Description: Use this hybrid case example to discover how to best craft your organization's case for change. ..................................................................................................................................