Change Is Everybody's Business [Paperback]

Patricia McLagan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2002

Change is happening all the time, both planned and unplanned. It's how people respond to change that determines their personal success and, ultimately, the success of their entire organization. Change Is Everybody's Business provides insights and action ideas for people in all workplace roles so they can be conscious and influential participants in change.

The author points out that executives can formulate strategy but it's the everyday actions of lower-level employees that make change happen. She demonstrates how everyone in an organization has the ability to make positive changes, beginning by acknowledging the power they already have. Written in a conversational and supportive style, the book outlines the beliefs, skills, and actions that will enable anyone to welcome and take advantage of change rather than fear and resist it.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

McLagan is president and CEO of the RITE stuff, Inc., a service and publishing company dedicated to accelerating change in organizations worldwide. She has worked with such diverse groups as Vietnam vets, NASA astronauts, and South African apartheid victims to assist them in handling the dramatic changes and cultural shock that they have had to go through. This little handbook is designed to assist the reader in accessing their deeply held beliefs and work through resistance and negative emotions to effect powerful changes in their personal and professional lives, with an emphasis on leadership in the workplace. It contains a number of questionnaires and worksheets designed to address specific beliefs that hold us back, and character lessons, which harness emotions, rather than suppress them, to help us determine our strengths and weaknesses. Designed to unleash personal power, this book can help determine what really drives our behavior and reactions to the challenges around us, with some free thinking to get us out of habitual patterns. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Pat McLagan is President and CEO of theRITEstuff, Inc. and McLagan International, Inc. McLagan is the fifteenth person and second woman inducted into the Human Resource Development Hall of Fame, and is a member of the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame. She has consulted and taught at organizations such as GE, NASA, and Citibank. She is also the co-host of "The Changing World of Work," an Internet radio show on VoiceAmerica.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers (May 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576751902
• ISBN-13: 978-1576751909
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,668,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Change is YOUR business!!, June 13, 2002

By 

G. Bellman (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Change Is Everybody's Business (Paperback)

Pat McLagan probably did not know that the last 30 years of work with organizations were preparing to write this book. All that experience shows in this book, written especially for you and me. She knows that change is not dictated by management; she knows that it doesn't happen quickly; she knows that it takes real work on the part of everyone affected. She cuts through much of the complication by focussing on what one individual (namely: the reader) can do to make change happen around him/herself.

McLagan emphasizes belief, character, and action--and offers specific steps to strengthen yourself in each of the three areas. This one of the real strengthes of the book. She also engages you with questionnaires and suggestions and exercises--all of which make it more likely you will do something about what you've read.

And this book is not just about work; it's also about the changes you'd like to make in the rest of your life. Her change wisdom applies whether you are at home or at work; the basic dynamics are much the same. But be prepared to held responsible; she expects YOU to do something about it.

McLagan's writing style is engaging, and her book is layed out in an attractive and readable format. This is the kind of book that everyone on a work team (or a company) could learn from together.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a practical guide, relevant to any change situation, June 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Change Is Everybody's Business (Paperback)

This book contains three sections that relate to change: powerful beliefs, powerful character, and powerful actions. The author looks at how each of these affect changes and our experience with them. Each section is followed by a questionnaire that allows you to rate your own beliefs, character, and actions against the recommendations in the book. Though the book primarily deals with change in the context of work or professional life, it would be applicable to other life changes as well.

This is a simple yet powerful book; it gives the reader a nice guide to navigating through the often rocky terrain of change. I'd recommend it as a basic roadmap to whatever your change is. It will help you sift through all the issues that change brings up, and leave you with a well thought out plan for managing your change more effectively and successfully.

I would not recommend this book as a stringent review of best practices in business change or change management. This book is more for the individual working through change on a personal level. There are other books or reports that cover these areas at the org level - this book doesn't (nor does it mean to). However, the author speaks from a history of work with organizational change, and it does show that individual beliefs and actions will affect team or group change efforts every time. This book could be a nice supplement to a strategic change management plan for employees or team members.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Manage or Be Managed by Change!, June 13, 2002

By 

winglessflight (ATLANTA, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Change Is Everybody's Business (Paperback)

This is a perfect book to gain knowledge as well as skill in dealing with change (personal, organizational or societal). Ms. McLagan presents ideas, concepts and actionable and implementable advice to deal with the options that confront us.

Unlike many of the "popular" change management books, this book has "depth" in content as well as presentation. It doesn't create "guilt", it isn't "cutesy" and it is absolutely relevant to the world's current siyuation.

I have read most of the change management literature and this book is a "must read"! It is personal, logical, emotional and well illustrated.

Thank you!