Change Intelligence: Use the Power of CQ to Lead Change That Sticks

by Barbara A. Trautlein

Whether you’re on the front line or in the executive suite, you can build your “Change Intelligence®”―and create results that matter at all levels of the organization. In today’s business world, everyone knows that we all face constant change, whether it’s the implementation of a new IT system, a reorganization, or a full merger or acquisition. We also know that the ability to handle such change makes the difference between success and failure―and has a direct effect on the bottom line. Because we understand this, twenty-first century executives, supervisors, and project managers have plenty of methodologies for managing change. Yet, somehow, our failure rate when we try to implement major organizational change is still shockingly high. In this innovative guide, Barbara Trautlein argues that our current approaches are inadequate when they are not used in tandem with a deep understanding of Change Intelligence®, or CQ®―the skill set that allows you to lead your team or company through vital transformations. You’ll explore how to lead change by engaging the Heart, enlightening the Head, and equipping the Hands, which when combined enable you to overcome resistance and achieve results. And once you learn your own Change Leader Style, you’ll go on to discover practical strategies for leveraging your strengths and shoring up your weak spots. Trautlein, a leading authority on change leadership, keeps the theory light and delves into insightful case studies drawn from her decades of experience working with hundreds of top organizations as well as from her research derived from the global Change Intelligence/CQ Assessment® database of thousands of change leaders around the world. Her example- and evidence-based approach will help you plainly see how you can start driving real transformation―not by adopting yet another new tool but by bolstering your own capacity for change leadership.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Leadership

250 pages, Hardcover

First published May 14, 2013

Reviews

[Frederick Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be an effective project manager, you must be able to connect with people (Executives, project team members, etc.) in a manner that improves project success. This book helps you to identify your change adaptability; then defines how people at all levels respond to change.
With this knowledge, we have a better opportunity to accomplish things on a relationship level.

[Thegirlintheafternoon · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars.

[Synexe · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE MAIN IDEA

Everybody deals with change differently. So too, people lead change differently. Barbara Trautlein argues that people tend to approach change leadership with a combination of three specific approaches – heart (people), head (purpose), or hands (process). Your Change Intelligence (CQ) is how you combine these three aspects together as a change leader. Knowing you and your team member’s CQ helps you know not only your respective strengths and weaknesses but also provides a road map for you and your team to ensure that you provide a balance of CQ across the organization to improve your organization’s chances of bringing about a successful change process.

INTERESTING TIDBIT

Trautlein holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from the University of Michigan.

WHAT YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW

Each of us has a particular CQ which is a combination of how we engage with one another. Are you more a ‘heart’ person who engages well with people, or are you a ‘head’ person who can see the whole plan, or are you instead a ‘hands’ person who likes doing. Trautlein has come up with seven change leader styles – depending on your particular CQ. These are:

- Coach (Heart)
- Visionary (Head)
- Executor (Hands)
- Champion (Heart + Head)
- Driver (Head + Hands)
- Facilitator (Heart + Hands)
- Adaptor (Heart + Head + Hands)

Trautlein then describes in considerable detail how each of these change leadership styles play out for three different levels of change leader: executive; project manager; and supervisor. Embedding each of these descriptions around narratives of particular change leaders the book provides a detailed ‘how-to’ prescription for leaders to best understand how they and their team can work together in any change program.

THE GENERAL OVERVIEW

This is a really great ‘how-to’ manual. Trautlein’s CQ schema is simple yet makes lots of sense for anyone engaged in organizational change processes. The real strengths of the book though is not the schema itself though – although that is a very useful tool – but rather in the in-depth descriptions and prescriptions of how these seven different types of change leadership styles work. In doing this, Trautlein has provided a book worthy of being read by all change managers and executives involved in organizational change processes.

I can see this book easily becoming one of those dog-eared works that gets handed around an office, containing as it does valuable knowledge on how to successfully lead change processes. Simple and exceedingly readable, the book provides very concrete information on how individuals and groups can best come together – building on their respective strengths and weaknesses – to provide as robust a change management group as possible: from the executive leadership level all the way through to the ‘shop floor’.

[Bwebb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Assessed as a Coach...practical application for self-improvement and change momentum. Good Read.