Kotter presents true stories of organizational leaders bringing about change in various situations. When logic and data fail, you have to go for the heart, and Kotter not only shows you how to do this, but he also shows you how others did it as well.

Heart of change is a collection of stories of organizational change brought to life demonstrating a simple pattern:

1. See
2. Feel
3. Change

Kotter emphasizes repeatedly that anyone hoping to lead an organization into new territory needs to focus not only upon spreadsheets loaded with data collected from very respectable, scientific sources, but also upon basic sales skill and follow-through.

He also provides suggestions on how to follow an eight step model for changing an organization including creating a sense of urgency, setting up the right team to lead the change, and making the change stick.

Kotter’s book is not a first-read sort of text. Those aspiring to one-day be managers will find little to help them achieve their ambitions within these pages as the author focuses on the executive board room and what a manager with layers of people beneath him can do to overhaul anything from how money is spent to purchase supplies across the organization to HR practices in support of corporate culture.

Those of us who are not yet operating at this level will likely find the book intangible and difficult to imagine applying, but the message of see-feel-change says something to those of us who are looking for a way to make that first big splash. These stories might contain that pearl of wisdom in them that teaches you how to sell your idea and make your first aggressive move to present a new idea to management that you will use to launch your career.

Buy a copy of The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations from Amazon.com.