Leading Change

Kotter is the author of Leading Change, which is his ninth book of 21 total works, of which 12 are bestsellers. He earned degrees at both the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Business School, and he began teaching at Harvard Business School in 1972. Kotter earned tenure and full professorship at Harvard Business School in 1980, making him one of the youngest professors to earn the position at 33 years old. At the time Leading Change was published, Kotter was the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School, and he has remained a professor emeritus there. Kotter’s articles in the Harvard Business Review set records for sales of reprints, and his work “Accelerate!” won the first-place McKinsey Award in 2012 for best Harvard Business Review article. In 2010, Kotter founded Kotter International, a firm that provides training, certification, and consultation services relating to change in business. Using Kotter’s methods, Kotter International offers programs to improve operational efficiency, develop leadership skills, and change company cultures. Kotter himself, and Kotter International, are respected names in business, specifically in the field of change and leadership development. In 2009, Kotter received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society for Training and Development in recognition of his prolific work and contribution to the training and development field.