Description

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Find out how bold actions by visionary leaders can inspire powerful stories that drive culture change.

Data indicates that most strategic efforts to change a company’s culture fail. So how do companies succeed in this endeavor?

A top strategy professor and two highly successful CEOs found that, in companies that had successfully changed their culture, leaders had taken dramatic actions that embodied the new cultural values. These actions inspired stories that became company legends, repeated in every department and handed on to new employees.

Through compiling and analyzing 150 stories from business leaders who have achieved change, they identified 6 attributes that every successful culture change story has in common:
1.     The actions that build these stories are authentic
2.     These stories "star" the leader
3.     They signal a clean break with the past, and a clear path to the future
4.     They appeal to employee heads and hearts
5.     They’re often theatrical or dramatic
6.     They’re told, and re-told, throughout the organization

With extensive and inspiring examples of stories containing these attributes, the authors illustrate how readers can harness the power of stories within their company in order to change or create a winning culture to align with any strategy.

About the Author

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Manoel Amorim is a serial CEO, whose most visible culture transformation project was celebrated in a Harvard Business School case (Telesp). He led 4 publicly traded companies and has been a Board Director several times in 6 different countries.
Jay B. Barney is one of the top three most cited scholars in the field of strategic management, who has published over 125 articles and book chapters, along with 7 books. He is a full-time professor at Eccles School of Management at the University of Utah.
Carlos Julio has 9 books published in Latin America and Europe with over 300,000 copies sold since 2001. He is a visiting professor in four prestigious MBA Schools in Brazil. He hosts a daily short business radio program and a weekly business TV program.

Praise For…

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“The Secret of Culture Change tackles one of the most difficult challenges business leaders face: transforming their organization’s culture to support strategies that work. In this beautifully written book, Barney, Amorim, and Júlio explore how over fifty business leaders provided leadership by building organizational stories that empowered their organizations and transformed their cultures. This insightful book walks the reader through the successful attributes of how these leaders built stories to change their organizational cultures. A must-read for CEOs, managers, and academics interested in leadership!”
—Sharon Alvarez, Thomas W. Olofson Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies, Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, and President, Academy of Management

“Building a culture that is consistent with timeless principles, at every level and across every department, is central to long-term success. Jay, Manoel and Carlos compiled incredible examples of ways to build and scale this kind of culture, applicable to business leaders in any industry and at every stage of maturity.”
—Dan Burton, CEO, Health Catalyst

“This book is the first to offer a how-to of culture change—not storytelling but story building, where business leaders construct narratives that break with the past in ways that inspire culture change that aligns with new strategic opportunities. Barney, Amorim, and Júlio weave together a fascinating set of stories and actionable lessons from brilliant and deliberate business leaders who have used the power of story building to realize their strategic goals. The result is instructive and engaging—an essential read for anyone who leads people.”
—Jennifer Chatman, Associate Dean; cofounder and Codirector, Berkeley Culture Center; and Cortese Distinguished Professor of Management, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley

“After thirty years of writing, speaking, and leading, the most important thing I’ve learned is that people don’t remember anything you said. All they remember is the stories you build. It is only through these stories that we can be our most authentic selves, engage the heads and hearts of others, and influence people to change. The Secret of Culture Change shows you how this is done. This is a must-read book for any leader or manager seeking to transform their culture and organization from the inside out.”
—Sean Covey, President, FranklinCovey Education, and coauthor of the #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller The 4 Disciplines of Execution

“The Secret of Culture Change is the perfect blueprint for using authentic story building to align your organizational culture with your business strategy. This is a book that every business leader should read.”
—Jeff Danley, cofounder and CIO, Peak Capital Partners

“Brilliant! Change is the new normal. But culture change is notoriously messy and difficult. This book identifies the ingredients you need to build powerful stories that will create culture change in your organization.”
—Geoff Davis, CEO, Sorenson Impact Center, and former CEO, Cicero Impact Capital