Identifies the five key qualities of people and organisations with the courage and insight to inspire positive change. For every business, the choice is stark: "Change - or die." At any moment, two-thirds of companies claim to be in the midst of some type of organisational revamping. But most of these initiatives fail; the business landscape is littered with the carcasses of glants who were unable to adapt to change - Digital, Prime, Wang, and Polaroid, to name a few. What many companies fail to recognize is that organisational change needs to come from within, no matter how profound the external forces. Positive change requires "change agents" throughout the organisation - those individuals who can translate the strategic vision of leaders into pragmatic behaviour. They will be the early adopters of the new values, actions, and skills required by the company. This book identifies the qualities of great change agents and how these skills can be mastered to serve as a catalyst for change throughout the organisation. Illustrating these principles through examples from world-class organisations, Dealy and Thomas demonstrate the techniques for acquiring and executing those skills - and how corporate leaders can encourage and reward this behaviour, creating a culture of risk-taking, innovation, and a focus on the future. From experienced executives to entry-level employees, readers will learn that great change agents challenge the status quo; stoke the fire of creativity; embrace the necessity of conflict; manage risk rather than avoid it; and develop new change agents.