In his international bestseller "Leading Change," Kotter provided an action plan for implementing successful transformations. Now, he shines the spotlight on the crucial first step in his framework: creating a sense of urgency by getting people to actually see and feel the need for change.

It all starts with a sense of urgency -- Complacency and false urgency -- Increasing true urgency: one strategy, four tactics -- Tactic one: bring the outside in -- Tactic two: behave with urgency every day -- Tactic three: find opportunity in crises -- Tactic four: deal with NoNos -- Keeping urgency up -- The future: begin today.