A team at McKinsey & Company set out to discover why some companies were able to change and go on to higher performance levels while most others got bogged down. Their research came to the following conclusion: the make-or-break factor is not top management, but a new breed in the middle - real change leaders. Instead of the stereotypical report writers and information transmitters portrayed in the business press, middle-managers assume a new role: the energizing linchpin between customers, employees and senior executives. This volume should be useful to both senior executives and middle-managers. For senior managers, it shows how companies are tapping this new source of leadership capability and how these lessons can be implemented by their own company. For middle-managers, the book shows how to assume a new role, one that enables them to produce at higher levels, and enhance as well as keep their jobs. Jon R. Katzenbach is the author of "The Wisdom of Teams".