The CEO or the General Manager obviously has to be the Lead Change Agent. A successful Lead Change Agent leads an informal network of Change Agents in several layers of the organization in a manner that transcends the published organization chart.

Theory ZYX lays out a rigorous framework for identifying and motivating change agents not only in the upper management but also deep within the organization.


A Change Audit can identify the individuals in the organization who can become effective change agents but may not have been noticed for that role by the senior management.

The nature of the organization and scope of the Change Initiative determine the number of Change Agents needed in each of the various different Change Agent roles. The common mistake is for the senior management to underestimate the number of Change Agents needed.

When considering the Z Axis plan, i.e. vision, strategy and the desired results, the availability of enough Change Agents should be considered.

Good Change Agents are leaders. Leaders should not be confused with managers. Both have their separate place and role in an organization. Sometimes a good manager is also a good leader, other times a good leader is also a good manager. But to assume that a leader and a manager are synonymous is a mistake.

Theory ZYX defines three levels of change agents.

 A change agent is a person who leads the entire change program.  His biggest challenge XE "challenge"  is leading the change agent managers and the change agent workers.  Change agents are like tigers; once let loose, they are hard to control.  Leading change agents is an art.   People are either born as change agent leaders, or they are not — a person who is inherently not a change agent leader cannot be taught to become a change agent leader.

A change agent leader who permeates the organization with change agent managers and change agent workers can move mountains.

 Effective change agents are visionary people.  They can picture vividly the future that is otherwise abstract to most others.

A change agent manager is a change agent who is in a management role.  He deeply understands the vision of change and the strategy to execute it.  He possesses the knowledge and the skill to lead his group in alignment with the objectives of the change initiative.

A change agent worker is a person who passionately makes the change happen.  He is one of the rank and file employees.  He understands the motivations of his coworkers and relates to them but does not necessarily agree with them.  He is an effective ambassador of the change.

 Theory ZYX lays out specific attributes for each one of its 12 elements that characterize good change agents.  The attributes are listed below.

Effective change agents are visionary people.  They can picture vividly the future that is otherwise abstract to most others.  They naturally think out of the box  and are deductive thinkers.

Good change agents are strategic thinkers.  They are easily able to translate vision into strategy.  Further, they naturally keep strategy separate from tactics.  They understand that their tactics may change, but they stick to the strategy.

Good change agents are result orientated.  Fuzzy stuff does not make them feel good; it is the results that they cherish.  They are able to deal with both the logical and psychological aspects of change.  They are action oriented.  Their day-to-day actions establish a climate of diligently working to achieve the desired results.

Successful change agents see change as their friend.  They are ready to make what may seem to others as sacrifices to implement the change — giving up power, losing control, getting out of their comfort zone, and working hard.  They see the change as an opportunity to achieve, to excel, and to personally grow.  They thrive on creativity, innovation, and challenges.