Players in the change process
1.) Strategists
2.) Recipients
3.) Implementers

Strategists( Leaders of change) Recipients Implementers
As strategists , change practitioners( consultants) , need to identify the need for change. They are the adopters or adapters of change . They have the power to influence strategy( what needs doing can whether is can be done) and implantations They carry out the actions to make the vision of the strategists become reality. They also facilitate change
May involve a situational assessment or diagnostic They have the power to influence change through their readiness for change. They may be granted certain degree of discretion in a change plan.
Provide an idea of a desired future state and devise a strategy on how to get there from where the current situation is. If they resist change the change effort would be futile. Readiness can be achieved either positively( appealing to individual self interest) or negatively( creating dissatisfaction with current state of affairs) They may even need to do the planning themselves including specific interventions to achieve a mandated outcome.
Need to decide the extent of the change, identify hurdles and obstacles and devise ways to solve them They manage the day to day issues of change. They need to be able to coordinate activities and people and have skills in troubleshooting- need communication skills and flexibility within the constraints of delivering a specific result.
Need to prioritise which tasks are more important They use tactical interventions to deal with transition issues and resistance. Therefore they determine the degree to which change targets participate
Understand cause effect relationships They have to recognize and assess skills gaps and try to close them.
They need to have access to resources and information that others in the org may not have.

IE CEOs, Top exe, external consultants. As they handle the intended and unintended impediments to the change process, they also implicitly engage in the distribution of reward and punishment to facilitate the change
** Many issues can undermine the relationship between the 3 roles in a change process.

IE Recipients of c change may be so far removed from the need for change that the distance between them and strategist become so wide it is irreconcilable.
A strategist and implementer may not be able to fully understand how the change looks like to the recipients and how it impacts them.