People don’t resist change, they resist loss

We live in an increasingly fast paced, volatile environment. It seems the one constant is change. Yet there is a truism about change that many overlook. People don’t resist change, they resist loss, or perceived loss. The real art of leadership is to co-create the vision for this uncertain future AND communicate the benefits.

One of the key distinctions between leadership and management is your ability to co-create the vision and lead people into unchartered territory. The necessity for leadership is obvious when responding to a crisis. Yet it is also necessary, and perhaps more difficult, when that compulsion to change is not evident. It comes back to the motivational forces at play. Ask yourself “Are you moving AWAY from something, or are you moving TOWARDS something.” The most compelling motivational force is the former. This motivational drive is prevalent in sales and marketing strategies and leadership strategies.

So when you are leading change you have two choices – you can reframe the motivation drive for change such that you sell the benefits of moving towards, or you can create an artificial crisis or crucible to reflect the potency of this moving away strategy.

Engagement is key. The more you involve your people in the decision making process, the more buy in they will feel. Often the fear and doubt which forms resistance to change is born out of ignorance. Fear and doubt arise from an uncertain future. Tell me of a future that is certain.

It is crucial that you empathise with the type of loss your staff may perceive. This will vary depending on their personal values. It may be relationship, financial, security, autonomy, status or a host of others. Make it a priority to master the communications skills involved in reading, interpreting and eliciting the values of your staff. It may be the best investment in people skills you may make.

Action steps

Here are three actions you can take today:

• Provide the context – sit down with your staff offsite and state the context for change. There are two time points – current and future. Here’s where we are and here’s where we want to be. It’s now the start of a new financial year so if they are wondering why you are doing this simply point out that this is a new year and we need to plan future growth.
  
  
• When in doubt, ask them – if you want to work out what is important to each of your staff the most simply way is to ask them. You can invest in all manner of reading eye movement, sensory cues, language patterns but for heaven’s sake, just ask them first.
  
  
• Have a view – if it is your business then you may already have a firm view of what you want to create, and maybe you don’t want to co-create the vision. Well, you will still need to engage your staff to come along with you. Be flexible in how you communicate the vision. Invite them to opt in. Create little windows of opportunity that they can express their creativity.

by Dennis Roberts

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