Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Leaders Embrace Change

Q. Why do some people resist change? We need it to improve!

A. There are several reasons why people resist change, and I’ll share the most common reasons. First, people don’t resist change; they resist being changed. They feel they have no voice in the decision to change, yet it may impact them. They will also resist it if they don’t see any benefit to the change.

Second, people resist change when they feel fearful. The most common fears are: losing control, uncertainty, losing freedom, the unknown, failure, or not being included to contribute. Even if the problems could be solved or the situation could be improved, the lack of certainty will make people resistant. People can be more comfortable with the problems they know than the new solutions that will impact them and cause the unknown.

Third, personally people may lack the confidence to adapt. They may be afraid they cannot learn a new way or technology, so they resist it. The comfort zone, the status quo is an environment that lacks rapid improvement, openness to learning and sharing, and progress. More importantly, while mere change may occur, people can change back.

While improvement requires change, not all change is an improvement. That is why transformative change is the most important kind of change that executives must lead. Transformation is hard and essential in any organization. Great leaders embrace the changes that not only make improvements, but take the organization into the future.