About turn . . .

I’m thinking a lot about change.

Change in an organizational setting.

And I’m battling with the many reasons why people resist change, and why some leaders struggle to support others through it.

Battling not because I don’t understand why people resist – it’s entirely natural that we all do, always, even if for only a short space of time, when any change is imposed upon us.

But battling because some people in a position of responsibility – leaders – don’t seem to be self-aware about their behaviours and their mindset – and probably not only during periods of change but elsewhere in their leadership style.

Change is complicated. It’s often forced upon us by a power we have little control over; we might find ourselves leading a change we don’t agree with; we might be the only person in a group of others resisting the change.

But the mindset of a leader in supporting others through change is important. In organisations I’ve worked in throughout my whole career to date, I’ve seen fantastic examples of strong leaders who support colleagues to transition through protracted, recurrent, unwanted change. They’re the sort of leaders you can trust, and who you want to follow; they’re the ones who you know will do their very best to make it better for you as you both head into a new, less certain future.

And I’ve also seen leaders with the type of mindset that simply will never drive through the change effectively or successively, and who don’t support people during periods of transition. You know the type?

They value you only in relation to what they feel you can do to help them further their own ambition
They see compassion as weakness
They’re always sure that their opinion is right
They deal with people who they think are of little value to them by ignoring them
If you challenge them, they become aggressive and hostile
If they do ever admit to being wrong, they’re only paying lip-service to their admission of error; then they continue doing what they’ve always done.