Are you resisting change? It’s natural, normal & highly predictable!

Everyone resists change. Some people HATE change & are strong resistors. Some others like change and have little resistance.

Even though I teach the normal way that people go through change, sometimes I forget about it as I am experiencing change.

Last week all of the Global Partners of The Haines Centre for Strategic Management were in Calgary for a meeting. We were reviewing some legal documents to ensure safety and longevity for our intellectual property – our models, articles, tools, workshops, etc.

We are tightening up our structure and some people are resisting. A few do not want to change from our former written agreements. They seemed simpler. No lawyers were involved. This is the way we used to do things!

In any change – whether you are modifying your legal documents, implementing a strategic plan or adopting a new process – people feel loss. They sense they are leaving something behind. Everyone feels loss during change, some more than others.

What they are losing could be:

• Status – you perceive your position or prestige will be lower

• Relationships – your contacts and interactions with others could be different

• Structure – how you organize your day, where you work, how you commute could be altered

• Future – what you thought your life in the future would look like

• Meaning – your idea of why or how you contribute would change

• Autonomy – you think you might have less freedom to make decisions

• Identity – who you define yourself as might be different

• Support – you might perceive that how and where you get information and backing will change

• Satisfaction – how you achieve fulfillment might be altered

In our legal discussions some of the Global Partners were feeling a loss of “the way we do things.” They thought our old way of agreements was fine.

I had to remember that feeling loss is natural, normal & highly predictable. I had to acknowledge that loss, and talk to them about letting go of the past in order to move forward.

We are all normal. Don’t rush people through change. Let them feel the losses and then help them move forward past those losses.

That’s what we did during our discussions, and were able to continue with the discussions.

Change is never easy. If you’d like some coaching in being a better leader through change, contact me at Valerie.MacLeod@HainesCentre.com

Here’s some other blog posts on change: Are you building walls or windmills? Is it sabotage or normal resistance? & Want change? Let the tribe do it!