"Those with ears, let them hear"

Leading change? Meeting resistance? Engage or eliminate? Don't eliminate or isolate resisters. Consider fully and aggressively engaging them. Aggressive engagement does not mean hostile but that frame of mind may assist in creating a sense of urgency for leaders and change champions in dealing with resisters relentlessly. Failure on the part of leaders to fully engage on a continual basis may give them room to breathe, grow, and sow their seeds of discord to other fertile and receptive members of the organization. Leaders can do this a few ways. First, leaders need to demonstrate the change they are undergoing within their own behavior to serve as a demonstration that the change is occurring at all levels of the organization and that the leader is leading by example. Secondly, leaders should consider the resistors mental ability to change. Change is after all about changing individuals' behavior. Maybe the resistors are so ingrained in their mental map that unfreezing is proving to be too difficult without a cultivating hand to guide them. Finally, leaders need to engage resistors by actively listening to their concerns. This is why leaders should not eliminate or isolate resisters. If we are to espouse the need for diversity in a team to give life to novel ideas and prevent groupthink, then we as leaders need to consider that resistors may have legitimate concerns about the pace or direction of change. Leaders may only need to hear words of concern, with empathy, and allow resistors to have their voice heard. Everyone has a story to tell, not everyone has an audience.