Want To Lead Massive Change? Learn How To Overcome Emotional Resistance!

If you are a leader and you want to drive change, you will face resistance. It is a good sign. On the other hand, if you encounter no resistance, it is proof you are maintaining the status quo. No resistance, no forward progress.

However, new ideas, approaches and directions threat and unnerve people. We are creatures of habits; we crave certainty. Disruption can disorientate us.

Over the last year, COVID has changed the way, where and how we work. As a result, remote teams are the norm. We have learnt, been resilient and coped with the unexpected. The challenge in the months ahead is how — and to what degree — we return to “normal.”

Having interviewed leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators, it seems clear our future will be a hybrid, part past and what we have learnt on this journey. As a result, leaders will face immense resistance to change going forward.

The lion’s share of this resistance will be emotionally driven. We might like to believe we are rational beings and that cold data grounds all our decisions. But the truth is more complex.

As a leader driving change, require an acute understanding of the emotional aspect of resistance. How people attempt to derail change at its inception implementation and embedding into the fabric of the organization.

Why are emotional forms of resistance most entrenched and hardest to overcome? The answer is simple: all change is a people process. Organizations are the sum of the people who work within them. Our emotions fuel how we react to change, both positively and negatively.

The first step to unlocking emotional resistance is recognizing it is grounded on how we interpret the immediate past. The collective story — narrative — of your organization’s recent events, successes and failures erect a solid foothold against which we measure future uncertainty.

Emotion resistance is a gut reaction. It may be cloaked in data and sophisticated arguments -educated people love point-scoring pirouettes-, but its underlining thread is that change often threatens us. A perception amplified if an individual or group derives immense status, significance and identity from the current work practice.

From boardrooms to the shop floor, the people’s reactions can be seen on their faces. They recoil, dig their feet in, lament the loss of the past and try to build a coalition against the change you are advocating.

Emotions spike further when ideas have an element of uncertainty — even seasoned professionals who have witnessed massive technological, cultural and societal change in their lifetimes — can respond with feeling and raised voices.

The truth is that disruption unsettles us. We like the life raft of the past, even though the future might be brighter. The bolder the change, the more negative emotions can be. One of the most extreme emotional reactions comes from fear. It can be a fear of losing your job, status, demotion or just plain uncertainty.

As a leader, when faced with emotional fear-driven resistance, the default is to respond rationally. So we say to ourselves, perhaps people did not understand the change.

We need to explain the rationale again, this time more clearly. We instruct our human resources team to send another memorandum. We develop a sophisticated “change management plan” with critical dates, messages and speaking points. However, everyone singing from the same song sheet does not mean people sing in harmony.

Far from reducing anxiety, such rational responses enflame resistance. More memos from HR are emotional incendiaries. If someone is scared, they will lose their job, going deeper into the details of the plan, and can only sharpen their fears that you have an ulterior motive. Red flags that you, the leader, are hiding something: the “true” plan, the secret agenda. Typically, this is when the rumour mill grinds the most corn.

So what might be a better approach based on empathy and emotional acuity? When faced with emotionally driven resistance, your role as a leader and innovator is to listen. You must spend the time and listen to why your idea is provoking such an adverse emotional reaction. What is the underlying driver of resistance — its root cause? What is the cultural temperature in the organization right now? What has happened in the immediate wing-mirror of the recent past: loss of a significant client, leader or a “beloved” way of doing things.

Only by understanding the root causes driving these fears can you respond in a way that lowers the temperature of emotions and tackles the drivers of emotional resistance.

Emotional resistance can manifest in many ways. For example, some people might direct attack your credibility, competence, and authority as a leader.

“I have XX years of experience,” they say. In other words, “who are you to tell me what to do?” “I know better.” “I have more experience than you.”

In professional settings, people are rarely that blunt. Often this personal form of attack is more coded. They may try to clip away at your logic, find the holes, to demonstrate your ideas are unsound.

In its worst form, this type of personal resistance can be the most malicious. It can get deeply personal. A resister may try to sabotage your idea, drag their feet and derail your idea’s momentum.

Surprising, you can overcome such vivid reactions. Personal attacks are emotional barbs designed to knock you off balance. Often they are charged with a fear that your innovation is a direct threat to their sense of status and authority.

Stand your ground. You sit where you are because you are the self-appointed or chosen leader. No one is an infallible oracle. All change bears with it an aspect of the unknown. Your ability as a leader is to surf the waves of uncertainty, dealing with the unexpected.

Your confidence in change grows with momentum. Push through the doubters. State your beliefs, your rationale but also defuse fears by relaying your unique leadership values. Building trust in you as a leader acts as a hinge that can tilt a skeptical group toward openness, even not support.

In the end, all innovators — if you are advocating for change, that is what you are — must understand how to overcome resistance. The life of your idea depends on it.

The fact you are making waves is bound to rock someone’s boat. Many people will undoubtedly hold on to the past like a life raft. Even if a better, more seaworthy ship is offered, the unknown can freeze them in place.

Your role as a leader is to defrost hesitation through energy, enthusiasm and buoyant optimism. Be in tune with the signals resisters give off; they are vital clues on how you can adapt your message, approach and even idea to level the barriers in front of you.

Remember: great ideas will always face pushback. It is one of the hallmarks of greatest. Resistance is a signal you are making a difference. The key is to learn how to read why people resist, and responding to them will enable you to achieve your goals.

About the Author

Simon Trevarthen is the Founder and Chief Inspiration Officer of Elevate Your Greatness (EYG). EYG helps individuals, teams, and organizations unpack the secrets of success by becoming even better versions of themselves through dynamic keynotes, seminars, and workshops on innovation, inspiration and resilience.

check out: www.elevateyourgreatness.com