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Have you ever gone to an all-day or multiday meeting and switched seats after the break? It’s one of my favorite pastimes. I like to shake things up. It is a game I play to observe people’s reactions. People don’t like change. For the most part, we enjoy the status quo, even when it comes to our chosen seats in a meeting. We become invested in our chairs. We stake a mental claim. We position our stuff around the area, marking our territory like a suburban Labrador retriever. So, I come in as a disrupter, forcing people to examine the unexplored portions of the board table and interact with new neighbors.
The Tension of Change in the Workplace
Change is change, whether it’s finding a new chair, a new fashion style, or a new corporate strategy. Some people are change agents, some people are change embracers, and some are resisters of change. Which are you? Of course, we all play different roles in different situations. But we need to be intentional when it comes to our role in change. Whether or not to change needs to be a well-thought-out strategy. All change is a shift in culture, and culture is “the way that things are done” in the setting/environment you occupy.
How to Be a Champion of Change
Think of change as rearranging a room in your house. What is the first step? Ask your spouse. Hah, I actually rearranged a room in my house once without involving a key stakeholder (my wife). The change didn’t last long. Creating buy-in before you finalize a change process is important, but I wouldn’t say it is the first or most important step.
Step 1. Desire Change, Be Passionate About It
Real change takes energy, planning, and fortitude. The first and most important part of the change process is having a vision and a strong desire for change to occur. Change and shifting workplace culture should not be based on short-sighted whims because it makes reverting to the status quo too easy. Any resistance will be the end of the change process. Desire and passion are crucial components of any change process.
Step 2. Create Buy-In
When I moved the furniture in my living room, I swung way too big. I should have started small. I could have moved a lamp. I could have shown my wife some pictures. I could have inquired about her desires. I didn’t. I just started shifting things around and said, “Look at what I did.” She moved it back. So, the room changes I made didn’t stick. Desire and passion are great, but the energy must be transferred to others. Share your vision. Create milestones to help build an excited cadre of change.
Step 3. Resist the Resistance
Resist the urge to run from the tension of change. This does not mean plowing ahead with a bad idea. It means we must overcome the fear that will return us to the status quo. When people become uncomfortable, they tend to be drawn back to their comfort zone.
Steps to Overcoming Resistance to Change in the Workplace
John Kotter, a Harvard Business School professor and leadership expert, identified a structured, eight-step process essential for successful organizational change. He emphasized the importance of creating urgency, building a strong guiding coalition, and clearly communicating a compelling vision for change. Kotter found that short-term wins are critical for building momentum while embedding changes into the organizational culture ensures they are sustained. His work highlights that overcoming resistance requires empowering employees, addressing obstacles, and aligning changes with the organization’s core values.
Here are a few steps leaders might take to overcome the resistance to change:
- Listen and Involve: Foster open communication to understand employee concerns and actively involve them in shaping the change process.
- Provide Clarity: Clearly explain the purpose of the change, the process, and the expected benefits.
- Offer Support: Provide training, resources, and emotional support to help employees adapt to new expectations.
- Demonstrate Leadership Commitment: Show consistent and visible leadership support for the change to reassure employees.
- Celebrate Progress: Recognize and reward efforts and successes to keep morale high and resistance low.
- Personalize Communication: Tailor messages to address different employee groups’ unique concerns and motivations.
Step 4: Celebrate and Build Momentum
Once you have a sound foundation for change, you have to go bigger. You move past the early adopters and true believers of your leadership style to the crowd. Communication is the key. Recognize and celebrate bigger wins to demonstrate progress and boost morale. Highlight successes as evidence of the benefits of the change and use these moments to reinforce commitment and enthusiasm across the organization. While my attempt to change the living room failed, there were other areas of home improvement where I had the support of the entire family.
The theater room I designed was a big hit. I designed and decorated it and shared my enthusiasm for the project with everyone in the family. I created so much momentum and energy for that project that I barely get to use the room myself. My wife helped pick out the color scheme. My daughter helped to build the media cabinet, and my son, well, he just likes movies. He was the stereotypical embracer. It did not take much to convince him other than turning up the speaker system so loud that it knocked the pictures on the wall in the adjacent room. The bottom line is that change is easier if you make people a part of the journey.
Step 5: Institutionalize and Sustain Change
We want change to stick, so it has to become a part of the culture…the new culture. Embed the change into the organization’s culture by aligning it with core values, policies, and procedures. Provide ongoing support, such as training and resources, and reward behaviors reinforcing the new working method. Ensure leadership consistently models and champions the change to make it a lasting part of the organization. Seth Godin says it this way, “Systems create culture, and culture is the way a system quietly persists, creating gravity where there was none.”
Change challenges us because it disrupts the familiar, creating tension between the comfort of what we know and the possibilities of what could be. But that tension is also where growth begins. By approaching change passionately, fostering buy-in, addressing resistance, celebrating progress, and embedding new behaviors into the system, we turn that initial discomfort into a foundation for something stronger, like the pull of gravity. The key is intentionality—understanding that every small shift in how we operate has the potential to redefine the culture around us. Ultimately, change isn’t just about moving seats at the table; it’s about reimagining the table itself.
