Managing Change Resistors: Don’t Resist—Engage
by Nathan Faber and Sarah McIntosh
In today’s workplace, change is the only constant. Unfortunately, it seems that the faster the changes come, the stronger the resistance to them grows. According to one Gartner survey, employees’ willingness to support organizational change plummeted from 74% in 2016 to 43% in 2022.
However, not changing is not an option. To navigate this challenge, organizations must focus on managing resistance strategically, starting with their people. No matter how much a leader believes a change will benefit their workforce, it will more than likely face resistance. To prepare the workforce for the transition to come, a leader should first focus on the people who will experience it—ultimately, these initiatives are human-driven.
Consider the following anecdotes:
A large-scale IT strategy aims to integrate data enterprise-wide, but employees may resist, fearing increased transparency.
A team-building effort after a reorganization is dismissed by senior leaders as a distraction from more pressing goals.
The proposed adoption of a new AI tool has frontline workers feeling anxious about what work responsibilities they may lose to AI.
It’s never easy to face resistance when we are the ones introducing the change. Without a thoughtful approach, it’s easy to mirror the same behaviors as those resisting— feeling threatened, becoming defensive, and responding with excessive assertiveness, or maybe even abandoning the initiative altogether.
It’s time to shift perspective and recognize resistance as an expected part of any change effort—not as a threat or weakness. Instead of fearing it, a leader should embrace the opportunity it brings and engage with the resistors by building and demonstrating empathy. This approach can win over new supporters, strengthen buy-in, increase credibility with current supporters, and uncover new ideas that may improve the solution.
The following three-tiered approach will help leaders effectively manage resistance and successfully execute their change initiative.
STEP ONE: IDENTIFY THE TYPE OF RESISTANCE
Engaging with those who resist change requires you to understand their perspective. People tend to resist change because it challenges one of their “5 Cs” (adapted from Michelle Yanahan):
Comfort: The change disrupts an individual’s COMFORT, such as their familiar routines and environments. They are afraid to let go of the status quo.
Control: The change feels out of their CONTROL. The change makes them feel like they are losing their autonomy.
Capacity: They don't believe they have the CAPACITY for the change. They feel overwhelmed and unsupported.
Competent: They don't believe they are COMPETENT. They do not understand the change or its implications and fear failing.
Confident: They aren't CONFIDENT in the results. They do not believe that the change will be successful.
Identifying which one (or more) of the five Cs is driving an individual’s resistance to change can better inform a leader's response. For example, someone resisting because their sense of comfort is challenged may benefit from a compassionate coaching conversation, whereas someone who doesn’t feel competent may benefit from specialized training. In other words, once you understand the “why” behind the resistance, you can tailor your response.
STEP TWO: BUILD EMPATHY
Once you identify what is driving a resistor’s aversion to change, it is important to build empathy for their perspective.
First, as Otto Scharmer recommends, a leader should set aside their own perspective and focus on the other person’s emotions and perspectives, a practice he calls “empathetic listening.” Without proactively focusing on the other person, we might only listen to them to rebut. Instead, we should listen for understanding and keep an open mind about what we hear.
One tool for building empathy with change stakeholders includes empathy mapping. Empathy mapping is a visual design thinking process by which you visually map a person’s thoughts, feelings, actions, and observations. Creating an empathy map helps build a better understanding of the person’s needs as well as empathy for their pain points (of note, the LUMA Institute offers great tools for empathy mapping).
The Bridges Transition Model can also inform leadership’s response to resistant stakeholders. According to William Bridges, a person’s experience of change comprises three stages: the “Endings” stage, the “Neutral Zone,” and the “New Beginnings” stage. Understanding where an individual falls on this continuum will help you build empathy for their perspective. Imagine for a moment you are a senior leader excited about the future a new change will bring about and you can’t understand why your staff are resistant to this change. If you apply the Bridges Model and ask yourself where they are, you will likely find that they are still in the “Endings” stage–they are experiencing a loss. It is a leader’s job to help their employees navigate beyond that ending to a new beginning.
STEP THREE: DEMONSTRATE UNDERSTANDING
Lastly, after building empathy, you will want to echo your understanding of the resistor’s perspective back to them. One common misstep in a change effort is a focus on explaining the change leader’s point of view rather than communicating the resistors’ point of view. Communicating an alternative point of view does not mean you agree with it; you are simply building the foundation for a productive conversation by acknowledging it.
Chris Voss, a former FBI negotiator and author of the book Never Split the Difference, calls this technique “labeling the emotion.” He recommends starting with phrases like:
“It feels like…”
“It seems like…”
“It sounds like…”
“You are probably thinking…”
By demonstrating that you understand the individual’s perspective, you build trust and trigger a sympathetic response, making the resistor more open to what you have to say. Often, if the individual feels differently, they will correct you, giving you an even deeper understanding of how they are feeling.
CONCLUSION
Today’s employees experience a constant influx of information and adjustments, leading to resistance to any changes, whether perceived or confirmed. As a leader, overcoming this hurdle isn’t about pushing harder; it’s about adopting a human-centered approach that builds trust and fosters openness.
By following the three steps to managing resistance—identifying the type of resistance, building empathy, and demonstrating understanding—you can engage meaningfully with individuals resistant to change and help their ideas gain traction. Change will always encounter resistance, but an effective leader will see that resistance as an opportunity to make their change effort even stronger.
SOURCES
Bridges, William. Making the Most of Change. 4th Edition. 2016.
Kitch, Bryan. “A Complete Guide to Empathy Mapping.” January 13, 2023. A Complete Guide to Empathy Mapping [+ Templates] | Mural
Scharmer, Otto. “How Are You Listening as a Leader?” April 19, 2018. https://medium.com/presencing-institute-blog/how-are-you-listening-as-a-leader-a1acdbea5cbf
Voss, Chris. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depended On It. 2016.
Yanahan, Michelle. “Using Change Objection & Resistance as a Gift.” ChangeFit 360. Presented at Association of Change Management Professionals on August 7, 2024.