Resistance to change: 5 ways leaders make change harder

1. Waiting too long to start people support activities
   Leaders sometimes delay getting help on the people side of projects and initiatives, thinking they can save money or time by waiting until all decisions have been made. This puts employees in a position of playing catch-up, and when people feel like they don't have a choice, they resist. An easier path is to design change activities into the effort so that people are involved along the way. 

2. Ignoring warning signs
   Many leaders overlook early symptoms of resistance, such as:
   • Apathy: Low engagement from the team when discussing the vision. Employees aren't asking questions or attending sessions to learn more on their own. Curiosity is a sign that people want to grow and learn more through the change effort.
   • Fear: Concerns and doubts expressed by employees, indicating anxiety about whether the proposed changes are even feasible. The ambitious vision might have real blockers at the do-er level, where those with direct insight into the work know the degree of difficulty. Listen when concerns are raised by the activity owners; it's an early warning bell.
   • Siloed Work: Teams operating independently, adding risk to the design process because there's little insight into the bigger picture. Often, change efforts require entirely new ways of working, which ask people to get outside of their silos and collaborate with different people. It takes time for these relationships to develop so that new workflow handoffs run smoothly. Give people a chance to feel more comfortable by building collaboration into the change design.

When these symptoms of change resistance appear, it's time to get help to dig deeper into the underlying causes and start using resistance mitigation strategies.

4. Avoiding difficult conversations
   Some leaders shy away from difficult conversations because they don't want to deal with unpleasant emotions like fear, anger, and grief, believing they aren’t the “touchy-feely” types. Avoiding the difficult conversations makes it worse, sometimes turning confusion and uncertainty into anger (resistance). There are numerous ways to lean into difficult and emotional conversations, depending on the circumstances. Doing something is almost always better than nothing.

5. Failing to manage ambiguity
   In high-pressure situations, leaders focus on tangible tasks—like negotiating contracts—while delaying or avoiding the ambiguous ones. The unknown and uncertainty are places that create fear and doubt for employees, which is why leaders need to find ways to work through them in a clarity-driving process. Once again, fear, doubt, and uncertainty can become anger if questions are not adequately addressed. Leaders who learn to master fear in themselves and others can turn that into courage. Teams that accomplish hard things together continue growing.