Alexandra Stubbings, Shivani Mair, Valentina Pincerato Hedvall
April 10, 2024
)
For most people, change is uncomfortable. But when the environment and conditions are right, leaders can help their people move from a place of apathy to agency.
Why is change so uncomfortable?
The fact is, change is rarely straightforward – but the ability to navigate it, is crucial for the success of individuals, teams and organizations in today’s fast-paced world. So how can leaders help people not just navigate change, but own it?
This was the focus of our recent webinar with Dr Alexandra Stubbings, Associate Faculty and Research Fellow at Hult International Business School, and Shivani Mair, Executive Coach for Hult Ashridge Executive Education.
What leaders perceive as resistance to change may not be reluctance or fear – it is often about protecting what matters to them.
Stubbings shared one example from her work with an NHS hospital that was changing location. Staff were not just resisting the new location; they were concerned about losing important factors from their current location that helped them to deliver excellent care. In their eyes, the new location was not necessarily an improvement, but an unknown.
This highlights a central point: for people to embrace change, they need to see for themselves how it genuinely improves their situation. If a new system, process or strategy does not clearly offer something better, or even the opportunity for improvement, it’s natural that they’re less likely to embrace it.
In Stubbings’ words, “you do not ‘get’ people to own change; you create the right environment and conditions for them to step into it.”
)
“You do not ‘get’ people to own change; you create the right environment and conditions for them to step into it.”
– Alexandra Stubbings, Associate Faculty at Hult International Business School
So, how can leaders cultivate ownership?
Mair underlined the importance of early involvement. When people feel part of the change, rather than passive participants, they are more likely to embrace it. In turn, leaders who bring employees into the change process early will encounter less resistance throughout.
Stubbings shared another example from her work with a team who were having a new technological system implemented without their input. As a result, people were feeling disempowered. But when given the space for them to talk about their concerns, and understand aspects that they could control, it led to a shift in their mindsets. From there, they created their own standard operating procedure and supported each other’s learning.
Mair highlighted that change is more likely to be successful when there is a network of advocates at different levels, from frontline employees to senior executives. These are people in the organization who really believe in the change: they can help create a group identity and lead the change forward.
She also reinforced that it is equally important for leaders to understand the emotional journey of change – people may move through feelings of denial and frustration before they begin to explore and embrace change. Leaders can support teams through these phases with interventions like coaching, which is also an effective way to embed learning during change. They should also use clear and transparent communication, and acknowledge the emotional impact of change.
Keeping up the momentum
Often the problem is ‘change fatigue’ – Mair emphasized that leaders need to be mindful that when too many changes happen too quickly, people disengage.
As Stubbings described it, “change is like breathing in and out – it is a constant cycle, not a one-off shift”.
Leaders often lose momentum when they focus too much on what is not working, rather than building on what is. Recognizing and celebrating small wins reinforces progress and helps maintain energy. Mair emphasized that acknowledgement and appreciation play an important role in keeping people motivated. Research shows that when employees feel genuinely appreciated, their cognitive function improves and they are more likely to embrace change.
Ultimately, to help people embrace change, leaders should recognize that it is completely intertwined with learning. As Stubbings put it: “Change is happening through the process of learning and in the process of discovery.”
Learning isn’t just about gaining knowledge, but about engaging with complexity and different perspectives. Through exploration and experimentation, people learn how to undertake the process of change and play an active role in owning it for themselves.
Key Takeaways
1. Coaching can support your change efforts:
Combining learning with coaching helps people to maintain knowledge and create lasting change
2. Understand what matters to your people:
What we perceive as resistance is often a sign that people care. Leaders should engage employees early and address their concerns with transparency.
3. Involve people early:
Ownership comes when people feel involved in the change process. Leaders should create space for participation and acknowledge their emotional process.
4. Focus on what’s working:
To sustain efforts in change, leaders should celebrate progress with their teams and acknowledge small wins.
5. Identify internal influencers:
Leaders can identify people who believe in the change to advocate for it and influence other people.
Recommend reading from the panel
Relational Team Coaching by Erik de Haan and Dorothee Stoffels
Fearless Change by Mary Lynn Manns and Linda Rising
Meet the experts
Alexandra Stubbings
Associate Faculty and Research Fellow
Alex has spent twenty years as an OD consultant and systemic team coach, working across business, government and global partnerships. She specializes in cultural change for regenerative transformation, coaching leaders to make sense of and develop strategic responses to our pressing global challenges.
She teaches on Behaviour Change and Sustainability Leadership at Hult International Business School and Cambridge.
Her doctoral research produced the Talik systemic change methodology for cultivating values-driven cultures. She has recently published on applying the approach in Relational Team Coaching.
)
Shivani Mair
Executive Coach at Hult Ashridge Executive Education and L&D Specialist at Bamford Collection
Through her work as a coach, leadership and development consultant, and facilitator, Shivani evokes positive long-lasting change, growth, and success for individuals, leaders, teams, groups, and businesses who are committed to making a positive difference to humanity and our planet.
Specializing in increasing higher performance and effectiveness, boosting resilience through complex change, creating lasting behaviors and increasing client experiences of fulfillment, choice and well-being in their personal and professional life.
What makes Shivani’s approach fresh, is her previous 10+ year career in media broadcasting, her work as a traditional yoga practitioner, and 17+ years working as a certified coach and L&D specialist for a diverse range of industries including pharmaceutical, healthcare, media, social enterprise, the charity and public sectors, and more recently organic food, luxury retail, hospitality and wellness industries. She also runs her own business in media and professional development.
)
Register for our webinar: Let’s Be Honest About Impact
Join us for an open conversation about L&D impact – the pressures of proving it, creative approaches to tracking it, and the perennial challenge of understanding true learning impact.
)
)
