Why change feels so hard (and what helps)

So what did you think of the change to my Inner Circle format in March?

Resistant? Enthusiastic? Indifferent?

That’s change for you… in emails, in business, in life.

It affects us all differently.

I was talking to someone over lunch recently about why losing weight can be such a difficult change to navigate and the conversation soon turned to how similar this is to managing change in business.

Good intentions are rarely enough to make a smooth and lasting change.

Why?

Because we don’t like loss, and change is about loss.

Anything that looks or feels like a loss is going to meet some resistance, whether it’s the idea of giving up chocolate or losing the window seat in the office.

TRY THIS.

If you are:

• considering making a change (even one you think is positive)

• wondering how to approach that

Look below the surface as the potential losses that people will experience and why, because that’s what you need to support them with and communicate about.

This could be a loss of:

🔴 perceived status or efficiency

🟢 harmony or connection

🟡 involvement or flexibility

🔵 clear process or access to critical information

When you find the loss, you can find the best approach to smooth the transition.

I imagine you know at least one team going through change right now.

Feel free to pass this on to help them through it.

I find this is particularly useful for leaders who:

• love a good change plan and get accused of not actually caring about people (even if they genuinely do care)

• go out of their way to do right by people and get accused of not thinking things through properly.

💡Bonus: If you’re knee deep in navigating change, try asking this one question in your next conversation:

“What would you miss most if we go ahead with this?”

The answers are often where enlightening conversation begins.