You’ll never believe who can HELP your change efforts

Posted by on Jun 14, 2017

change

If you like to bring new ways of doing things to your workplace, you probably get frustrated by people who resist change.

It’s tempting to push forward and leave those folks in the dust, but you know what? When the dust settles, they’ll still be there — and their resistance can harden into cynicism, apathy, and worse.

So do the opposite. Reframe your view of resistance. See it as an opportunity to engage.

Instead of avoiding your change-resisting colleagues, or ignoring them and hoping their resistance will somehow go away, spend more time with them.

Ask questions. Listen closely. Hear their questions. Engage in dialogue. Try to understand their perspectives.

Don’t try to sell them or bribe them to win short-term support. Rather, take time to uncover their underlying concerns. Together, look for ways to address those concerns when developing the changes and how they’re rolled out.

Some people will still resist. But some of the skeptics will become genuine supporters and even partners in the change. They’ll bring all that extra brainpower and the emotional fuel to go with it.

Their actions will even influence their friends who are still holding back.

We won’t sugarcoat any of the above. It’s not easy and it can take more time.

But it’s often the key difference between sustainable change – and the flash of temporary change followed by a return to the status quo.

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By Tom TerezContact