In today's volatile, uncertain and complex environment as a leader
you would most certainly be required to bring about changes, small and large.
You'll be both a change recipient (getting directions,
mandates and guidelines from higher levels),
and at the same time,
a change agent (making things happen in your zone of influence).
To be able to bring about changes smoothly and gain recognition as a high performer,
you should be able to deal effectively with resistance.
In his book Beyond The Wall Of Resistance,
author Rick Maurer presents certain interesting insights on this subject.
In this video, we will draw on his ideas to
derive practical lessons on working with resistance.
Let's begin with a short case illustration.
In an engineering company,
the corporate office had initiated a change in the procurement system.
Even as a frontline leader was presenting the rollout plan,
Employee-C sitting in the audience
wondered how tracking of requisitions would happen in the new system,
and how the supplier lists will be updated.
Employee-C doesn't get it.
At another table, Employee-E was angry and upset that with electronic records,
the corporate office wants to make everything
transparent and thus squeeze out all flexibility at the operating levels.
In other words, Employee-E doesn't like it.
At the back end of the room,
Employee-P was quite annoyed that the change leader had shown
his bias by leaving out all old timers in the cross-functional team for implementation.
In short, Employee-P doesn't have trust.
Thus, in a change situation,
someone says, 'I don't get it.',
some others say, 'I don't like it.',
and a few say, 'I don't trust you.'
Rick Maurer writes that these are three types of resistance.
They represent three different words of reason, emotion and trust.
Obviously, they need to be dealt with very differently.
When change faces resistance,
change leaders typically respond by pushing the change even harder.
They use their power or apply the force of reason or ignore resistance.
Such responses don't work.
The resistance may go underground or it may manifest in silent ways.
But change fails without people's backing and support.
Our approach should be not to overpower resistance,
but to engage with it.
By working effectively with resistance,
it is possible to convert resistance into support.
To begin with, "I don't get it"
represents level-1 or cognitive resistance.
It arises from lack of clear understanding.
Generally, we feel comfortable dealing with level-1 resistance.
To address this, you give the right information in the right manner.
You communicate why change is needed in understandable language.
You use multiple ways to make your case.
You set up two-way communication and get people to
engage with information and reflect on what they hear.
You may have a cross-section of people discussing the proposed change,
ask questions and give their inputs.
By creating a more conversational or discussion format,
communicating the rationale and helping people to gain cognitive clarity,
level-1 resistance can be minimized.
Occasionally, well-meaning leaders give more information,
hold more meetings and make more presentations.
But sometimes these don't work because the issue has
become one of emotion and not cognition.
Often emotional resistance arises from fear,
loss of face, status,
control or even their jobs and future well-being.
This is level-2 or emotional resistance.
When emotional resistance kicks in,
people get into a fight mode such as angry outbursts or arguments,
or flight mode - they stop listening,
or freeze mode - for example,
feeling like their very survival is at stake.
Emotions produce physiological reactions.
The blood pressure and pulse rates may go up and people may feel uptight.
Since organizations don't encourage people to respond emotionally,
these don't get expressed directly.
They may be camouflaged as polite, rational concerns.
The change leader requires empathy to
read between the lines and pick up anxieties and fears.
As a leader, you must ensure against
level-2 resistance by building relationship support before you need it,
by involving people and building mutual understanding.
To effectively resolve emotional conflict,
you should attend to three aspects;
others' perspective, your perspective and the context.
In terms of others' perspective,
you should listen empathetically,
question to learn others' feelings
and provide encouragement to get to the root of the concern.
Openness to those opposing the change and keenness to
learn about others' perspective are important qualities for a leader.
At the same time,
in terms of your own perspective,
you should be able to maintain clear focus on your own goals that are non-negotiable.
Even in stressful context,
it is important to stay calm, relaxed and solution-focused.
If you get agitated,
you would lose your edge in effectively dealing with level-2 concerns.
And in terms of context,
you should build strong working relationships,
have informal chats with key stakeholders,
involve and help people discover what's in it for them,
and listen for common concerns and interests.
Finally, level-3 or personally oriented resistance
reflects absence of trust and confidence in the change leader.
It is possible that people are okay with the change,
but they are not okay with the change leader.
That makes this resistance a hard pill to swallow.
Without trust, there is no way that change can be managed successfully.
Lack of trust does not necessarily mean that people dislike the change leader.
It may be that the past dealings that make them suspicious.
It is possible that the change leader is from the head office and
people are skeptical of anything that the head office initiates.
Perception is reality.
If people perceive that the change leader is not trustworthy,
then they will behave as per their perception or belief until they are proven otherwise.
To deal with level-3 resistance,
you should build relationships of trust.
This requires effective listening and dialogue.
A good approach is to begin small in areas of potential mutual win.
Bank on thorough preparation,
remain calm and allow sufficient time to reach agreement.
At the same time,
be prepared for setbacks.
Trust is difficult to build and easy to destroy.
So what are the key lessons?
First: Change involves not only reason and rationality,
but also emotions and relationships.
If people are in level 2 or level 3,
then they won't be able to receive your messages even if you are right.
Leading change is not a purely left brain rational process.
Second: Change is difficult when stakeholders are in the dark.
Help them recognize the challenge or the opportunity.
Third: Address resistance in the right way.
In emotional and trust issues,
you cannot push people with reason.
Instead, listen, involve,
show patience and discover what is mutually acceptable.
Fourth: Perception is reality.
People may read risks wrong,
but in their minds the danger is real.
So stay in touch with the pulse of the organization,
build in feedback loops,
pick up early signals and initiate corrective actions.
M Rammohan RaoProfessor Emeritus
Ramnarayan SubramaniamClinical Professor
Deepa ManiAssociate Professor and Executive Director, Srini Raju Centre for IT and the Networked Economy
Sudhir VoletiAssistant Professor and ISB Research Fellow
Ramabhadran ThirumalaiAssistant Professor
