Leadership is about people. While strategy and planning are certainly aspects of what a leader does, the primary purpose and function is people development. A leader is always looking for someone to recruit, place, train, coach and promote. If you are disciplined about developing people, I can assure you you’ll accomplish more than leaders who aren’t disciplined in this way.

There is never a time when a leader must be more in tune with the people around them than going into, during and coming out of a significant change cycle. Even good people who cognitively understand and process the change can react in irrational ways that, if left unmanaged, can create a distraction or even become destructive.

Dealing with people is one area you must get right.

The bottom line is change management is real, and that is more than just a catchy business phrase you heard in a class about organization development. When navigating any significant change, don’t underestimate or undervalue the need to manage the perception, the understanding and even the emotions of people around you. I’ve seen great leaders become sidetracked or sidelined because they didn’t spend the time to process the emotional and human aspects of change. 

Leading Through Change With Empathy

Unfortunately, many leaders do overlook the impact change can have on culture and morale. There are several reasons for this:

• They’ve been wrestling with the change longer than anyone else.
• They may be the only one who sees the big picture.
• They underestimate how past experiences — especially negative ones — influence current perceptions.
• They may be the least likely to experience a negative impact from the change, and they often have the most to gain. (At least that’s how others might perceive it.)

If this is where you are right now, my advice is this: Learn to see and experience the change you are leading through the people around you. Resistance is rarely because someone has your demise in mind. Yet should never be surprised when people act like people. Don’t see objections as obstacles. Rather, see them as opportunities to strengthen and deepen a human connection with that person. If successful, you’ll turn a detractor into an evangelist. And any agent of change would love to have a team of evangelists on their side.

Leading Through Change With Clarity

It’s easy for leaders to underestimate the amount of communication necessary to maintain control of the narrative surrounding the change. This can lead to a host of problems, including these:

• A series of rumors and half-truths
• A change in how other people interpret your decisions, posture and attitude
• A lack of alignment of purpose and intent, which can diminish the discretionary effort you need the people around you to bring to the table
• An opportunity for a seed of doubt to grow into something much more troublesome

If you’re struggling with a breakdown in communication, meet one-on-one with the people you spend the most time with to ensure they believe and see the change in the same way you do. Use social media, blogs and books to articulate your personality and perspective, which will help fend off unfounded statements and assumptions. Utilize video email and other similar tools to humanize yourself. Show people you’re not just the scary leader in the suit in the corner office; you are someone who cares deeply about the same things they care about.

Leading Through Change With Consistency

It’s easy for leaders to leave the change in their head rather than getting their ideas down into a transferrable format. This can happen for a number of reasons:

• You just don’t have time to get your thoughts out of your head and onto paper.
• You see it clearly and wonder why others don’t.
• You fear that whatever you communicate may evolve into something else.
• You would rather have real-time conversations than work out and organize your ideas in advance.

Develop the discipline of getting your ideas out of your head and onto paper. Everyone processes information differently and at different speeds. If you make all communication dependent on you and insist it take place in real time, you become the bottleneck. Giving people something they can keep, refer back to and share with others multiplies your ability to influence others again and again.

Seasons of Change Are the Time to Build Relationships

The most significant action you can take as a leader is to help the people around you become comfortable with change. Change doesn’t happen just once. In our culture today, change is normal. That doesn’t make it any less troublesome for many.

Some people will always take just a little more convincing before they come along. The good news is the more effective you are at helping others navigate change, the more willing others will be at giving you the benefit of the doubt — even when everything in them tells them change is bad.

You can do a lot of things right and wrong in the midst of change. But dealing with people is one area you must get right. You need others to help you create the change you already see so clearly in your mind — the change God is calling you and your ministry to make. That means you need to take the time to understand where they are in their orientation to change, determine what gaps you need to mitigate for them, and turn their initial opposition into an unwavering commitment to stick with you to see the change happen.