[This post was guest authored by Denise Fekete]
We humans are innately resistant to change, even when it benefits us. Why? Fear of the unknown, a loss of control, our habitual nature, and fear of failure all play a role.
My thirty-plus-year career in the learning field has always aligned with driving change. Everything I do is about change. I love what I do, and in my work, I’m a change enthusiast! But that does not mean I am immune to resistance.
Take my golf game, for example. I had a goal to break a score of one hundred. I was so close in the spring, then an injury set me back. I nearly gave up playing altogether. When I returned, it felt like starting from scratch. Frustrated and disappointed, quitting seemed easier. But my social circle is full of golfers who would have given me a hard time if I walked away. So, I put in the physical and mental effort to get back in the game. The result? I broke one hundred in my final round of the year, whew!
My point: change takes effort. Simple. In our personal lives, we often choose the easy way out. But in our careers, that path can be risky, no matter your trajectory.
Try this: sit down and write out your resume, listing all the learning you have acquired in each role. You will see a great deal of change throughout your career, even if you are just starting out.
Every learning moment is a step toward opportunity, big or small. Did you resist any of it? Did that resistance help or hinder you?
Kubler- Ross Change Curve
When you reflect on the Kubler-Ross Change Curve, you can likely identify where you are, or have been, on that journey.
For example, when I joined my current organization, it was the perfect size: small, well-known, great culture. Shortly after, a merger was announced. We would be moving from small to large in just a few years.
When I struggle with change, I lean on my Prosci Change Practitioner training, Cassandra Worthy’s motivational insights, and the Kubler-Ross model to ground me. Looking at the curve, I saw my journey: shock at the announcement, questioning my reaction, sadness at the loss of what I had found. But having gone through two previous mergers, I quickly shifted to seeing the opportunities ahead. The merger is with another amazing organization, and I am now eager to get started. I have now moved into the decision and integration stages. I could have stayed in sadness and changed jobs, but it took effort to see the positives.
There’s a great scene in the film Moneyball where Brad Pitt’s character addresses change with a scout. The movie, based on a true story, follows a baseball manager trying to build a team with limited funds. He partners with a baseball whiz kid whose ideas are met with resistance. One major staff member refuses to even consider the new approach. It’s a powerful example of how humans instinctively resist change. In the end, the idea works and is now used by all major league teams.
Crossing the Chasm
Change is constant in today’s workplace, which clashes with our fear of sudden shifts. If you are driving change, understanding its impact, on yourself and your collaborators, is critical.
Simon Sinek offers great insights into the human experience of change, and how to leverage early adopters to drive change internally.
His ideas align with the concept of Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm, which uses Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation curve to outline how people adopt new ideas or technologies:
- Innovators: Already onboard
- Early Adopters: Follow quickly
- Early Majority: Ask “What’s in it for me?”
- Late Majority: Crossed the chasm but still need support
- Laggards: The most resistant and may never adopt
Resisters play a vital role in driving change. They surface opportunities and help ensure success.
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Leading Through Resistance: Driving Change Across the Chasm
This is where leaders play a critical role in driving change. One of your biggest challenges as a leader is helping others cross the chasm into the early majority, especially when you yourself haven’t yet made that journey. This is exactly when your resistors will appear (if not sooner).
Resistors may show up as sadness, rejection, anger, uncertainty, or hyper-focus on what’s wrong with the decision. As you deepen your understanding of change leadership, begin tracking which behaviors align with these reactions. This will help you later when identifying roles, assigning tasks, and building support systems.
Importantly, resistors aren’t just obstacles, they’re vital contributors. They often surface the tough questions, highlight overlooked risks, and bring hidden opportunities to light. They can lead the unsure and rally the likeminded. Their resistance, when acknowledged and engaged with empathy, can be a powerful force for success.
As a leader, your awareness of where you are on the change curve is essential, especially if you recognize yourself as a resistor. Managing your own mindset while driving change requires self-reflection. This reflection not only helps you understand your own reactions but also builds empathy for others navigating their own change journeys.
And remember, it’s okay not to have all the answers. Let your team know you will follow up and make sure you follow up as that is a trust factor in relationship building.
Resistance is a signal, it means people are aware of and responding to the change. By building readiness early, you create space for meaningful dialogue, collaboration, and momentum.
Learning and Change
Driving change and learning should be closely tied together in the planning phase. Keeping learning fresh through change techniques helps people assimilate information and build confidence to adopt and adapt.
I recommend using ADKAR, the Prosci Change Management Model. It’s simple and ensures a comprehensive plan to support change. Here’s how you might use it in your small business. Imagine a small manufacturing business. The owner is trying to modernize but the old timers back in the shop push back on every sort of change, and don’t want to even know what Excel is!
Awareness: The owner holds shop floor meetings explaining why modernization matters, not for her bottom line, but for job security, fewer frustrating errors, and staying competitive against larger manufacturers.
Desire: She connects the change to what workers care about: less overtime fixing mistakes, easier communication between shifts, and simpler processes. For the near retirees, she emphasizes legacy and helping train the next generation.
Knowledge: Training is hands-on, practical, and patient. No corporate training modules. Just real scenarios they faced daily. “Here’s how you’d log that part shortage.” or “Here’s how you’d check the schedule for tomorrow.”
Ability: She gives them time to practice without pressure. Mistakes are expected and normalized. The office manager is available for questions, no matter how basic.
Reinforcement: She celebrates small wins publicly to prevent backsliding. When the first digital inventory count matches the physical count, or when the first worker sends a successful shift handoff note. She also keeps the old paper backup system running for two months as a safety net, reducing anxiety.
Within six months, even the most resistant workers are using the system. Not enthusiastically, perhaps, but competently. And the business? It has reduced inventory errors by 40% and cut administrative time by hours each week.
Here is a sample of how it can be used in your planning.
Change Management vs Change Leadership
Both are essential, but different and it is important to know the distinction. Here is a great video that explains the distinction.
Change is about stepping outside your comfort zone in a particular domain. This pictorial shows how we move from the comfort zone, through fear and learning, to the growth zone. Can you see yourself in one of these zones based on any current changes in your world?
I can! I am in the “Learning Zone”, in the domain of building AI agents. It is interesting and engaging work. As a lifelong learner learning new skills motivates me. I use that energy to inspire my team to build their skills and knowledge to enable their growth. Role modeling for your team is an important thing to remember as a leader.
Change is a journey. If you approach it with a positive mindset, the adoption and adaption will be a more positive experience for everyone.
Denise Fekete is a senior Learning & Development strategist with deep expertise in human-centred learning design, AI innovation, change management, workforce transformation, and purpose-driven leadership. She brings a pragmatic approach to technology transformation, grounded in extensive experience across learning design, quality assurance, and change enablement. Denise has a proven track record of scaling learning programs through strategic use of technology and data, particularly within the insurance and financial services sectors.
If you liked this, you might like this related post about the importance of getting goals right!
