Change is challenging and difficult, scary and stressful, inconvenient, and comfort-zone interrupting. In short—change is painful. No wonder most people resist it. Even change agents resist change when they are not the ones leading it.

Change is necessary and is a fact of life. Leaders have to lead change processes. Patience, a lot of prayer, warm conversations with those who are being affected by the change, including love and empathy. You ought to be ready to have a lot of this when you lead the change process.

Leadership would be much easier if everything remained the same. However change is a fact for leaders and yet many are uncertain about whether change is a good thing or a necessary evil. The question is whether leaders will successfully guide change or be summarily crushed by it.

Leading change in today’s organizations is not for the fainthearted. It calls for leaders’ best thinking, fervent prayers, and profound wisdom. The reason change is so difficult is because people instinctively resist it. They do so for numerous reasons some of which are identified below.

Why people resist change

1) People are reluctant to make personal changes.
Bringing about institutional change is difficult because to do so, you must convince people to change. People must surrender some of their previous attitudes, behaviors, positions, and comforts for their organization to advance. These are not easily relinquished or adjusted. Generally, the reason people resist change so adamantly is not because they cannot stand to see their beloved institution altered, but because they are unwilling to make personal adjustments on behalf of the organization.

2) People find it difficult to keep pace with change.
Change today can be intimidating, because it occurs so rapidly, people feel unable to understand it or control it.

3) People prefer the status quo.
Change disrupts the existing state of affairs.

4) People naively hope things will get better.
Even when things are not working, there is always an anticipation for a better tomorrow.

5) People do not see the need for change.
Some people have such a naturally positive outlook it is difficult for them to see what is wrong with their organization. Leaders must not be content to merely focus on their organization’s current effectiveness. They should be constantly watching for trends and indicators that suggest adjustments are required. Wise leaders look at all the important indicators and not just the positive ones when determining if change is called for.

6) People believe it is too difficult to mobilize their organization to change.
In many organizations people know reforms must be made, but the enormity of the task dissuades them from making the attempt.

PAUSE

What difficulties have you encountered while implementing change in your leadership role?

7 Steps for Implementing organizational change

Henry and Richard Blackaby suggest the following steps when implementing change.

1) Seek God’s direction
People’s lives are valuable. It is wrong to make them endure the discomfort of change unnecessarily. Some leaders want to initiate change in their organization for the wrong reasons. They may be motivated to legitimize their leadership by instituting comprehensive changes once they assume the executive office. Insecurity compels some to eradicate any sign of their predecessor.

True spiritual leaders are driven by God’s agenda. They seek his direction before launching changes. They know that their best intentioned efforts will fail to accomplish God’s purposes if they are not divinely inspired and empowered. Leaders must heed Jesus’ counsel to carefully consider the cost before undertaking major ventures (Luke 12:28-32). Change merely for change’s sake can be disastrous for careless leaders. Before performing organizational surgery, leaders must be certain of the need and purpose of their efforts. Change always comes with a price. If leaders do not ensure their efforts are inspired, led, and blessed by God, their people’s sacrifices will be naught.

2) Discern the organizational culture
If there is any time leaders must be sensitive to organizational culture, it is when they attempt to initiate change. Cultures involve values: what is considered important and what is rewarded. It encompasses power brokers: those whose approval is critical to getting something done. It includes traditions: the organizational memory of how things have been done and the organization’s heroes. One does not change a culture by issuing a memo. Instituting change requires altering people’s thinking and values, and that is not easily accomplished.

Usually when people move from one organization to another, they take the cultural attitudes from the first place with them—at least to some degree. While it may enrich the new institution, there can be negative repercussions. Therefore, it is important for leaders of new organizations to not only focus on the cultures they are seeking to build, but to also be alert to the cultures their people bring with them from their previous organizations.

3) Provide a clear picture of the desired destination
Change is stressful so people must clearly understand why it is necessary. Spiritual leaders do not create the vision; but once God reveals it to them, they communicate it clearly, confidently, and compellingly to those they lead. Leaders rarely have time to make a sixty-minute presentation of the corporate vision so they must be able to describe the high points briefly and succinctly.

If leaders carefully consider their audience, they can frame the vision in a concise, compelling word picture that summarizes the vision so it specifically speaks to their people. Wise leaders help their people understand what it will look like after the changes have been made. Then their people will see the vision as attractive to them personally. And they may even grow impatient with the status quo.

4) Cultivate a sense of urgency
Many organizations equate talking about change with implementing it. In fact, powerful forces of fear and complacency can lull organizations into an endless quagmire of meetings and debate rather than action. As a result, precious time and energy are squandered that could have been invested in critical change efforts. There are generally people in any organization who trust the leader and embrace change. Some may even see the need for action before the leader does. But others are uncomfortable with any level of change, and if it involves personal sacrifices, some people will naturally be reluctant to embrace it until it is absolutely necessary. Leaders may have to allow their people to come to grips with and feel the discomfort of remaining where they are. Wise leaders help their people experience the clear consequences of not embracing needed change. People must recognize that it is in their own best interest to make the necessary adjustments and that it is essential to respond in a timely fashion.

Leaders must be cognizant that just because they see something, it is not necessarily obvious to everyone else. Leaders have a unique vantage point and access to data the average person lacks. Much of the time, leadership is a matter of leaders describing the reality of the situation so others can grasp what they see. Whereas managers seek to relieve distress and to keep the existing machinery running smoothly by making small, incremental changes, leaders see the big picture and initiate uncomfortable periods of major change to ensure their organization continues to thrive in the future.

5) Enlist advocates
Because instituting change is no small feat, leaders must enlist others to champion the cause with them. This does not involve smoke-filled, back-room plotting and deal-making. It does entail that leaders know their people’s receptivity to change and current pain threshold. There is little point in leaders
presenting a new idea to their people if they are going to be met with widespread resistance. Likewise, if key influencers in the organization are opposed to the initiative, leaders must first work to get those people on board before attempting to win over the people en masse.

Too many times impassioned leaders have brought their careers to an abrupt end because they pushed changes on people who were unprepared to accept them. While it is important for leaders to be true to their values, a spiritual leader’s primary role is to move people who were unprepared to accept them. While it is important for leaders to be true to their values, a spiritual leader’s primary role is to move people from where they are to where God wants them to be.

Leaders who allow themselves to be cornered into a position where their people are rebelling against them or holding votes of confidence or seeking to fire them will be of no use to their organizations. Some leaders see themselves as prophets who must bear an unwelcome message. When they proclaim what must be done, they are persecuted and even fired. Such leaders shuffle from post to post blithely assuming their calling is to deliver unpopular messages and to endure continual rejection. However noble this may appear, it is not leadership. Leaders do not merely deliver bad news and then grimly brace themselves for the fallout; they move people.

Regardless of how talented leaders are, they cannot move their organizations forward without the help and cooperation of others. When leaders surround themselves with others who support the change initiative, they are much more likely to gain the trust of people at large and ultimately accomplish their goals.

6) Provide support
Implementing change calls for much more than inspired speeches. Leaders must also provide the needed resources to enable the accomplishment of the initiatives. They do this in five ways:

a) Leaders provide on-going encouragement for the change effort.
They do so with their words, presence and attention. Leaders make it clear to their people they will be walking with them throughout the endeavour. Change is costly, and therefore leaders must consistently, enthusiastically, and intentionally encourage those involved in the process. To announce a
change and then remain aloof from the process is to give your people unspoken permission to withhold their full investment as well. Encouragement can take the form of rallying speech but also requires checking on progress, boosting sagging morale, and making whatever adjustments are necessary.

b) Leaders tell stories that undergird the change.
Leaders tell stories about the reasons for the change, examples of those producing the change and stories about what the organization will be like once the change is complete. Those who want to produce significant organizational change must think in terms of stories just as Jesus did in his parables.

c) Leaders equip the change efforts.
Many an organizational effort has been thwarted because of inadequate staffing, budget, or attention. It demoralizes followers when leaders assign them tasks and then neglect to provide them with the necessary resources. Leaders must ensure those entrusted with implementing the change have
access to the funds, personnel, or equipment required to complete the job. Astute leaders consider the cost of the effort and then allocate adequate resources to ensure it can be accomplished.

d) Leaders must also address naysayers.
Leaders must not allow those stubbornly resisting change to set the organization’s agenda. Leaders facing such opponents can be tempted to postpone the effort until they have achieved a broader consensus. Yet, that is exactly what such opponents want, as it allows them to hijack the process. When the rank and file observes leaders unwilling to challenge those who are trying to undermine them, they assume the proposed changes must not be critical, and they, too, withdraw their support.

An important issue in this regard is unanimity. While it is always good to have across-the-board support from a leadership team before moving forward, this is not always possible. Some leaders have delayed or discarded needed changes because they could not obtain a unanimous vote to proceed. While God can change people’s hearts and bring unity to a leadership team, there are sometimes those determined to resist change at all costs. When such people are placed on a leadership team that values unanimity, they effectively control the entire process. Giving a veto to the least spiritual person on a leadership team can cause prolonged delays and frustration.

Opposition to reform is inevitable. Therefore, leaders protect those who are supportive, and they refuse to allow opponents to set the agenda for their organization or derail its advance. When the majority is prepared to advance, it is the leader’s responsibility to overcome obstacles and lead them forward.

e) Leaders reward those who produce change.
Just as leaders challenge naysayers, they reward those who are paying the price to produce change. Change is costly, and if people are going to make sacrifices for the good of the organization, they deserve to be noticed, commended, and rewarded for their efforts. When leaders fail to support those making the changes or when they use them as scapegoats when criticism comes, it will not be long before leaders discover no one is willing to make sacrifices on their behalf.

PAUSE

What support are you providing your team to facilitate change implementation?

7) Follow through to the finish
Effective leaders do not merely identify a vision for their organization or obtain a vote of approval from their leadership team or plead their cause to the rank and file; they stick with it until the change has been fully implemented and is now imbedded in the corporate culture. Wise leaders recognize they have not been completely successful until the desired changes are clearly and fully implemented in their organization.

Through God’s leading, effective leaders make organizations better. They take weak institutions and make them stronger. They lead unprofitable companies into profitability. They take declining churches and make them vibrant. They steer successful organizations and bring operational maturity to ensure continued excellence and expanded success. Change is not always easy. It has cost many leaders their jobs. Yet in the rapidly changing world in which leaders function, they must understand how to implement change in their organizations. They have no choice. They either change or perish. Leaders therefore, must be prayerful, artful, wise, and skilled change agents.

If spiritual leaders are to move people from where they are to where God wants them to be, leading change is inevitable for leaders. Leading change may be a painful process for both the leader and those being led but the joy of transformation when change is managed well transcends beyond the leader, those lead and the organization at large.

REFLECTION AND APPLICATION

1. What evidence do you have that the change efforts you’ve introduced to your organization are God-inspired?
2. What is the greatest challenge you face in leading people to change? What steps can you take to overcome this challenge? Who will you need to help you overcome this?

EVALUATION AND ACTION

1. Evaluate the success of your last two attempts to change something in your organization. How did they go? Would you consider them successes? What could you have done better?
2. How do you test the resistance to your change efforts to see if God is speaking to you through the opposition?
3. How is your track record of staying with it until the change has been fully implemented? What might you do to improve in this area?