Your Most Resistant Employee May Be Telling You Something
I like change. At least, I like to think I like change. I like new ideas, new approaches, and new ways of doing things. Then someone rearranges the grocery store, and I’m wandering around wondering who decided the peanut butter needed a new home.
Apparently, I like change better when I’m the one choosing it. Most of us probably do.
Yet in the workplace, we are quick to label someone who questions a change as “resistant.”
“We’ve always done it this way.”
“Why do we need to change this?”
“The old system worked just fine.”
Those comments can sound like opposition, and once we decide someone is resistant to change, it is easy to stop listening and start convincing. But what if resistance isn’t opposition? What if it’s information?
People rarely resist change for absolutely no reason. Maybe they don’t understand why the change is necessary. Maybe they’re worried about what they’ll lose. Or maybe they know something we don’t.
That is why good leaders get curious before they get convincing. Here’s how:
Listen first. Instead of immediately explaining why the change is necessary, ask questions, like, “What concerns you about this?” or “What do you think we might be overlooking?” Understanding the concern doesn’t mean agreeing with it, and it gives you something useful to address.
Address fears honestly. Change creates uncertainty, and people tend to fill information gaps themselves. Unfortunately, they rarely fill them with the most optimistic possibility. Tell people what you know, what you don’t know, and what the change is likely to mean for them. Transparency builds trust—even when you can’t provide every answer.
Reinforce the purpose. People are more willing to move through the discomfort of change when they understand why it matters. Don’t just explain what is changing. Keep connecting the change to the problem you are trying to solve, the goal you are trying to reach, or the people you are trying to serve.
The next time someone pushes back against a change, resist the temptation to immediately push back harder. Ask another question. There may be something worth hearing.
Resistance is information—not opposition.