How To Series | #4 - How to Lead Change in a Resistant Team
Change Isn’t the Problem—How You Lead It Is the Solution.
Welcome to the special article for the Loyal Fan-only edition.
This is the #4 article of The How-To Series.
Outlines and Key Takeaways
Why Teams Resist Change
Foundations of Leading Through Resistance
Common Challenges in Leading Change—and How to Overcome Them
Embedding Change as a Capability
Final Word: Change Is Leadership in Motion
Leading Change in the Face of Resistance: Understanding the Real Challenge
Change leadership is not just another skill—it's a defining test of a leader’s influence, credibility, and emotional intelligence. It’s easy to announce a new vision or roll out a strategy update. What’s hard is guiding real people through the emotional and operational impact of those changes—especially when they don’t yet believe in it, feel threatened by it, or are simply too tired to care.
While the logic behind change may be obvious to executives—cut costs, improve efficiency, stay competitive—the experience on the ground is often far more complex. For frontline teams, change doesn't feel like an exciting strategic opportunity. It often feels like confusion, loss of control, and yet another wave of disruption piled on top of an already full workload. What leaders perceive as progress, employees may perceive as instability.
This emotional disconnect is one of the main reasons why change fails so often. A well-known study by McKinsey & Company revealed that 70% of all change initiatives fail to meet their intended outcomes, and employee resistance is consistently ranked among the top reasons. No matter how compelling your business case, if your people aren’t brought along, the plan stalls or collapses altogether.
What this tells us is that leading through resistance isn’t about pushing harder, threatening consequences, or delivering slick PowerPoint decks. It’s about leading smarter. It’s about tuning into the fears and needs of your team, building credibility through action, and removing the friction points that keep people from engaging with the change.
Before you can fix resistance, you need to understand where it comes from—and why it's more normal than you think.
Why Teams Resist Change
Resistance to change is almost never irrational. In fact, it’s often a sign that people care deeply about their roles, their impact, and their sense of stability. When people push back, it’s usually because the change is unclear, the risks feel greater than the rewards, or they simply don’t trust that the effort will stick.
According to the 2022 Prosci Best Practices in Change Management Report, the top five reasons employees resist change are:
Lack of awareness of the need for change (74%)
Employees often aren’t given the context. If leadership doesn’t communicate the “why” behind the change—and make it relevant—teams will disengage or even sabotage the process.Fear of losing job security or competence (61%)
Change often triggers anxiety about relevance. Will I be replaced? Will I still be good at my job? Am I expected to learn something new without support?Lack of visible leadership support (52%)
When leaders talk about change but don’t show up for it—by modeling behaviors, answering questions, or providing resources—employees assume it’s not important or serious.History of failed initiatives (45%)
Teams develop "change scars" over time. If past efforts were abandoned halfway, poorly executed, or led to chaos, employees develop skepticism—even if the new plan is sound.Confusing or inconsistent communication (42%)
When change is poorly explained, inconsistently reinforced, or frequently modified without clarity, it creates more noise than direction. Confusion often leads to inaction.