A few months ago I was in a coaching meeting with an individual that was new to their organization. This individual was brought into the organization as a subject matter expert and was finding resistance to the ideas he was attempting to implement. As our conversation continued, he described a scenario I have heard others in multiple organizations convey, “Our leaders don’t think my new way of doing things will work in this organization.” As I listened I could hear the disappointment and frustration begin to build in his voice. He clearly saw his ideas as being attacked and took this to mean his technical expertise was in question.
Fortunately, a few months earlier, I had read a great article by Jeffrey and Laurie Ford entitled, Decoding Resistance to Change. This article takes a unique look at resistance to change, one that I have found useful in providing a different perspective for our clients. In a nutshell, the idea is to view resistance not as a barrier, but as a source of feedback. If you view resistance as feedback, you are less likely to dismiss the information, and therefore have more information to enhance your proposed solution.
After I outlined this new view of resistance, my client was able to dissect the resistance he was receiving and categorize it into a couple of general themes. These themes seemed to be grounded in past initiatives which were unsuccessful within the organization. By identifying why past initiatives were unsuccessful, he was able to develop a plan to collect more information to enhance his solution. Had he just viewed this resistance as criticism, he may have continued to push ‘his way’ on leaders and potentially damaged his credibility within the organization.
Tags: Beyond the Jargon, Calibra, change, Change Management, credibility, decoding resistance to change, Executive Coaching, feedback, Jeffrey Ford, Laurie Ford, Paul Dillenburg, perspective
