Decisive leaders making changes will inevitably encounter resistance.
getty
Good change. Bad change. Yet-to-be-evaluated change. It doesn’t matter. If you’re a new leader bringing change to an organization, you can expect pushback, much of which will take place behind your back. That’s because resistance goes far beyond professional objections in meetings.
In a 2025 article, Kathryn Yeung, a consultant for Stratford’s People & Culture team, writes that “One of the most effective ways to mitigate resistance is to engage employees, and all those directly or indirectly affected by the change, early in the process. People naturally resist what they don’t understand, so involving them from the start helps to demystify the change and build a sense of ownership.”
As important as this strategy can be, it will not stop gossip, resistance (passive-aggressive or otherwise), or outright sabotage. So what do you do? First of all, you don’t run from it. You’re a leader, the face of change. Although you’re the one in charge of the group, you need them to help execute your plans, and resistance—if you don’t locate and stop it—can eat away at your efforts long before you’re aware of the damage it’s doing.
Why Team Members Resist
Executive coach Harrison Monarth defines the reasons and ways people fight change. They include status quo bias, in which people see change as a risk and fall into inertia, and loss aversion, in which a new idea, however good it may be, threatens their sense of competence. Another reason is cognitive dissonance, when one’s values don’t line up with their behavior. They rationalize past poor decisions rather than admit an error, despite the damage that error and more like it may cause.
That is what we’re up against when we bring change to an organization. There’s a reason Blockbuster went from making billions on late fees and in-store rentals to filing bankruptcy when Netflix took over the market. Refusal to change. The same thing happened to Sears when it clung to the concept of catalog sales and shopping malls. Hello, Amazon. Picture an imaginary visionary coming into either of those companies and suggesting that they need to change what they’re doing to continue to succeed and even survive. Instant mutiny!
Writing for Forbes, educator and leader Len Jessup says, “As leaders, our challenge is not to eliminate resistance but to navigate it thoughtfully, respecting our teams’ diverse viewpoints and strengths. In this respect, combined with strategic flexibility, can transform potential obstacles into opportunities for growth and innovation.”
To navigate it, however, we have to know where it’s coming from and what type it is. Chinese general, strategist, and philosopher Sun Tzu had it figured out long ago. Believed to be the author of The Art of War, written between 475 and 221 BC, he is credited with the phrase “Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer.” I concur.
Keep your actual and suspected traitors closer – the non-loyal, uncommitted, secretive, suspicious, dishonest, deceitful, chronically negative, and regularly undermining. But tread cautiously. Watch your front, back, and sides. Be hyper-political.
Those who don’t want your tough decisions and much-needed changes may be blatant or subtle. Your job is to know resistance exists and seek it out. Listen carefully. Know the meetings after the meeting. Talk to anyone and everyone. This is the time to use your well-cultivated network and expand it. Shore up your relationships. Ask lots of questions. Be sure you know what is being said about you. Take the grains of truth in the rumors and gossip. Line up your “votes,” especially with powerful people, both formal and informal.
Lean Into the Resistance
Run toward it. Be proactive. Our natural tendency when anything gets difficult is to withdraw and run away. That disconnects us from all the right people and requisite resources we need the most in the mess. You must also stay connected to the gossipers, rumormongers, nemeses, enemies, and traitors. Get a closer view. Be subtle and mysterious. Own what you are doing (and who you eliminate from the team) with love and a sense of unification. Finally, enjoy being the center of the action when the time is right. There are people on your team who will follow you despite any initial concerns, and others who will change their attitudes when they see you in action. That’s the key if you are truly going to lead. Act.