How to Make Change Feel Normal — Instead of Threatening — to Your Team
Inspiration alone isn’t the answer for high performance amid change. Routinizing change may be.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Key Takeaways
- While motivational efforts can spark momentum, they fall flat in low-trust environments. Routinizing change is three times more effective than relying on inspiration alone.
- Embed small, regular changes into the workday, make growth part of the culture, reframe change as opportunity, encourage innovation, normalize feedback and create healthy routines based on things within people’s control.
- Routinizing change is the key, but it works best alongside trust-building, strong communication and genuine connection — elements that help people feel grounded amid uncertainty.
Many leaders have been led to believe that motivation and inspiration are the keys to creating high performance amid change. As a leader, you may think that hyping your team up about an upcoming change is the answer. With large organizational changes, maybe you have thought about bringing in a motivational speaker to kick things off, thinking that could be the missing piece to getting your team on board.
As a keynote speaker who speaks about thriving amid change, what I am about to tell you may surprise you.
Inspiration alone is not the answer.
So, then what is? When you are looking to create sustainable success amid long-term consistent change, routinizing change can make all the difference. Making change an expected part of the workday can turn something scary that just happens here and there into something natural and routine.
Why inspiration can fall flat in a low-trust change environment
As a leader, you are faced with constant change. Technology and AI are constantly evolving. Roles are shifting. Markets are changing. Amid constant disruption, leaders are setting the example for how to handle the ever-shifting dynamics in the workplace.
According to Gartner, only 32% of leaders globally get employees to adopt change in a healthy way. In low-change-trust environments, inspiration alone often falls flat. So, what works? Gartner found that establishing change as a routine is three times more effective than using inspiration as a core tool.
This key shift is what sets high-performing leaders apart.
The neuroscience behind change resistance
This makes sense when we look at how our brains work. As human beings, we naturally resist change. It feels uncomfortable. It takes us out of our routines, and it makes our brains work harder.
Our brains are looking to conserve energy, and when unexpected change is thrust upon us, it can feel like a threat. Change can activate our fight or flight response and lead to resistance. A way to counter that is to normalize change in the workplace. So, how can we do this?
The high-performance guide for sustainable change
Here are approachable strategies high-performance leaders can use to help their teams thrive amid change:
Establish micro-changes in the workday: Making change a regular part of the workday by incorporating small, regular changes can make it more approachable and less overwhelming.
Make growth a part of the organizational culture: When growth and learning are encouraged, embraced and even rewarded, change can go from being something scary to something that employees seek out.
Reframe change as opportunity: Shift the narrative around change. Turn it into something that stimulates curiosity and excitement.
Encourage innovation: Create a safe environment for employees to share new ideas. Encourage brainstorming for new, more efficient approaches to traditional tasks.
Normalize real-time feedback: Create feedback loops that support active communication with real-time updates, solutions and adjustments.
Create healthy routines that center around actionable things within people’s control: Encourage micro-breaks and moments to support well-being throughout the workday. These routines can help regulate the nervous system and can offer predictable support and stability amid the stress and discomfort that can come with change.
Long-term success amid change requires more than just inspiration
Inspiration still carries weight when it comes to building momentum, sparking ideas and encouraging positive change, but inspiration alone will not be enough to help your team be at the top of their game amid constant change. For groups that aren’t used to change, new initiatives can come as a shock to their system.
In modern times, leaders need to be proactive with change.
When you start small with change, making it a regular part of the culture, change overall can become less scary and more manageable. Change, then, isn’t something that happens occasionally, but it is something that is normalized and expected.
While routinizing change is a big part of the puzzle for sustainable success, it is not the only component. Great leaders make sure to prioritize other key elements like building and sustaining trust, optimizing communication and creating real connection. These are the things that help people feel safer and more grounded amid the unknown.
So, as a speaker who focuses on thriving amid change, do I believe there is tremendous value in bringing in a keynote speaker during change initiatives to motivate and inspire teams? Absolutely. But it must be structured intentionally. Inspiration works best when it is integrated as part of a larger initiative. A keynote should act as a spark amid the larger change process, not a stand-alone solution.
In a world of disruption, to be a high-performing leader with a high-performing team, change needs to become a part of the everyday routine. The leaders who embrace this are setting themselves and their teams up for sustainable success.
Disclaimer: This content purely represents the opinion of the author and is not medical advice or treatment recommendations.
Key Takeaways
- While motivational efforts can spark momentum, they fall flat in low-trust environments. Routinizing change is three times more effective than relying on inspiration alone.
- Embed small, regular changes into the workday, make growth part of the culture, reframe change as opportunity, encourage innovation, normalize feedback and create healthy routines based on things within people’s control.
- Routinizing change is the key, but it works best alongside trust-building, strong communication and genuine connection — elements that help people feel grounded amid uncertainty.
Many leaders have been led to believe that motivation and inspiration are the keys to creating high performance amid change. As a leader, you may think that hyping your team up about an upcoming change is the answer. With large organizational changes, maybe you have thought about bringing in a motivational speaker to kick things off, thinking that could be the missing piece to getting your team on board.
As a keynote speaker who speaks about thriving amid change, what I am about to tell you may surprise you.
Inspiration alone is not the answer.
