Leaders drive change – it’s what delivers sustained improvement and value creation.
Successfully implementing change involves engaging three audiences:
- Advocates who champion the change, and see personal and organizational benefits;
- Resisters who are invested in the status quo and actively oppose change; efforts to convert them are often futile; and
- Fence-sitters who engage in a limited, risk-averse way until they determine who is gaining momentum; ultimately, success of your change initiative depends on convincing them to care enough to overcome their risk aversion.
Successful change management isn’t about converting the resistance, but rather about creating enough momentum with advocates to pull the fence-sitters toward supporting the initiative.
These strategies will help you engage more effectively with each of your three audiences to build that momentum:
- For Advocates:
- Amplify their voice: Create platforms where advocates can share their enthusiasm—town halls, case studies, testimonials
- Empower with resources: Equip them with data, talking points, and presentation materials to help them influence others
- Appreciate them: Establish formal ways to recognize their contributions, making support visible and rewarding
- Connect them: Create a network of advocates across departments who can coordinate messaging and support each other.
- For Resisters:
- Limit investment: Don’t waste energy trying to convert the deeply resistant
- Acknowledge their perspective: Respectfully recognize their concerns without getting drawn into circular debates
- Focus on behavior: Sometimes compliance is enough; total conversion isn’t always necessary
- Provide exit ramps: Offer dignified ways for resisters to change position without losing face.
- For Fence-sitters – your target audience:
- Encourage participation: Create small, low-commitment ways for them to engage with the change initiative; identify informal leaders among fence-sitters who can influence larger groups
- Provide stories and examples: Craft narratives that appeal specifically to fence-sitters’ values and concerns; offer detailed examples of how similar changes benefited those with like roles
- Offer personalized impact analysis: Help them see specifically how they might win or lose with the change
- Highlight peer support: Emphasize when respected peers move from fence-sitting to advocacy
- Enable two-way dialogue: Create feedback channels where their concerns can be heard and addressed
- Share momentum: Showcase early wins and growing support to trigger their desire to join the winning side; create enough urgency to motivate action without triggering resistance-based fear.
How are you building momentum for your change efforts?