As leaders, we are frequently driving change. Lots has been written on how to do it effectively. Two weeks ago, I published a blog about the challenges and opportunities associated with changing, or bending an organization’s culture.
And, while change can be good for an organization, tinkering sometimes may not. We all know the leader who loves change for change sake, whether it’s a new award system, a new comp plan, a new training program, a new sales structure, the key word is new. Change, for change sake. Harmless, perhaps. And perhaps not.
My experience is those of us who say we like change, are thinking “we like driving change”. I have yet to meet a person who says “I love having change thrust upon me”.
With this in mind, next time you are thinking about making a change in your organization, pause and ask yourself, “what is driving this desire for change”?
Is something not working or is something going on with me, perhaps I am bored? And if it ain’t broke, perhaps the best thing to do is to pause, before setting out to fix it.
The initial results of my Pivot are excellent. I feel I have much greater clarity regarding the next 3-5 years.. 
Center of the bulls eye, Elisa!
We human critters are naturally change resistant and there has been a load of research done on what is behind that. Sometimes it’s because change requires lots of work and we may not want to expend that much effort. Sometimes it’s the discomfort of getting out of the comfort zone. And always it is fear of the unknown. We just don’t know all of the consequences of change and our survival instinct commands us to resist. And that resistance can actually be a killer.
I posted a 23 second blog http://www.fullyaliveleadership.com/2014/04/03/push-back/) about this a short time ago and deal with the issue in my Fully Alive Leadership workshops. Influencing people to change is a necessary skill of a leader and “Because I said so” is not the way to do it.