Leading Through Change

Why we push back against change, and how to lead others through it

“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” — Albert Einstein

“You can choose courage or you can choose comfort, but you cannot choose both.” — Brene Brown

“Great leaders don’t just react to change; they create it.” — Simon Sinek

In the past five years alone, we’ve experienced a staggering pace of change: the sudden shift to remote work overnight, the flood of capital and hiring across tech, the dramatic pivot into economic tightening, layoffs, and the ever-evolving conversation around return to office. These shifts have touched every part of how we work, and as leaders, we’ve had to process and respond in real-time, often with limited experience and high expectations.

Whether you’ve felt grounded or disoriented (or both, depending on the day), you’re not alone. Leadership during change is inherently vulnerable. Our teams look to us to interpret what a change means. Is it good? Bad? What does it say about where we’re headed?

I recently ran a workshop on leading through change that sparked a tremendous conversation about what makes change so difficult — and what tools actually help. This article distills what I shared and what we explored together.

Why Is Change Hard?

Change can be deeply uncomfortable. It challenges our assumptions, disrupts our rhythm, and puts us in unfamiliar territory. Our brains are wired to seek stability — it’s a survival mechanism that’s worked for millennia. So when change arrives, our neurological response is often to resist. Here’s the why behind it:

• Disruption of Habits: Routine conserves cognitive energy. Change means re-learning, which takes effort.
• Fear of the Unknown: Uncertainty is inherently threatening. We prefer predictable discomfort over unknown outcomes.
• Loss Aversion: We feel losses more strongly than equivalent gains, so even “positive” changes can feel risky.
• Cognitive Overload: Adapting takes brainpower. When too much hits at once, we shut down or burn out.

While all of this is true, our brains are equally adept at receiving and processing change. The brain has neuroplasticity, the ability to rewire and reorganize itself. We can adapt, grow, and learn new ways of thinking. When we receive specific, timely, positive reinforcement, it triggers dopamine, strengthening those new connections.

Change may be uncomfortable, but it’s also an invitation to evolve. We just need the right tools and the right mindset. In working with the leadership team, I identified three things we could do as leaders to help our teams navigate change and, in many ways, what we could do ourselves to help our own processing:

1. Embrace discomfort
2. Focus on impact
3. Give & receive feedback

While there is so much to consider, we were able to internalize these three areas and consider how they could work with our team.

1. Embrace Discomfort

Discomfort isn’t a sign of failure, it’s a signal that you’re stretching.

Leaders who normalize discomfort create environments where growth is possible. That doesn’t mean pretending change isn’t hard. It means naming it, guiding through it, and modeling resilience in the face of it.

How?

• Normalize uncertainty out loud
• Share your own learning curve
• Set expectations that the stretch is the work

Think about physical fitness. Progress comes from incremental overload—not coasting at your current limit. The same applies to change: we strengthen our adaptability by pushing past what feels easy.

2. Focus on Impact (Not Just the “How”)

In times of change, people often zero in on logistics: What’s the new process? What do I need to do? But the most powerful leadership moments come when we zoom out.

Effective change leadership centers on:

• The What — What are we trying to accomplish?
• The Why — Why does it matter?

The “how” is flexible. The vision and the rationale should be solid.

When people understand why something changes, they’re more likely to buy in — even if the “how” is uncomfortable.

Instead of: “We’re rolling out a new system.” Try: “We’re making it easier to do our best work, with tools that actually support us.”

With this mindset, the how can continue to change and people start to develop more easily because the what and the why remain the same. We are anchoring them to some stability and enabling the actions to be fluid and adaptable in an effort to achieve these results.

3. Feedback Is a Change Tool

When change happens, alignment breaks easily. That’s why frequent, honest, and useful feedback is a non-negotiable. Yes, continuous feedback is always needed, and it’s especially critical when your day-to-day is shifting.

I like the SBI(S) framework:

• Situation — When and where did it happen?
• Behavior — What exactly did the person do?
• Impact — What was the result?
• Suggestion — What could be improved?

Example: Positive Feedback

Situation: During onboarding last week
Behavior: You personally welcomed new hires and answered their questions
Impact: They felt supported and confident from day one

Example: Constructive Feedback

Situation: In yesterday’s planning meeting
Behavior: You moved into solutions before we clarified the problem
Impact: It caused confusion about priorities
Suggestion: Try aligning on the goal before jumping into execution

Why this matters: Poorly delivered feedback triggers the brain’s threat response, making learning almost impossible. But when feedback is grounded in curiosity and collaboration, it helps people stretch into new behaviors with confidence.

Curiousness is essential when delivering feedback, especially during times of change. Asking open-ended questions like “What do you think worked well?” or “What was challenging in that moment?” invites dialogue and reduces defensiveness. Instead of positioning yourself as the only evaluator, you position yourself as a partner in reflection. This not only makes feedback more actionable but also builds trust and shared ownership of improvement.

Ground feedback practices into your existing routines; weekly 1:1s should include an opportunity for feedback exchange regularly. As leaders, we also have to model this. If the team sees us shying away from difficult feedback and conversations, it gives them permission to do the same. It’s important we do as we say and say as we do.

Leading Through Change Is a Shared Practice

There’s no one way to lead through change, AND there are better ways to show up that create trust, resilience, and momentum.

Discomfort doesn’t mean you’re failing. Discomfort is success, always, at least to me. Discomfort tells us that we are pushing beyond our existing boundaries and limits, and if that is done in pursuit of improvement, greatness, and impact, it means you’re doing the right work. Change won’t feel easier overnight, but you can get better at moving through it and bringing others with you.

💬 Breakout Prompts & Workshop Flow

If you’re facilitating a workshop on leading through change, here are a few prompts and exercises to guide the conversation that we leveraged and the team loved:

Discomfort & Growth Breakout

• Reflect on a recent experience of change that felt uncomfortable. What did it teach you?
• What support helped you move through it?

Focus on Impact Exercise

• Choose a recent team or company shift. Reframe the explanation from “what’s changing” to “why it matters.”

SBI(S) Feedback Practice — ideal for groups over 5 people

• Collate a number of unique situations where you could deliver feedback in an SBI(S) format than is greater than or equal to the number of people in the group.
• Each person picks one from a bowl and pairs with someone.
• Pairs practice their own situation in SBI(S) format, and give each other feedback on how well they did.
• Once done they switch their feedback and move onto a new partner.
• Continue until time runs out or pairs have been completed.