October 21, 2025
by Stephen T. Messenger
Change is hard. Most people resist leaving the comfort of the status quo. Yet, leading change is a job that every leader must do, and few do well. When we try to shift behaviors across our organization, success requires deliberate, inclusive steps instead of imposing new behaviors on our people without their commitment.
John Kotter is the leading expert in change management. He outlines an eight-step process to walk change agents through how to bring others along. If we miss or struggle at even one of these steps, the potential to fail increases. I know, because I’ve done it.
The Failed Attempt
We’ve all been on the wrong end of change initiatives before. They feel worthless, inefficient, and unnecessary. We walk away with a lack of trust in those attempting to make changes and wonder why they were even leading us in the first place. Even worse, I’ve been the one to attempt organizational change and stumbled through the process.
When I was leading a recruiting and retention division, the primary metric when I arrived was the number of people we brought in or retained in the company. It made sense at first, but digging in, a more effective metric would be to track behaviors instead of numbers.
If every week, the recruiters made so many calls, emails, contacts, and meetings, the results were bound to go up. I imposed my change initiative on the group and rapidly tried to create a better future. The problem was, no one bought into my idea that behaviors would drive success. I failed to get the major players on board, and many had been doing this for so long, they didn’t want to change.
My initiative was over before it began. That experience taught me that good intentions are not enough. Change demands a deliberate process.
There’s a Better Way
John Kotter in his book Leading Change, outlines a deliberate process to help leaders drive results while gaining commitment from our people. If you’re looking to make change, you need to read this book first.
1. Establish a Sense of Urgency. The first step is to get others to believe we are facing a significant problem. People must feel pressure that if we don’t change, we will face significant problems or never find amazing opportunities. My failure was not dealing with the complacency in the organization. Few people saw the need to change, and I never drove the “why” narrative. The best change agents convince those around them that change is needed.
2. Create a Guiding Coalition. Next, we have to get the most influential people on board. Change cannot happen alone. We must find others to come alongside and push the initiatives leveraging their spheres of influence. I garnered the commitment of one or two people, but not enough with the position, expertise, credibility, and leadership to tip the scales. Find those with clout and have them help drive change.
3. Develop a Vision. A vision is the North Star that shows everyone where we’re heading and why it matters. It points in the right direction, motivates people to move, and coordinates action across the force. I struggled to provide a clear and compelling vision for the future, resulting in few people wanting to follow. Quality visions and strategies provide waypoints, motivation, and hope to our people.
4. Communicate the Change Vision. Whatever amount we think we’re communicating our vision, multiply that by 100. Really. Use every medium possible to move our narrative across the organization. I never really permeated the message to every level and didn’t have the guiding coalition to do so. Developing a communication strategy to continuously message our people is critical to success.
5. Empower Employees for Broad Based Action. Once people catch the idea, we need to move barriers out of their way to let them make it happen. Too often, structures, skills, systems, and mid-level managers are blocking people from supporting the vision. I had a few junior leaders who weren’t bought in and let everyone else know it. Remove the obstacles to allow great people to make great gains in support of the vision.
6. Generate Short Term Wins. Once things are moving forward, it’s important everyone sees the change is working. Set periodic benchmarks, meet objectives, and celebrate the wins! The victories have to be visible, unambiguous, and related to the change effort. Everyone can see that the change is starting to work. I actually did well at this, but because I struggled with the first five steps, others never made the connection between our wins and adjustments. Find the good stuff and recognize those enacting change.
7. Consolidate Gains and Produce More Wins. The Army likes to talk about exploiting victories. When we penetrate the enemy’s lines, keep pressing! The same is true for change. When we see change working, continue to follow up with more urgency, initiatives, and success. I’m not sure I ever got to this point in my changes. But those who do need to continue pushing to realize the full potential of the organization.
8. Anchor New Approaches in the Culture. Finally, once we’re seeing those wins, it’s so important to develop long-term success. Often this is a direct product of changing culture. This step is often the hardest because cultural change takes time, energy, and commitment across the organization. Once people’s outward and inward beliefs and actions begin to change, we know we have the opportunity to make a lasting difference.
People Actually Like Change
In a conversation Kotter had with a manager, the manager stated that human nature likes to reject change. Kotter pushes back by asking whether they would appreciate change if they won the lottery. This causes the manager to admit that people are open to change if it’s in their best interests.
This is the key. Are the changes we’re making going to make things better for people and the organization?
When change aligns with people’s best interests, leaders don’t have to push, they can guide. That’s when transformation truly happens.
If you want to know more, grab the book Leading Change. It will be instrumental to your change journey.
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