Ted faces a lot of resistance in the Greyhound organization. They aren’t all won over by his charm and sincerity. Individual resistance is hard to overcome. Especially when you are trying to ‘get people to change.’ I say that in quotes because so often we believe we really can ‘make people change.’
What I have found is that people resist change for only three reasons:
- They don’t get it.
- They don’t like it.
- They don’t like you.
If people don’t like something, it’s likely that they don’t understand it. If they don’t understand it, they likely haven’t been involved in it. Sadly, sometimes it is personal. Thankfully, that is the exception and not the rule.
What is seen as resistance, usually is an engagement issue. Most people try to tackle resistance head on with logic. It’s our go to methodology. And it’s usually wrong. It’s an emotional issue and an ownership issue. It goes to the heart, not the head.
To build ownership, get people engaged. I have a simple approach. Tell. Test. Co-create.
Tell is efficient, but not always effective. In EHS, there is absolutely a role for tell. Especially around rule conformance or managing an immediate hazard. Safety consultant and friend @Scott Bellack of Marsh comments, “When faced with resistance to employee safety, approach it with empathy and patience. Understand their concerns and viewpoints, and then gently guide them towards understanding the importance of safety measures. Provide clear explanations, education, and support to help them embrace safety as a priority. Employees go home to their families every day because someone cared about them.”
Test is the middle ground. Present a change concept and ask people to comment and make it better. They feel some ownership, although they don’t ‘own’ the idea. Test allows people to get a ‘heads up’ and understand a change.
Co-create is about ‘extreme ownership.’ The team is presented with the change challenge and they develop the solution. Their solution. They own it. It is more likely to be sustained. Co-create takes significant time and effort, and it may be worth it!
Leadership guru and friend @Ed Egan provides some advice on resisters:
The person “resisting” may be the only one who has the courage to speak up, and they could be speaking for multiple others. If they are respectful in their resistance, keep them talking. Once the resistors go quiet, that is when the real resistance starts.
Next time you find people are resistant to an idea, look inward. See if you have engaged them with heart and head. Try engaging them differently. Go ahead, dunk ‘em in milk!
If you are interested in developing your safety team, consider running the Safety Professional’s Academy. Contact me to have a conversation.
If you have safety professionals who require coaching, please give me a call!
SafetyAnd Consulting Associates, Inc.
National Safety Council
#safety
#leadership
#changeleadership
#change
