Spoiler: People don't follow plans

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In my experience, the leaders who struggle most with change have a solid strategy. What they often lack is an understanding of human behaviour. I see this especially in analytical, data-driven environments; there's an assumption that if the logic is sound, people will follow.

It rarely works that way. Most resistance to change isn't deliberate - people often can't explain it themselves. What change is really asking of them is to give up something important: familiarity, certainty, competence, and identity. That touches beliefs and loyalties that run deeper than a business case. Leading change demands courage as much as capability - the kind that means facing that reality, not finding ways around it.

Cadence Curation

READ: A Survival Guide for Leaders | Heifetz & Linsky | Harvard Business Review

In this timeless HBR classic, Heifetz and Linsky make the case that the real challenge of leading change is human, not strategic. Any leader driving significant transformation should expect the organisation to push back - systems naturally resist disruption, the heat will rise, and at times it will feel personal. 

The practical moves they offer are the ones I often share with my coaching clients. Move between the dance floor and the balcony - step back far enough to see what's really happening. Regulate the organisational heat so discomfort drives progress without tipping into crisis. Name the loss: people rarely resist change itself, they resist what they fear losing. Give the work back rather than absorbing responsibility that belongs to others. And manage yourself - so that attacks on your role don't become attacks on your identity.

Twenty-three years on, it's still the best practical guide to leading transformation I know of.

Cadence Toolkit

TOOL: The human side of change

Pick an organisational change you're currently leading. For each area below, ask yourself honestly where you're struggling.

• Diagnose the situation: Are you close enough to know what people are actually feeling? Do you understand whose resistance matters most, and why?
• Manage yourself: What triggers you in this process? Are you retreating into easier work to avoid the hard conversations?
• Energise people: Have you acknowledged the loss directly? Is there a shared purpose that makes the discomfort feel worthwhile?
• Intervene skillfully: Are you raising the heat enough to create movement? Are you giving the work back, or absorbing what belongs to others?

Post-work: Which of the four is most underdeveloped in how you're leading this right now?

Any other business

Buckle up! To lead, as Heifetz puts it, is to live dangerously.