Change Leadership

One story: From → To → Because

People don't resist change; they resist confusion and loss. Give the team one sentence everyone can repeat: "We're moving from X to Y because Z." If ten people tell the story ten different ways, the change hasn't started yet — regardless of what the plan says.

Map who has to move

List every group the change touches. For each: do they need to know, support, or decide? Match the channel and cadence to the role — a monthly email is fine for the informed; the people doing the new work need weekly contact and a direct line for friction.

Pilot before you scale

• Start with one unit, one shift, one week. Define the success signals before you begin.
• Harvest objections in the pilot — they're free consulting from the people closest to the work.
• Scale the version the pilot produced, not the version the deck promised.

Hold a weekly change review

Twenty minutes, same day every week: progress, blockers, decisions needed, next steps. Momentum in change work is almost entirely a function of cadence — the review is where drift gets caught while it's still cheap. Grab the change brief, stakeholder map, and review agenda.

Milestones people can see beat metrics people have to be shown.