Anticipate Resistance when Leading Change by Hans Finzel

During World War II, the Germans waged serious warfare with one of their most potent weapons: their sleek, black underwater vessels of destruction called "the U-boat" (U stands for Unterwasser, which is the German word for Underwater). These U-boats wreaked havoc in the Atlantic as the Allied forces attempted to close in.

The great war movie Das Boot illustrates the incredible stress of life underwater for weeks on end in one of those German submarines. When the Allied Forces detected one of these underwater warriors, they began to pummel the U boats with depth charges. For days on end the German sailors would be shaken up like gravel in a cement mixer, being pounded with explosives, rolling from side to side, mortal danger surrounding them on literally all sides.

It is hard to imagine that they lived through that kind of beating, but many did live to tell about it.

There are times during major change initiatives when criticism can get that intense, and remaining stable is a near impossibility. Beware: Resistance will come. And it will hurt. If you have bold plans to shake things up, you'd better get ready for the pounding of the depth charges of resistance.

People always resist change. People resist change for all sorts of reasons. Here is my short list of the top six issues that frighten people about change:

1. Fear: The unknown is a threat to comfort zones
2. Insecurity: They may be worse off after the changes
3. Power: They may lose power or status in the shuffle
4. Trust: Previous change actions have eroded trust in the leadership
5. Inertia: It is easier to maintain the status quo
6. Energy: It takes a lot of work, money and time to change things!

Change will face many detractors. It is up to us as leaders to recognize these barriers and turn them around -- showing that everyone will be served by supporting the change, not opposing it.

It been said that leaders need to have thick skin. But that's easier said than done. Criticism cuts deep and hurts terribly. The cute little saying, "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me," is a bald face lie.

When we are pounded by the missiles and depth charges of friends or enemies, it has a devastating effect on our emotions. It can bring our work to a screeching halt as we ride out the barrages of the criticism. Don't let the vocal minority derail your commitment to change! Abraham Lincoln, one of America's most criticized and resisted leaders, was probably right to ignore criticism and just do the best he could:

"If I were to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, 10,000 angels swearing I was right would make no difference." - Abraham Lincoln

How not to develop thick skin. How do you survive the rough and tumble of change warfare? Is it by developing a thick skin? No, on the contrary, rather than a thick hide, the thing to develop is a resilient one. One that can absorb the blow, not deflect it. Instead of trying to develop ways of never feeling the attack, work on ways of processing it more painlessly and efficiently. Learn to turn adversaries into allies.

1. First, identify a core group of allies. These are the first people you came to with your radical idea, and who not only "got it", but asked how they could pitch in. They are the ones willing to endure with you the endless bombardments. Call them allies.

When the sniping gets too hot, gather these supporters in your office, close the door for awhile and unknot your tie. Find things about the situation which you can laugh at with them. Be irreverent -- as long as it stays behind that closed door. Lower your blood pressure. Without a single friend of this kind in the organization, you're doomed. Find at least one -- cultivate one, if you haven't already.

2. Second, try to visualize the attacker's world; what is going on in their world that leads to this type of response? Why do they feel threatened by the changes? How does the relative viciousness of the attack reflect on your foes? Ask yourself, "How would I feel if I saw things the way they do?" Can I connect with their world and turn them around?

3. Third, let the criticism make you better. If a particular attack has left you stung, don't react defensively to its message -- instead, absorb the blow by going back to see if it has any merit. You'll never gain anything by denying legitimate criticism. Use criticism as a tool for improving your proposals. Then move forward with your modification. You'll have a better plan and you'll disarm your opponent.

Nothing could improve -- or perhaps -- repair an internal reputation faster and more thoroughly than that sort of response on your part.

4. Fourth, reshape your self-image. Enduring an attack in your role as an organizational leader hurts the most when your job determines how you see yourself. Go back to bedrock and remind yourself who you are: your parents' offspring, a person loved by God, possibly a father, mother, husband or wife. Aren't these more meaningful and significant realities than the job you hold? A solid grounding in who you are is the best flak jacket you could ever don through the difficult times of promoting organization change.

Get ready for opposition and develop coping skills as you push forward with change. Some people will not sit on the sidelines quietly but will dish out hostility to your plans and actions. Don't reject their words out of hand; let them make you better, stronger, and your proposal for change that much more coherent. Learn from your adversaries.

Practical Takeaways: When you face criticism and strong opposition:

• Reflect in your journal: What type of criticism most easily upsets you and gets under your skin? Why?
• Who in your life can you talk to in order to vent and get help? Make a list of the people that you can use to process the criticism fairly. Allow them the freedom of being honest with you - sometimes the criticism is fair and has grains of truth. Are you willing to hear those?
• Develop relationships with a few key individuals both inside and outside your organization or industry, who can be objective, providing wise sounding board counsel during the turbulent times to come.
• Always have an email cooling off period before you push the send button in your response to written criticism.

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Prior to his current position as President and CEO of CB International, an international missions organization, Dr. Finzel spent 10 years in Vienna, Austria as a leadership trainer, reaching over 5,000 of Europe's top leaders allowing them to seize the unprecedented opportunities for free enterprise that followed the fall of communism. His book Change is Like a Slinky (Northfield Press, www.moodypublishers.org) is available where books are sold. For more information on his book, Change Is Like a Slinky, and other great resources, click here.