October 16, 2025 • 42 mins
In this episode, I talk about what really happens when you start implementing change—whether it’s new technology, processes, culture, or leadership habits. I share the emotional and practical realities of leading through resistance, opposition, and isolation, and what it takes to stay committed long enough to see transformation.
If you’re joining mid-series, this is part two of a three-part series on implementing change. In the previous episode, we talked about ownership and commitment—the two prerequisites to any lasting change. In this one, we’re getting real about what to expect when you actually start doing it.
What You’ll Learn:
- Expecting resistance as a normal human response
- Leading through early isolation with conviction and care
- Committing full energy, time and resources to adoption
- Starting with early adopters to build momentum
- Embedding change into structure and operations
- Measuring inputs and outcomes to track adoption
- Celebrating small wins to reinforce belief and behavior
- Creating safety for honest pushback and adoption
- Pacing timelines across phases for sustained change
- Applying the same principles to tech, process and culture
Resources & Links:
- Learn more at ClearAuthenticBrands.com
Related Episodes:
- Episode 09: The First Step Implementing Real and Lasting Change
- Episode 11: How to Handle Opposition When Implementing Change
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 00 (00:00):
Welcome back to the building at Clear Authentic
Brand podcast.
I'm your host, Amy Dardis.
Anytime we step into somethingnew, whether it's change in
(00:21):
culture, process, technology, oreven how we lead, it's not
easy.
It's never easy.
Change sounds exciting intheory, but the process of
implementing it isuncomfortable, slow, and often
messy.
But in today's episode, we'retalking about what to expect
(00:44):
when you are implementingchange, how to handle
resistance, opposition,isolation, and how to stay
committed long enough to see thetransformation.
If you're just joining us, weare in episode two of a
three-part series arc onimplementing change.
(01:04):
The previous episode, we talkedabout ownership and commitment,
which are required before youcan ever see true and lasting
change.
And today we're talking aboutwhat to expect when you're
implementing change and how toactually do it.
And then in our next episode,we will talk about handling
(01:26):
opposition.
So be sure to tune in for thatone as well.
So getting started withimplementing change, what do we
expect?
How do we actually do it?
I have had a lot of experienceimplementing change.
I am a weird one.
I enjoy it for some weirdreason.
(01:49):
But it is something that I knowhow much effort it takes.
And I've seen so manybusinesses fail at implementing
change, like trying to implementa CRM, trying to implement
e-commerce, trying to changeculture, or even just
implementing a new process andfailing.
(02:11):
And so I want to kind of walkthrough what we really have to
do so that we don't fail.
So one of the stories I have onchange is implementing a new
e-commerce platform, which notonly required implementing a new
technology, but it requiredimplementing a shift in process
(02:37):
and a shift in like how we dothings, as well as like
marketing messaging.
And it was a huge, huge projectoutside of an entire brand
shift.
Implementing e-commerce ishonestly the one of the biggest
changes I've ever implemented.
And that was a process.
(02:59):
So as we kind of walk throughthese different things that we
need to expect and know, I'llkind of relate it to what I
learned along this along thisjourney.
And so the first thing to knowis that when we're implementing
(03:21):
anything new, we have to expectresistance.
It's going to happen, and wehave to be mentally and
emotionally prepared for it.
And it's natural and it's okay.
And now I'm going down therabbit hole of playing new
(03:54):
strategic board games and stuff.
But so knowing that I likethese games and knowing that I
like playing new games, and it'ssomething that my husband and I
do together, and our kids, wedo with our kids, and we invite
our friends over to play boardgames.
But every time he introduces anew game to us, and we order a
(04:18):
new one, and we have to like sitdown and read the directions
and figure it out.
I feel the resistance.
I get anxiety, I getapprehensive.
I'm like, am I gonna like it?
How long is this gonna take?
Am I gonna be good at it?
And am I ever gonna figure thisout?
(04:38):
This feels so overwhelming.
And and I know that I'm gonnabe able to like work through,
but just this instant naturalresistance because it's new,
it's new rules.
I haven't tried it before, andit's scary because it's unknown.
So anytime we implementsomething new in our business in
(05:02):
life, I think, and we'redealing with people, there's
that natural resistance becauseeven if it's good, and even if
they believe that it's good, andeven if they're excited about
it, there's still this fear,there's still apprehension,
there's still anxiety, and wemay not always be forthcoming
(05:23):
about it, but at its root, we'relike, ah, I've always done it
this way, and now you're askingme to do it this way, or you're
asking me to learn this newthing.
And deep down, I'm just afraid.
I'm worried that I'm not gonnafigure it out, I'm not gonna,
it's not gonna work, it's notgonna be successful, and I'm
gonna put all this energy intoit, and it's gonna be a waste of
(05:46):
time.
Like these are all of the thefears and the thoughts that go
through our mind.
It's normal.
So if you're the one who's incharge, just know that.
Even if they don't tell you,even if they don't admit it, and
you might feel these thoughtstoo, but just know, like, okay,
these are thoughts that aregoing on, and it's not because
(06:09):
the validity of the change isbad or that it's not gonna work.
So that's resistance.
In addition to expectingresistance, we also need to
expect opposition.
There will be adversity, therewill be challenges, and there
will be people who don't likeit.
(06:32):
Beyond just the resistance,there will be opposition to the
change itself.
There's two forms ofopposition.
You're gonna have passiveopposition and you're gonna have
active opposition.
I'm going to dive more intothis in the next episode because
it's its own topic.
So we will move on from that,except to say expect it.
(06:54):
And then, you know, listen tothe next episode so you can find
out how we deal with it.
The third thing is we have toexpect isolation, especially at
the beginning.
Because chances are at thebeginning, when you're
introducing something new, youmight be the only one who can
(07:15):
see the vision.
Like you are the one who hasthis idea and this picture and
this goal and this conviction inyour head that this needs to
happen.
And you, your mindset hasalready shifted.
You already see that it'spossible and that it's good and
it will be for the greater good.
(07:37):
But when you first introducethis to your team and to your
people or to your customers,they won't be able to see the
vision yet.
And so that gap between itstarting with you and then
spreading to other people andmore people becoming on board
with it, it can be lonelydepending on how long it lasts.
(07:59):
And you're kind of the onepushing this big boulder up a
hill for a while, and it's allon you.
And that is hard and it isoverwhelming.
But if you just keep going andyou don't give up knowing that
eventually people will come onboard if you follow all the rest
(08:22):
of these steps, like peoplewill come on board, but there is
a period of time when it's justyou.
You have your own insecurities,your own doubts, your own
fears, your own naturalresistance that you are having
to work through, but you can'ttell anybody else about it, or
you can't share it fully becauseyou're trying to win them over.
(08:45):
You're trying to instillconfidence, you're trying to
cast the vision in the dream.
And so if you share with themthese inner fears to the full
level that you experience them,I think it's good to share a
little bit just to be authenticand truthful.
But you are the one who has tolike move this thing forward.
(09:08):
And so there is a level ofextra energy and extra
positivity and extra vision andextra optimism that you have to
infuse into it, even when youyourself might be battling on
the inside, and that can belonely, that can feel isolating.
(09:29):
But get through it and it'll beworth it.
You'll be glad that you did.
The next thing that we have todo is when we're implementing
change, is we have to give itour full energy.
We have to commit time, energy,and resources to it.
We talked about this in thecommitment part of the episode
(09:50):
in the previous one.
And this is like knowing thatwe can't just decide that we're
going to implement something newand then just put in like a
little bit of effort.
Like, hey, I said this is gonnabe new, and so now we're gonna
start doing it, and people aregonna get on board, and it's
(10:12):
just gonna be this seamlessthing, which surprisingly enough
happens more than you think,especially with something like a
CRM.
Like, oh, hey, we have thisCRM.
Now you should all start usingit, and then people don't use
it, and then they're like, oh,it crashed and failed, and
nobody likes this CRM, and it'sthe software's problem.
When a lot of times it'sactually, no, there's just
(10:33):
there's so many more elements toit that require this intention,
this focus, and this energy,and almost like willing it into
existence.
So when I first started to haveto roll out this e-commerce
(10:55):
platform, one, I was doing it inan industry that I was brand
new at and knew nothing about.
I had joined the gas andwelding world, didn't understand
that world itself, like theidea of like a cylinder or a gas
pack, this terminology, highpressure, low pressure, was rent
leases, like all of that.
(11:16):
And I it was beyond me.
So I was having to learn thisindustry and the terms and what
they meant and the operationalside of it and the customer side
of it, while at the same timeresearching this e-commerce
platform and what kind ofplatform to do and how to
(11:38):
integrate it and what systemsneeded to talk together.
So making sure that we wereusing the right software for how
our business operated.
And then after getting allthose integrations fleshed out,
getting it designed, getting itworking, which ended up being
(12:02):
the easy part, believe it ornot.
That took like a year of uphillbattle of researching and
learning.
But then I had to like launchit.
I had to train not only ourinternal team on it, I had to
train our external team on it.
Or sorry, not our external.
(12:23):
I mean, and by external team,sure.
Yeah, I mean customers, likethousands of customers.
Not just like a couple, but alot.
And so I had a lot ofresistance to overcome.
It was very isolating in thoseearly phases because I was the
(12:44):
only one who understood theprogram.
I was the only one who saw thatthis could make the business
better.
It could help us run moreefficiently, it could help us
improve sales.
It was, we were adapting andinnovating in a way that I
believed was required for themarket because I did not believe
that we could continue to dobusiness the way that we always
(13:07):
had and still grow and stillsustain without us being at risk
of losing out to competitorswho were implementing
technology.
So here I was trying to learneverything I could and push it
(13:29):
out and launch it and train onit.
And in my head, I had to makethis commitment of like, okay,
this is going to require all ofmy time, energy, and resources.
But I was almost like to thepoint where I was like willing
it into existence, like with allof my being, with all of my
(13:49):
thoughts, with all of my energy,with all of my prayers, just
like whatever it takes, I willdo it.
And and it took a lot.
And I mean, it took time, ittook so many conversations,
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conversation after conversation.
It took processes and followingup and training and getting out
into the field and all so muchtime and energy that went into
people.
Like the software and thelearning and the educational
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part of it, and getting all ofthose things tested and working
correctly, that was a fraction.
It was a fraction of the energythat I spent.
And the majority of the energyand effort and time that I put
in was into people.
I was into changing mindsets,overcoming resistance,
(14:57):
overcoming fear, training,following up conversations,
building confidence.
I mean, and it was I had to beso intentional about it.
I had to bring it up when noone wanted to talk about it.
I had to build it intoprocesses.
(15:19):
I had to go out and seek outopportunities.
And that was very hard and itwas very isolating at the
beginning before I gained thattraction, but it was full
energy.
And in that like full energy, Ialso had to give it time and
(15:45):
embrace the journey, this uphillbattle.
And that's the other part iswhen we're implementing change,
and granted, if you have asmaller business, if you have a
smaller team, if you have asmaller selection of customers,
implementing change can takeless time, and that's an
advantage.
(16:05):
But if you have a bigger team,more departments, more
locations, more customers,implementing change takes
longer, just because there'smore people, there's more
people's minds and habits andthoughts and actions to
influence.
(16:26):
And that's really what it comesdown to.
So in my case, for thisspecific e-commerce rollout, I
had a lot of people.
I there were 80 people in thecompany that I had to spend time
with and get on board.
We had a sales team of like 13people.
We had different locations.
(16:47):
And so it was a lot of time atevery big branch, at every with
every sales team, with everyindividual.
And it was slow.
And so that's something that Ilearned was that implementing
change is slow, small, andsteady.
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It's a gradual process.
It is one tiny win at a time.
It's one small mindset shift.
It's one conversation at atime.
And that is normal.
Like there is no faster way todo it because you're working
(17:34):
with people, and I had to givethem time to change their
mindset about it, knowing thatthat just doesn't happen
overnight.
So I would go and hop in thetruck with a salesperson and I
would spend the entire day withthem.
And I would go around and visittheir customers, and we would,
(17:56):
you know, I would talk to themabout them, their family, their
job, their hobbies.
You know, we would, I wouldjust get to know them as an
individual.
And then throughout the day, wewould be talking to customers
about e-commerce.
I would go in and talk to themand kind of like train them on
how to do it and then help themdo it.
(18:18):
And then in the truck, we wouldbe talking back and forth about
it, any like questions or whatwe're working on or what I'm
excited about or what obstaclesI'm running into, what concerns
they had.
And it was this whole day ofjust these conversations.
And then six months later, Iwould go back and do it again.
(18:45):
And six months later, I'd goback and do it again.
And each time there was change,each time there was growth,
each time there was moreprogress.
But it was, and obviously itwasn't just me having that one
conversation, but they werehaving conversations with each
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other.
We were talking about it inmeetings, we had goals set
around it, we were celebratingthe wins along the way.
And so little by little therewere these different elements
that were swaying them orhelping them kind of shift their
thinking and shift their habitsand know that, okay, this is
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this is good, and and I'mgetting more comfortable with
it, and I'm seeing that mycustomers are liking it and it's
making my job easier, and youknow, all these benefits coming
into play, but that took time,and it was just one little small
shift at a time.
(19:50):
So whenever we're implementingchange, not only are we being
like realistic about thetimeline of how long change
takes, I mean, I would say at aminimum, it can it take three to
six months at a minimum,anywhere as long as like nine to
(20:12):
eighteen months to see like aan even bigger shift.
And again, this this goes backto size.
So good news for you if youhave a smaller team, there's
it's it's easier to turn a smallboat than it is a bigger boat.
But it's going to take time andit's going to take that energy
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invested intentionally for a lotlonger than you probably want
it to.
But over the process of thattimeline, everybody is going to
shift and grow and get morecomfortable at different paces.
So what I learned to do was towork with the early adopters
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first, with the people who werethe most open, the most excited,
the least resistant, becauseyou're there will be varying
degrees.
So instead of focusing all mytime and energy on everyone
equally, or even choosing theharder ones first, I went for
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wins.
Like I was like, what can I doto get as much traction as
possible early on in theprocess?
Because part of winning peopleover is that it's this ripple
effect and it starts with you,and then there comes to this,
(21:47):
like this next circle.
But once you have this nextcircle on board, then they're
helping you.
Like the people who are moreresistant are then looking at
these other people and they'relike, oh, well, what do you
think?
Oh, you're excited about it.
Oh, it worked for you.
Oh, that's interesting.
So it's not just this oneperson that's pushing it now.
(22:09):
Now it's more people.
And it's the same concept as aword of mouth referral as
reviews, but you're doing itinternally with your team or
your customers when you'retrying to implement change.
Like, so you want to get asmany reviews or positive
feedback or people on board onyour team so that then they're
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helping you.
They're becoming theseambassadors for change.
And that helps break down thewalls of the people who are like
on in the next ring and thenext ring and the next ring.
So I would not worry about thepeople who are the most
resistant at all, especially notat the beginning.
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Because at the beginning, youare looking for proof of
concept.
You are looking to test andprove that this change is good.
So whether that's a CRM, ane-commerce platform, a hiring
process, new customer process, anew brand message, a new ad
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campaign, whatever your changeis, you are looking to test it
for success as early and as fastas possible.
So use the people and thesituations where you are the
most likely to get those winsand get that traction going
(23:35):
because that's going to buildthat momentum and you need
momentum.
And I think about it just likea snowball.
I mean, you start out with thissmall thing.
And this small thing isprobably you and your vision and
your prayers and yourwillpower.
Like that's where you start.
But then it keeps rolling andyou gather more proof, you
(24:00):
gather more feedback, you gathermore success, you gather more
people, and then they help youdo that work and it continues to
spread and it continues tospread.
And so it is not you goingaround and doing this all
yourself, it's you helping thesepeople get on board and then
(24:25):
taking it out and out and outuntil you see that
transformation.
So with that though, so you'regonna get these people on board,
changing mindsets, successstories, all good things.
But with that, you have to beintentional, consistent, and
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persistent.
Like change requiresperseverance, and it helps when
you're building in systems andyou're building in
accountability to actually makesure that this is becoming a
part of your organization, apart of your operations.
(25:10):
So when we were implementinge-commerce, you know, it's like
we were bringing it up in weeklymeetings.
It became a regular topic.
We were setting goals aroundit.
It became part of how we weremeasuring success.
It became a part of ourstrategic planning.
(25:34):
It became a part of one of ourmeasurables and our KPIs for how
we were tracking growth andsuccess and moving forward.
We factored it into incentivesor reviews or conversations
where it wasn't just somethingthat was optional.
(25:55):
It wasn't just something thatwas new or different.
It was we were ingraining itinto how we do business.
So, like if you're implementinga CRM, you are using it every
week or every conversation whenyou're talking with your sales
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team.
You're not just saying, here'sour CRM, go use it.
You're saying, okay, here's ourCRM, you're using it.
We review it each week when wetalk about it.
I look at the openopportunities within this
spreadsheet.
We are pulling information fromit for our reports.
We're setting goals aroundwhat's in there.
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It's like you're making it sothat it's a part of how you do
business.
And then on top of that, it'sjust talking about it all the
time.
And I mean, too annoying level,to uh like talk about it, joke
(26:59):
about it, make fun of yourselffor talking about it.
Like, I mean, there's there,like be shame, shameless about
it, celebrate it, bring it up,shout, shout, do shout-outs for
it, ask questions, sendreminders.
I mean, it is just the morefront and center it is, the
(27:23):
harder it is to slide it underthe rug or just pretend like, oh
yeah, we're we're implementingthis new thing, but you know,
it's not really gonna stick.
So we're just gonna ignore itfor now, which is one of the
things that you'll go upagainst, you know.
It's just this naturalresistance of like, is this
really gonna stick?
(27:44):
And you have to prove that itis.
You have to just leave no doubtbecause hey, not only are we
doing this, but we're like we'reoperate, this is part of our
operational structure.
And the same goes, I'm talkinga lot about technology, but the
same goes with like newprocesses or new frameworks or
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core values or culture.
When you're implementing thosethings, those become a part of
how you hire.
It becomes a part of how you doperformance reviews, how you
run your meetings, how you plangoals, how you recognize your
team.
They become ingrained andyou're talking about it all the
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time.
And then you get your teamtalking about it, you get those
early adopters talking about it,and then eventually it's
changing the way you talk as acompany, it's changing the way
you think, it's changing the wayyou show up, and it all starts
with shifting how we think aboutthese things.
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It all starts with thismindset, but then it becomes a
part of how we actually dobusiness.
And with that, we want whenwe're like implementing change,
we want to be able to measureadoption.
We want to be able to measurein some way the work, the work
(29:18):
we're doing or the outcome thatwe're looking for.
So when I was implementinge-commerce, it was like I was
measuring how many days in thefield did I spend to promote
this, talk about this as part oflike work I was inputting, how
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many campaigns did I run?
How many promotional videos didI create in order to bring it
front and center on everychannel possible?
So it was in emails, it was insocial media, it was in flyers,
it was in the stores, it was meout there in person at At every
(30:01):
opportunity possible.
And that's part of likemeasuring the work that I could
do to affect this.
But then we were also measuringthe outcome.
So how many customers did wehave using it?
How many new customers were wegaining each month that hadn't
ordered before?
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How many of those customerswere continuing to consistently
order?
What was the number oftransactions going through the
system?
What was the dollar amount ofthose transactions?
What was the percentage ofdollars coming through the
e-commerce platform compared todollars overall made in the
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business and through other saleschannels?
And so we were tracking thisprogress month over month.
And so it's it was slow and itwas, I didn't know what to
expect when we started.
Like I started at zero, butthen every single month tracking
(31:06):
it, I had a spreadsheet and Iwas like, okay, we did, we grew
in this area, and then I wasable to like find the patterns
and see, okay, we're growing atthis rate.
This is a consistent and steadyrate that we can strive for and
we can set goals around this.
And then this is what we did inyear one, and this is what we
did in year two.
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And I mean, it took years ofdoing this and just pushing and
pushing and pushing, but I wasable to look back and because I
had tracked it, be able to belike, okay, we are growing, even
when it doesn't feel like it,even if I hear resistance or I'm
dealing with opposition, evenif it feels slow, I have
(31:51):
numbers, I have tangible data tolook at to prove that this is
working.
And that was encouraging.
That kept me going, that keptme pushing and helped me to not
give up.
And even when those wins weresmall, which that's what a lot
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of your wins are, is they willbe very small wins.
I learned to celebrate everysingle small win.
Every single one.
So every time a new customerordered for the very first time,
hooray, whoop whoop, likeemail, email the salesperson,
let them know, let them knowthat I saw it, acknowledge it,
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call it out, mention it in theweekly meeting, mention it in
the highlights, like leteverybody on our team know about
it.
I wrote down success stories.
I wrote down, like, okay, thisday I went and had a ride along
with this salesperson.
And we saw these people and wetalked about these things, and I
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saw them do this, and it wasawesome.
And then six months later, wewent out and I saw this growth
and I saw this change and thiscustomer that we talked about
the very first time.
Now they've ordered every monthsince.
And it we can prove that itpaid off.
And by me tracking all of thosewins, it was encouraging for
(33:22):
me, but it also helped build upthe confidence and the belief
from the team as well.
When one, they saw that Irecognized them, I saw their
effort, I acknowledged theireffort, I celebrated their
effort, I did it publicly infront of the team, the boss, the
customers.
And it built the belief and themotivation in the other people
(33:48):
who were hearing this stories aswell, knowing, like, oh wow,
that happened for you.
Oh, that's cool.
Like maybe it can happen.
Maybe I could do it with thiscustomer.
I didn't think about it likethat, you know?
And just celebrating everysingle small win because that's
what your journey is filledwith.
There's very few like reallybig major wins.
(34:09):
So start early and do it often.
Every single little win.
And then the other thing that Ilearned to do was to try and
create an environment wherepeople could be open and honest
about how they felt, to createan environment where people
(34:31):
could express their concerns,they could express their ideas,
and it would be acknowledged, itwould be addressed.
A lot of times, overcomingmindset and resistance is a lot
of just letting there be roomfor it to be okay, to be not
(34:51):
sure that you want to change.
It's just like, okay, that'sthat's okay, that's normal.
Tell me, tell me why you'reconcerned, tell me why you're
afraid.
And in order to have thatconversation, there has to be a
level of trust, there has to bea level of interaction, which is
why I was putting all this timeand energy into people and into
(35:13):
the time that I spent with themso that we could have some
trust, so we could have somesafety to be able to talk about
those things, so we could havean opportunity and environment
of just being in the truck andtalking and BSing and you know,
for them to be like, you know,when I first heard about this,
this is how I felt.
(35:34):
But then now I'm seeing thatit's it's not as bad as I
thought.
And it'd be like, okay, that'sokay.
Like, hey, I'm glad you toldme.
I'm glad you were able to likerecognize that, but I'm also
super happy to hear that yourthoughts on it are changing too.
And also know that I don'texpect you to, I don't have an
(35:59):
expectation for how you comingon board should look.
Like I'm just respecting yourprocess and your pace at which
you want to change, as long aseven if it's slow, you're open
and you're willing, and I'mseeing progress.
Like that's all I'm looking foris that, you know, it doesn't
(36:20):
look the same this year as itdid last year, as it did the
year before.
But being able to just have therelationship and have the
environment where we can talkabout that stuff.
And that helps people in thismindset shift of knowing, like,
okay, most of us are just afraidof change because it's new and
we don't know what to expect.
(36:41):
And that's part part ofovercoming that is though
rewriting those false beliefsand giving it time and proving
to them that it's it'ssuccessful, that it's okay, that
it's possible, that they're notgoing to lose their business or
(37:03):
lose their customers in theprocess because now we're doing
it this different way.
Or like when we implemented anew hiring process, you know,
some of the resistance was Idon't have time, I'm busy, I
don't have time to do all thesesteps in order to try and hire
(37:26):
the right person the first time.
And so we would have thoseconversations and we would talk
about that.
But letting them see, lettingthem see it proven that, hey, by
following this process andfollowing these steps, look at
(37:47):
the amazing hire that you endedup with.
And even though it seemed likemore time up front, I just
saved, I just reallocated yourtime because instead of you
investing all this time afteryou hired them to coach the
wrong person and deal with thisdrama and then start over at the
drawing board, we just did morework up front.
(38:11):
We followed this process, andnow you have this awesome team,
you have this great dynamic, andnow they're like, okay, now I I
believe this.
Like for some people, you know,believing is seeing, and for
some people, seeing isbelieving.
Like, and there's there's gonnabe room for both.
(38:31):
You're gonna have yourvisionaries who can believe it
before they see it, and then youhave the people who are like,
prove it, prove it to me.
And that's part of implementingchange is being able to prove
it, being able to prove thatit's good, that it's beneficial,
that it's worth it, it's worththe resistance, it's worth the
(38:56):
journey, it's worth the effortand the time, and that in the
end, life is better, business isbetter.
And it ends up being thisripple effect, like when we
implement change, you know, itit starts with you.
Like you are that pebble thatdrops, and it's just like it's
(39:17):
it's not a lot, but you know,it's solid and it's committed,
and you're like, I am going todo this, I'm gonna give it
whatever I've got, and I'm I'mcommitted, I'm all in, and then
you influence, you know, thatthe that first ring of people,
(39:37):
and then they help you ininfluence that second, and and
then that momentum starts tobuild, and then eventually you
experience the change and youexperience the transformation,
and that process looking backand seeing okay, this is where
(39:58):
we were, this is all the thingswe did, but this is what came
out of that.
It like builds up your ownconfidence and your own ability
to be like, okay, if we wereable to do this, if we were able
to implement this CRM orimplement this technology, or if
we were to change our processin and how we hired or how we
(40:20):
fulfilled this customer service,or we were able to transform
our brand or transform ourculture, you know, those are the
things where it it builds andyou're like, okay, we can do
this.
And if we could do this, thenwe can try this other thing
(40:40):
because the principles are thesame.
And I think that's the beautyof it, is once we understand the
principles of implementingchange, of what to expect and
how to do it, whatever it isthat you're implementing, it
doesn't matter.
I mean, like I said, all ofthese principles that we walked
through, I used them mostly withan e-commerce example, but the
(41:03):
same principles hold true forimplementing new hiring
processes, implementingstrategic planning processes,
implementing core values andbrand transformation and
culture, implementing newstructure.
I mean, it's just the samebecause 90% of it is just
(41:27):
dealing with people.
And a lot of that is just like,okay, what does it take to
influence and shift people?
And what are the obstacles thatyou're going to face?
But if you follow these things,you will be successful.
Like you will.
And then you'll be able totackle your next challenge.
(41:49):
So make sure to join us for thenext episode on opposition,
because that's that's one of thebiggest obstacles that keeps
people from successfullyimplementing change.
That's all for this episode.
You can learn more at ClearAuthentic Brands.com.
(42:12):
And I will see you next time.
Welcome back to the building at Clear Authentic
Brand podcast.
I'm your host, Amy Dardis.
Anytime we step into somethingnew, whether it's change in
(00:21):
culture, process, technology, oreven how we lead, it's not
easy.
It's never easy.
Change sounds exciting intheory, but the process of
implementing it isuncomfortable, slow, and often
messy.
But in today's episode, we'retalking about what to expect
(00:44):
when you are implementingchange, how to handle
resistance, opposition,isolation, and how to stay
committed long enough to see thetransformation.
If you're just joining us, weare in episode two of a
three-part series arc onimplementing change.
(01:04):
The previous episode, we talkedabout ownership and commitment,
which are required before youcan ever see true and lasting
change.
And today we're talking aboutwhat to expect when you're
implementing change and how toactually do it.
And then in our next episode,we will talk about handling
(01:26):
opposition.
So be sure to tune in for thatone as well.
So getting started withimplementing change, what do we
expect?
How do we actually do it?
I have had a lot of experienceimplementing change.
I am a weird one.
I enjoy it for some weirdreason.
(01:49):
But it is something that I knowhow much effort it takes.
And I've seen so manybusinesses fail at implementing
change, like trying to implementa CRM, trying to implement
e-commerce, trying to changeculture, or even just
implementing a new process andfailing.
(02:11):
And so I want to kind of walkthrough what we really have to
do so that we don't fail.
So one of the stories I have onchange is implementing a new
e-commerce platform, which notonly required implementing a new
technology, but it requiredimplementing a shift in process
(02:37):
and a shift in like how we dothings, as well as like
marketing messaging.
And it was a huge, huge projectoutside of an entire brand
shift.
Implementing e-commerce ishonestly the one of the biggest
changes I've ever implemented.
And that was a process.
(02:59):
So as we kind of walk throughthese different things that we
need to expect and know, I'llkind of relate it to what I
learned along this along thisjourney.
And so the first thing to knowis that when we're implementing
(03:21):
anything new, we have to expectresistance.
It's going to happen, and wehave to be mentally and
emotionally prepared for it.
And it's natural and it's okay.
And now I'm going down therabbit hole of playing new
(03:54):
strategic board games and stuff.
But so knowing that I likethese games and knowing that I
like playing new games, and it'ssomething that my husband and I
do together, and our kids, wedo with our kids, and we invite
our friends over to play boardgames.
But every time he introduces anew game to us, and we order a
(04:18):
new one, and we have to like sitdown and read the directions
and figure it out.
I feel the resistance.
I get anxiety, I getapprehensive.
I'm like, am I gonna like it?
How long is this gonna take?
Am I gonna be good at it?
And am I ever gonna figure thisout?
(04:38):
This feels so overwhelming.
And and I know that I'm gonnabe able to like work through,
but just this instant naturalresistance because it's new,
it's new rules.
I haven't tried it before, andit's scary because it's unknown.
So anytime we implementsomething new in our business in
(05:02):
life, I think, and we'redealing with people, there's
that natural resistance becauseeven if it's good, and even if
they believe that it's good, andeven if they're excited about
it, there's still this fear,there's still apprehension,
there's still anxiety, and wemay not always be forthcoming
(05:23):
about it, but at its root, we'relike, ah, I've always done it
this way, and now you're askingme to do it this way, or you're
asking me to learn this newthing.
And deep down, I'm just afraid.
I'm worried that I'm not gonnafigure it out, I'm not gonna,
it's not gonna work, it's notgonna be successful, and I'm
gonna put all this energy intoit, and it's gonna be a waste of
(05:46):
time.
Like these are all of the thefears and the thoughts that go
through our mind.
It's normal.
So if you're the one who's incharge, just know that.
Even if they don't tell you,even if they don't admit it, and
you might feel these thoughtstoo, but just know, like, okay,
these are thoughts that aregoing on, and it's not because
(06:09):
the validity of the change isbad or that it's not gonna work.
So that's resistance.
In addition to expectingresistance, we also need to
expect opposition.
There will be adversity, therewill be challenges, and there
will be people who don't likeit.
(06:32):
Beyond just the resistance,there will be opposition to the
change itself.
There's two forms ofopposition.
You're gonna have passiveopposition and you're gonna have
active opposition.
I'm going to dive more intothis in the next episode because
it's its own topic.
So we will move on from that,except to say expect it.
(06:54):
And then, you know, listen tothe next episode so you can find
out how we deal with it.
The third thing is we have toexpect isolation, especially at
the beginning.
Because chances are at thebeginning, when you're
introducing something new, youmight be the only one who can
(07:15):
see the vision.
Like you are the one who hasthis idea and this picture and
this goal and this conviction inyour head that this needs to
happen.
And you, your mindset hasalready shifted.
You already see that it'spossible and that it's good and
it will be for the greater good.
(07:37):
But when you first introducethis to your team and to your
people or to your customers,they won't be able to see the
vision yet.
And so that gap between itstarting with you and then
spreading to other people andmore people becoming on board
with it, it can be lonelydepending on how long it lasts.
(07:59):
And you're kind of the onepushing this big boulder up a
hill for a while, and it's allon you.
And that is hard and it isoverwhelming.
But if you just keep going andyou don't give up knowing that
eventually people will come onboard if you follow all the rest
(08:22):
of these steps, like peoplewill come on board, but there is
a period of time when it's justyou.
You have your own insecurities,your own doubts, your own
fears, your own naturalresistance that you are having
to work through, but you can'ttell anybody else about it, or
you can't share it fully becauseyou're trying to win them over.
(08:45):
You're trying to instillconfidence, you're trying to
cast the vision in the dream.
And so if you share with themthese inner fears to the full
level that you experience them,I think it's good to share a
little bit just to be authenticand truthful.
But you are the one who has tolike move this thing forward.
(09:08):
And so there is a level ofextra energy and extra
positivity and extra vision andextra optimism that you have to
infuse into it, even when youyourself might be battling on
the inside, and that can belonely, that can feel isolating.
(09:29):
But get through it and it'll beworth it.
You'll be glad that you did.
The next thing that we have todo is when we're implementing
change, is we have to give itour full energy.
We have to commit time, energy,and resources to it.
We talked about this in thecommitment part of the episode
(09:50):
in the previous one.
And this is like knowing thatwe can't just decide that we're
going to implement something newand then just put in like a
little bit of effort.
Like, hey, I said this is gonnabe new, and so now we're gonna
start doing it, and people aregonna get on board, and it's
(10:12):
just gonna be this seamlessthing, which surprisingly enough
happens more than you think,especially with something like a
CRM.
Like, oh, hey, we have thisCRM.
Now you should all start usingit, and then people don't use
it, and then they're like, oh,it crashed and failed, and
nobody likes this CRM, and it'sthe software's problem.
When a lot of times it'sactually, no, there's just
(10:33):
there's so many more elements toit that require this intention,
this focus, and this energy,and almost like willing it into
existence.
So when I first started to haveto roll out this e-commerce
(10:55):
platform, one, I was doing it inan industry that I was brand
new at and knew nothing about.
I had joined the gas andwelding world, didn't understand
that world itself, like theidea of like a cylinder or a gas
pack, this terminology, highpressure, low pressure, was rent
leases, like all of that.
(11:16):
And I it was beyond me.
So I was having to learn thisindustry and the terms and what
they meant and the operationalside of it and the customer side
of it, while at the same timeresearching this e-commerce
platform and what kind ofplatform to do and how to
(11:38):
integrate it and what systemsneeded to talk together.
So making sure that we wereusing the right software for how
our business operated.
And then after getting allthose integrations fleshed out,
getting it designed, getting itworking, which ended up being
(12:02):
the easy part, believe it ornot.
That took like a year of uphillbattle of researching and
learning.
But then I had to like launchit.
I had to train not only ourinternal team on it, I had to
train our external team on it.
Or sorry, not our external.
(12:23):
I mean, and by external team,sure.
Yeah, I mean customers, likethousands of customers.
Not just like a couple, but alot.
And so I had a lot ofresistance to overcome.
It was very isolating in thoseearly phases because I was the
(12:44):
only one who understood theprogram.
I was the only one who saw thatthis could make the business
better.
It could help us run moreefficiently, it could help us
improve sales.
It was, we were adapting andinnovating in a way that I
believed was required for themarket because I did not believe
that we could continue to dobusiness the way that we always
(13:07):
had and still grow and stillsustain without us being at risk
of losing out to competitorswho were implementing
technology.
So here I was trying to learneverything I could and push it
(13:29):
out and launch it and train onit.
And in my head, I had to makethis commitment of like, okay,
this is going to require all ofmy time, energy, and resources.
But I was almost like to thepoint where I was like willing
it into existence, like with allof my being, with all of my
(13:49):
thoughts, with all of my energy,with all of my prayers, just
like whatever it takes, I willdo it.
And and it took a lot.
And I mean, it took time, ittook so many conversations,
(14:10):
conversation after conversation.
It took processes and followingup and training and getting out
into the field and all so muchtime and energy that went into
people.
Like the software and thelearning and the educational
(14:33):
part of it, and getting all ofthose things tested and working
correctly, that was a fraction.
It was a fraction of the energythat I spent.
And the majority of the energyand effort and time that I put
in was into people.
I was into changing mindsets,overcoming resistance,
(14:57):
overcoming fear, training,following up conversations,
building confidence.
I mean, and it was I had to beso intentional about it.
I had to bring it up when noone wanted to talk about it.
I had to build it intoprocesses.
(15:19):
I had to go out and seek outopportunities.
And that was very hard and itwas very isolating at the
beginning before I gained thattraction, but it was full
energy.
And in that like full energy, Ialso had to give it time and
(15:45):
embrace the journey, this uphillbattle.
And that's the other part iswhen we're implementing change,
and granted, if you have asmaller business, if you have a
smaller team, if you have asmaller selection of customers,
implementing change can takeless time, and that's an
advantage.
(16:05):
But if you have a bigger team,more departments, more
locations, more customers,implementing change takes
longer, just because there'smore people, there's more
people's minds and habits andthoughts and actions to
influence.
(16:26):
And that's really what it comesdown to.
So in my case, for thisspecific e-commerce rollout, I
had a lot of people.
I there were 80 people in thecompany that I had to spend time
with and get on board.
We had a sales team of like 13people.
We had different locations.
(16:47):
And so it was a lot of time atevery big branch, at every with
every sales team, with everyindividual.
And it was slow.
And so that's something that Ilearned was that implementing
change is slow, small, andsteady.
(17:11):
It's a gradual process.
It is one tiny win at a time.
It's one small mindset shift.
It's one conversation at atime.
And that is normal.
Like there is no faster way todo it because you're working
(17:34):
with people, and I had to givethem time to change their
mindset about it, knowing thatthat just doesn't happen
overnight.
So I would go and hop in thetruck with a salesperson and I
would spend the entire day withthem.
And I would go around and visittheir customers, and we would,
(17:56):
you know, I would talk to themabout them, their family, their
job, their hobbies.
You know, we would, I wouldjust get to know them as an
individual.
And then throughout the day, wewould be talking to customers
about e-commerce.
I would go in and talk to themand kind of like train them on
how to do it and then help themdo it.
(18:18):
And then in the truck, we wouldbe talking back and forth about
it, any like questions or whatwe're working on or what I'm
excited about or what obstaclesI'm running into, what concerns
they had.
And it was this whole day ofjust these conversations.
And then six months later, Iwould go back and do it again.
(18:45):
And six months later, I'd goback and do it again.
And each time there was change,each time there was growth,
each time there was moreprogress.
But it was, and obviously itwasn't just me having that one
conversation, but they werehaving conversations with each
(19:06):
other.
We were talking about it inmeetings, we had goals set
around it, we were celebratingthe wins along the way.
And so little by little therewere these different elements
that were swaying them orhelping them kind of shift their
thinking and shift their habitsand know that, okay, this is
(19:30):
this is good, and and I'mgetting more comfortable with
it, and I'm seeing that mycustomers are liking it and it's
making my job easier, and youknow, all these benefits coming
into play, but that took time,and it was just one little small
shift at a time.
(19:50):
So whenever we're implementingchange, not only are we being
like realistic about thetimeline of how long change
takes, I mean, I would say at aminimum, it can it take three to
six months at a minimum,anywhere as long as like nine to
(20:12):
eighteen months to see like aan even bigger shift.
And again, this this goes backto size.
So good news for you if youhave a smaller team, there's
it's it's easier to turn a smallboat than it is a bigger boat.
But it's going to take time andit's going to take that energy
(20:37):
invested intentionally for a lotlonger than you probably want
it to.
But over the process of thattimeline, everybody is going to
shift and grow and get morecomfortable at different paces.
So what I learned to do was towork with the early adopters
(21:02):
first, with the people who werethe most open, the most excited,
the least resistant, becauseyou're there will be varying
degrees.
So instead of focusing all mytime and energy on everyone
equally, or even choosing theharder ones first, I went for
(21:26):
wins.
Like I was like, what can I doto get as much traction as
possible early on in theprocess?
Because part of winning peopleover is that it's this ripple
effect and it starts with you,and then there comes to this,
(21:47):
like this next circle.
But once you have this nextcircle on board, then they're
helping you.
Like the people who are moreresistant are then looking at
these other people and they'relike, oh, well, what do you
think?
Oh, you're excited about it.
Oh, it worked for you.
Oh, that's interesting.
So it's not just this oneperson that's pushing it now.
(22:09):
Now it's more people.
And it's the same concept as aword of mouth referral as
reviews, but you're doing itinternally with your team or
your customers when you'retrying to implement change.
Like, so you want to get asmany reviews or positive
feedback or people on board onyour team so that then they're
(22:31):
helping you.
They're becoming theseambassadors for change.
And that helps break down thewalls of the people who are like
on in the next ring and thenext ring and the next ring.
So I would not worry about thepeople who are the most
resistant at all, especially notat the beginning.
(22:53):
Because at the beginning, youare looking for proof of
concept.
You are looking to test andprove that this change is good.
So whether that's a CRM, ane-commerce platform, a hiring
process, new customer process, anew brand message, a new ad
(23:14):
campaign, whatever your changeis, you are looking to test it
for success as early and as fastas possible.
So use the people and thesituations where you are the
most likely to get those winsand get that traction going
(23:35):
because that's going to buildthat momentum and you need
momentum.
And I think about it just likea snowball.
I mean, you start out with thissmall thing.
And this small thing isprobably you and your vision and
your prayers and yourwillpower.
Like that's where you start.
But then it keeps rolling andyou gather more proof, you
(24:00):
gather more feedback, you gathermore success, you gather more
people, and then they help youdo that work and it continues to
spread and it continues tospread.
And so it is not you goingaround and doing this all
yourself, it's you helping thesepeople get on board and then
(24:25):
taking it out and out and outuntil you see that
transformation.
So with that though, so you'regonna get these people on board,
changing mindsets, successstories, all good things.
But with that, you have to beintentional, consistent, and
(24:50):
persistent.
Like change requiresperseverance, and it helps when
you're building in systems andyou're building in
accountability to actually makesure that this is becoming a
part of your organization, apart of your operations.
(25:10):
So when we were implementinge-commerce, you know, it's like
we were bringing it up in weeklymeetings.
It became a regular topic.
We were setting goals aroundit.
It became part of how we weremeasuring success.
It became a part of ourstrategic planning.
(25:34):
It became a part of one of ourmeasurables and our KPIs for how
we were tracking growth andsuccess and moving forward.
We factored it into incentivesor reviews or conversations
where it wasn't just somethingthat was optional.
(25:55):
It wasn't just something thatwas new or different.
It was we were ingraining itinto how we do business.
So, like if you're implementinga CRM, you are using it every
week or every conversation whenyou're talking with your sales
(26:16):
team.
You're not just saying, here'sour CRM, go use it.
You're saying, okay, here's ourCRM, you're using it.
We review it each week when wetalk about it.
I look at the openopportunities within this
spreadsheet.
We are pulling information fromit for our reports.
We're setting goals aroundwhat's in there.
(26:39):
It's like you're making it sothat it's a part of how you do
business.
And then on top of that, it'sjust talking about it all the
time.
And I mean, too annoying level,to uh like talk about it, joke
(26:59):
about it, make fun of yourselffor talking about it.
Like, I mean, there's there,like be shame, shameless about
it, celebrate it, bring it up,shout, shout, do shout-outs for
it, ask questions, sendreminders.
I mean, it is just the morefront and center it is, the
(27:23):
harder it is to slide it underthe rug or just pretend like, oh
yeah, we're we're implementingthis new thing, but you know,
it's not really gonna stick.
So we're just gonna ignore itfor now, which is one of the
things that you'll go upagainst, you know.
It's just this naturalresistance of like, is this
really gonna stick?
(27:44):
And you have to prove that itis.
You have to just leave no doubtbecause hey, not only are we
doing this, but we're like we'reoperate, this is part of our
operational structure.
And the same goes, I'm talkinga lot about technology, but the
same goes with like newprocesses or new frameworks or
(28:06):
core values or culture.
When you're implementing thosethings, those become a part of
how you hire.
It becomes a part of how you doperformance reviews, how you
run your meetings, how you plangoals, how you recognize your
team.
They become ingrained andyou're talking about it all the
(28:29):
time.
And then you get your teamtalking about it, you get those
early adopters talking about it,and then eventually it's
changing the way you talk as acompany, it's changing the way
you think, it's changing the wayyou show up, and it all starts
with shifting how we think aboutthese things.
(28:52):
It all starts with thismindset, but then it becomes a
part of how we actually dobusiness.
And with that, we want whenwe're like implementing change,
we want to be able to measureadoption.
We want to be able to measurein some way the work, the work
(29:18):
we're doing or the outcome thatwe're looking for.
So when I was implementinge-commerce, it was like I was
measuring how many days in thefield did I spend to promote
this, talk about this as part oflike work I was inputting, how
(29:39):
many campaigns did I run?
How many promotional videos didI create in order to bring it
front and center on everychannel possible?
So it was in emails, it was insocial media, it was in flyers,
it was in the stores, it was meout there in person at At every
(30:01):
opportunity possible.
And that's part of likemeasuring the work that I could
do to affect this.
But then we were also measuringthe outcome.
So how many customers did wehave using it?
How many new customers were wegaining each month that hadn't
ordered before?
(30:21):
How many of those customerswere continuing to consistently
order?
What was the number oftransactions going through the
system?
What was the dollar amount ofthose transactions?
What was the percentage ofdollars coming through the
e-commerce platform compared todollars overall made in the
(30:45):
business and through other saleschannels?
And so we were tracking thisprogress month over month.
And so it's it was slow and itwas, I didn't know what to
expect when we started.
Like I started at zero, butthen every single month tracking
(31:06):
it, I had a spreadsheet and Iwas like, okay, we did, we grew
in this area, and then I wasable to like find the patterns
and see, okay, we're growing atthis rate.
This is a consistent and steadyrate that we can strive for and
we can set goals around this.
And then this is what we did inyear one, and this is what we
did in year two.
(31:27):
And I mean, it took years ofdoing this and just pushing and
pushing and pushing, but I wasable to look back and because I
had tracked it, be able to belike, okay, we are growing, even
when it doesn't feel like it,even if I hear resistance or I'm
dealing with opposition, evenif it feels slow, I have
(31:51):
numbers, I have tangible data tolook at to prove that this is
working.
And that was encouraging.
That kept me going, that keptme pushing and helped me to not
give up.
And even when those wins weresmall, which that's what a lot
(32:14):
of your wins are, is they willbe very small wins.
I learned to celebrate everysingle small win.
Every single one.
So every time a new customerordered for the very first time,
hooray, whoop whoop, likeemail, email the salesperson,
let them know, let them knowthat I saw it, acknowledge it,
(32:37):
call it out, mention it in theweekly meeting, mention it in
the highlights, like leteverybody on our team know about
it.
I wrote down success stories.
I wrote down, like, okay, thisday I went and had a ride along
with this salesperson.
And we saw these people and wetalked about these things, and I
(32:59):
saw them do this, and it wasawesome.
And then six months later, wewent out and I saw this growth
and I saw this change and thiscustomer that we talked about
the very first time.
Now they've ordered every monthsince.
And it we can prove that itpaid off.
And by me tracking all of thosewins, it was encouraging for
(33:22):
me, but it also helped build upthe confidence and the belief
from the team as well.
When one, they saw that Irecognized them, I saw their
effort, I acknowledged theireffort, I celebrated their
effort, I did it publicly infront of the team, the boss, the
customers.
And it built the belief and themotivation in the other people
(33:48):
who were hearing this stories aswell, knowing, like, oh wow,
that happened for you.
Oh, that's cool.
Like maybe it can happen.
Maybe I could do it with thiscustomer.
I didn't think about it likethat, you know?
And just celebrating everysingle small win because that's
what your journey is filledwith.
There's very few like reallybig major wins.
(34:09):
So start early and do it often.
Every single little win.
And then the other thing that Ilearned to do was to try and
create an environment wherepeople could be open and honest
about how they felt, to createan environment where people
(34:31):
could express their concerns,they could express their ideas,
and it would be acknowledged, itwould be addressed.
A lot of times, overcomingmindset and resistance is a lot
of just letting there be roomfor it to be okay, to be not
(34:51):
sure that you want to change.
It's just like, okay, that'sthat's okay, that's normal.
Tell me, tell me why you'reconcerned, tell me why you're
afraid.
And in order to have thatconversation, there has to be a
level of trust, there has to bea level of interaction, which is
why I was putting all this timeand energy into people and into
(35:13):
the time that I spent with themso that we could have some
trust, so we could have somesafety to be able to talk about
those things, so we could havean opportunity and environment
of just being in the truck andtalking and BSing and you know,
for them to be like, you know,when I first heard about this,
this is how I felt.
(35:34):
But then now I'm seeing thatit's it's not as bad as I
thought.
And it'd be like, okay, that'sokay.
Like, hey, I'm glad you toldme.
I'm glad you were able to likerecognize that, but I'm also
super happy to hear that yourthoughts on it are changing too.
And also know that I don'texpect you to, I don't have an
(35:59):
expectation for how you comingon board should look.
Like I'm just respecting yourprocess and your pace at which
you want to change, as long aseven if it's slow, you're open
and you're willing, and I'mseeing progress.
Like that's all I'm looking foris that, you know, it doesn't
(36:20):
look the same this year as itdid last year, as it did the
year before.
But being able to just have therelationship and have the
environment where we can talkabout that stuff.
And that helps people in thismindset shift of knowing, like,
okay, most of us are just afraidof change because it's new and
we don't know what to expect.
(36:41):
And that's part part ofovercoming that is though
rewriting those false beliefsand giving it time and proving
to them that it's it'ssuccessful, that it's okay, that
it's possible, that they're notgoing to lose their business or
(37:03):
lose their customers in theprocess because now we're doing
it this different way.
Or like when we implemented anew hiring process, you know,
some of the resistance was Idon't have time, I'm busy, I
don't have time to do all thesesteps in order to try and hire
(37:26):
the right person the first time.
And so we would have thoseconversations and we would talk
about that.
But letting them see, lettingthem see it proven that, hey, by
following this process andfollowing these steps, look at
(37:47):
the amazing hire that you endedup with.
And even though it seemed likemore time up front, I just
saved, I just reallocated yourtime because instead of you
investing all this time afteryou hired them to coach the
wrong person and deal with thisdrama and then start over at the
drawing board, we just did morework up front.
(38:11):
We followed this process, andnow you have this awesome team,
you have this great dynamic, andnow they're like, okay, now I I
believe this.
Like for some people, you know,believing is seeing, and for
some people, seeing isbelieving.
Like, and there's there's gonnabe room for both.
(38:31):
You're gonna have yourvisionaries who can believe it
before they see it, and then youhave the people who are like,
prove it, prove it to me.
And that's part of implementingchange is being able to prove
it, being able to prove thatit's good, that it's beneficial,
that it's worth it, it's worththe resistance, it's worth the
(38:56):
journey, it's worth the effortand the time, and that in the
end, life is better, business isbetter.
And it ends up being thisripple effect, like when we
implement change, you know, itit starts with you.
Like you are that pebble thatdrops, and it's just like it's
(39:17):
it's not a lot, but you know,it's solid and it's committed,
and you're like, I am going todo this, I'm gonna give it
whatever I've got, and I'm I'mcommitted, I'm all in, and then
you influence, you know, thatthe that first ring of people,
(39:37):
and then they help you ininfluence that second, and and
then that momentum starts tobuild, and then eventually you
experience the change and youexperience the transformation,
and that process looking backand seeing okay, this is where
(39:58):
we were, this is all the thingswe did, but this is what came
out of that.
It like builds up your ownconfidence and your own ability
to be like, okay, if we wereable to do this, if we were able
to implement this CRM orimplement this technology, or if
we were to change our processin and how we hired or how we
(40:20):
fulfilled this customer service,or we were able to transform
our brand or transform ourculture, you know, those are the
things where it it builds andyou're like, okay, we can do
this.
And if we could do this, thenwe can try this other thing
(40:40):
because the principles are thesame.
And I think that's the beautyof it, is once we understand the
principles of implementingchange, of what to expect and
how to do it, whatever it isthat you're implementing, it
doesn't matter.
I mean, like I said, all ofthese principles that we walked
through, I used them mostly withan e-commerce example, but the
(41:03):
same principles hold true forimplementing new hiring
processes, implementingstrategic planning processes,
implementing core values andbrand transformation and
culture, implementing newstructure.
I mean, it's just the samebecause 90% of it is just
(41:27):
dealing with people.
And a lot of that is just like,okay, what does it take to
influence and shift people?
And what are the obstacles thatyou're going to face?
But if you follow these things,you will be successful.
Like you will.
And then you'll be able totackle your next challenge.
(41:49):
So make sure to join us for thenext episode on opposition,
because that's that's one of thebiggest obstacles that keeps
people from successfullyimplementing change.
That's all for this episode.
You can learn more at ClearAuthentic Brands.com.
(42:12):
And I will see you next time.
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