March 21, 2025 • 13 mins
Why do great ideas often face stubborn resistance? This episode tackles the common leadership challenge of introducing change when your team seems unwilling to listen – even when your suggestions would clearly make their lives easier! Join us to understand the trust and relationship gap that might be hindering your efforts for improvement.
Are you getting to the heart of effective and impactful change management?
If you want to ensure that the changes you bring to your team are embraced and well implemented, this is the episode for you!
To have your questions answered on the show, submit your story here: https://allthrive.ca/share-your-story
Leadership Ripples with Leah Fink is live every 2 weeks at 12:00pm MST. Please join us to get answers to your leadership questions! https://www.linkedin.com/in/leah-fink-all-thrive/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Every action you take as a leader has a ripple effect
, starting with your team, goingout to the organization and
even out into people's personallives.
Here we offer you the chance tolearn from real-life stories of
leadership so you can gain adeeper understanding and level
up your own skills Fromcommunication to culture, to
power and equity, to feedback,to resolving conflict and more.
(00:23):
Join us and make sure you'recreating the Ripples you want.
Welcome to Leadership Rippleswith Leah Fink.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hello and welcome to Leadership Ripples with Leah
Fink.
Today, we're going to betalking about how you can get
your staff thinking moreproactively about how they're
going to be facing newchallenges and working on
improving their environment, sothat when you suggest new ideas,
they're met with a lot ofacceptance and excitement versus
(00:52):
more of a resistance.
Au shares their story.
I'm a mid-level manager whorecently transitioned into a new
company.
Although I know the field well,I'm still adapting to my new
company's way of doing things.
To be honest, I don't thinkthey're doing things in the most
efficient way.
I have a lot of great ideas ofthings that I know will make the
workflow more efficient, but myteam aren't interested in
(01:14):
hearing them.
I'll suggest something.
People will say they don't wantto do it, and after we face an
issue, suddenly they figure outthat this new way is a better
way to do things.
It's getting quite frustrating,especially since everyone
always feels strapped for timeand I just want to help them.
They're tired, they're workingovertime and I know it's a
problem that we could solve ifthey would just listen.
(01:36):
Thank you so much for sharingyour situation, au, and I
appreciate that you care so muchabout your team and you're
really doing this out of thishope to make their lives easier,
and I'm sure that it isfrustrating to share this
information that you know willbe valuable to them and have
them not respond in a way thatyou find helpful.
(01:56):
So let's take a little bit of alook at what kinds of things
could be at play in thissituation and as we're going
through this.
Obviously we're talking aboutthis concept of bringing new,
different ways of working to ateam, but the concepts I'm
talking about today really applyto all change management
anytime you want to bringsomething different into a
current team dynamic.
(02:18):
Now, the first thing that I'mcurious about which you haven't
mentioned AU is what yourrelationship with your team is
like, and that is really where Iwould start.
If you have joined the teamrelatively recently, what do you
know about how they see you andhow they've experienced that?
Have you had the chance todevelop more personal
relationships, both with them asa team and as individuals?
(02:40):
Do you know if they missedtheir previous manager or
something about them in the waythat they led?
Do you know if they missedtheir previous manager or
something about them in the waythat they led?
Do you know if anyone on theteam was vying for the position
that you got, and there could besome underlying feelings there.
Have you developed yourunderstanding of how they used
to operate and what parts ofthat felt good for the team?
What was helpful?
There is this whole history totheir experience with this
(03:02):
company that you probably don'tknow, or maybe at least don't
know the full scope of.
You weren't there, and soalways trying to understand more
of that is a great place tostart because, ultimately, how
much do we ever know of anyone'sperspective?
For all we know, your staff hadtheir experience that they had
a manager that they loved enoughthat they were, you know, not
(03:23):
happy, but enough that they were, you know not happy, but pretty
okay with working overtime forthem regularly, and then that
person left and now some newperson that they don't trust yet
has come in and keeps tellingthem they're doing things wrong.
Now, that is not what you'regoing for and of course, this is
just me making up a story aboutwhat they could be experiencing
.
But thinking of that experienceis a place that we want to
(03:46):
start because, at the very least, it wouldn't surprise me if
there was a little sense offeeling that they're doing
something wrong.
When you come in with all thesenew ideas, even when the
information that we're sharingin this case is about systems
and ways of working and you'rereally focused on how it can
help them, from the other side,think about how that could
potentially feel like acriticism of the work that they
(04:09):
have been doing and are doing.
It's important for leaders toremember that it takes eight
positive statements to balanceout.
Just balance out oneconstructive one, and that's not
even surface level.
Good jobs, thanks for doingthat.
This is specific, positivefeedback about ways that their
(04:29):
actions had a positive impact.
And so making sure, first ofall, that you're having that
really positive balancing outthis brain's negativity bias.
Interaction with the team,because if you've come in with a
great energy and a lot ofenthusiasm and all these great
ideas, mentioning all these newthings that they can do better,
(04:49):
I'm guessing that part of theirexperience is that you come in
and it feels like you're justconstantly putting down the way
things are.
That's what our brain does,right.
It has this negativity bias.
This is, again, totallyunintentional.
It's from a place of caring,but I suspect at least part of
it's being received differentlyand that's why there's this
sense of resisting from yourstaff team, right, the resisting
(05:10):
this idea of that they're doinga bad job.
They don't want to hear that.
So the first thing I would dois focus on those relationships,
how you're taking time andeffort to foster these positive
interactions, making reallyintentional relations out of
this.
Before you keep suggesting andeven if you've already done this
(05:30):
you're like, wow, I alreadyhave a great relationship with
them.
I would still recommend alwaysbeing fostering this, because it
is such a positive and powerfulway to get on board with your
team.
But let's also add a couplelayers to it.
In addition to thisrelationship, health and
strength.
One of the biggest challengesthat leaders often come across
is there's this unearned beliefthat we should be immediately
(05:52):
trusted by those we lead, justby the value of our position,
because we often equate theinfluence that we have in our
position being seen as that kindof expert or someone who gets
to tell others what they need tobe doing with this sense that
people are required to do whatwe tell them and this idea that
that all comes together to thesense that they must trust us
(06:14):
because they are doing what weask.
And as we often talk about onthis show.
When people have less power ina situation, less influence,
they have more vulnerability andtheir brains even react from
more of a place of fear.
That's just the physiologicalresponse, but when we're in
leadership positions, we canactually become a bit blind.
We forget about that feelingand we make assumptions about
(06:35):
how they should feel, based onour good intentions, and that's
part of what leads to thisassumption that we know that we
are trustworthy and thereforeshould be trusted.
Because of that and because ofour position, it sounds to me
like there is a bit of thistrust gap as well, where you're
relying on your good intentionsand this past knowledge that you
(06:56):
know you can help them dobetter and you know you can make
their lives easier.
They are not in a space yetwhere they trust you enough to
believe in what you're proposing.
They know it's worked for themin the past, so they're going to
continue to do that until itsounds like some issues come up.
They're forced to try a newthing and they now know, once
they have their own experience,that that new thing will work
(07:17):
and so they can take it on.
They can trust in that piece oftheir self experience more than
they trust in this newrelationship that they have.
Of course, it's important tobuild that trust, and you want
to do that, and there are acouple things you can do with
that, the first obviously beingthe relationship building that
we just talked about.
People need to know someonegenerally, to like them and to
(07:38):
trust them more, and so thebetter your relationships with
your team are, the more trustyou're going to continue to
develop.
And another component that youcan build onto that which also
fosters trust is how much yourstaff feel heard by you.
This is also a big component ofrelationship building, and on a
deeper level.
So in a situation like this, I'drecommend something really
(07:59):
important to do is to startthese conversations about the
staff's experience in the role.
What do they see as some of thebenefits of the way that they
currently do things, or what dothey see as some of the
drawbacks?
And when you propose, if youwere to bring forward a
hypothetical new way of doingthings, what would they see as
the benefit to that and thedrawbacks as well, the pitfalls
(08:19):
that could come up?
You think about this experience.
There's a big differencebetween being told to do
something and ask their opinionabout something.
In one case, it's someonecoming in telling you that they
are more of an expert and thenthey're holding this expectation
over you, and in the other case, someone's acknowledged for
their experience and opinionsand you're asked about
(08:44):
understanding them more deeply.
Which of those options feelsbetter to you as a human?
Which do you prefer?
I suspect that everyone likesbeing acknowledged for what they
know and asked to understandthemselves and their experience
better.
You can consider that as youmove forward with your team,
because once you also have thatinformation and this
understanding, that opens upeven more possibilities.
(09:06):
You'll get to hear more aboutthe current challenges your team
are facing.
Maybe they're seeing thesechallenges a bit differently,
which is also why they'reresisting this idea of something
new coming in.
You'll understand more abouttheir strengths and how they
could even cultivate that betterand how you could use those to
cultivate these new systems.
This gives you importantinformation, new information as
(09:27):
a leader, to understand how youcan be improving with your team,
alongside of them, instead oftrying to improve something for
your team.
That is what makes you an ally.
You want to be an ally to yourteam, tackling problems together
, being on the same side,instead of now creating this
side, where you're telling themto do something and they're
resisting that concept of doingsomething new.
(09:49):
You put yourself on differentsides in that case.
And with that I want to add justone more component of building
trust and something to consideras you go through this whole
relationship development process, and that is how responsive you
can be to the different needsof different staff.
So, as an example, everyone hasa different personality,
different preferences, differentvalues, and if you can work
(10:13):
more to meeting those specificpreferences, those specific
values, that will help you gaintrust and build relationship a
lot quicker.
So, for example, when peoplefocus more on organization and
structure first of all, they'reprobably going to be the ones
that are the most resisting ofthe change, and showing them a
really well planned out system,a really well thought out
(10:34):
structure, will help them to beable to know that they could
continue to be organized even asthey have to face this change.
For those who focus onrelationships and really care
about that interpersonalinteraction, you want to keep
learning about them.
You want to keep taking thismore personal approach, to
continue to foster that kind ofdeeper connection that they're
(10:54):
looking for.
For the more logically mindedpeople, you want to share more
about your expertise.
You want to share thatknowledge so they know that you
can trust the information thatyou have and your knowledge and
your skill, or they will startto question you and your
decisions.
And finally, for the more highenergy, spontaneous people, you
(11:15):
want to keep things moving andshifting and if you have your
these people on your team,they're probably the ones who
were more okay with the changesand they were the first who were
a bit more willing to acceptthem.
Now, this all being said, what Iwould really recommend is
taking this more human approach.
When you bring change to yourstaff, of any kind, you have the
(11:36):
knowledge, you have theexperience.
You are able to help them withany kind of change management,
any new thing that comes in, andwhat you want to focus on is
connecting on this more personallevel, fostering these better
relationships and reallyfocusing on the sense of trust
that when you bring something in, they are willing to go along
with it, that you're on the sameteam.
(11:58):
Like I said, if you can fosterthis understanding, bring these
ideas alongside, you become anally instead of someone who is
imposing something upon them.
So thank you again so much forsharing AU and I look forward to
continuing our conversation.
As a reminder to our listeners,if you have a great story or
question that you'd like toshare with the show, we would
(12:19):
love to have it.
You can find the link for thatin the description below and, as
a thank you, I'll always followup with a session just to make
sure all your questions wereanswered and to say thank you so
much for contributing.
Finally, I want to thank you somuch for listening, for
learning with me, for justconsidering some of these pieces
instead of continuing along apath that may be less effective
(12:42):
and ultimately not as helpful toyour staff, team or yourself.
And, as we close, remember toask yourself what kind of
ripples are you going to createthis week?
Speaker 1 (12:53):
We hope you enjoyed the episode.
Make sure to subscribe, commentand connect with Leah at
meetleahca.
Every action you take as a leader has a ripple effect
, starting with your team, goingout to the organization and
even out into people's personallives.
Here we offer you the chance tolearn from real-life stories of
leadership so you can gain adeeper understanding and level
up your own skills Fromcommunication to culture, to
power and equity, to feedback,to resolving conflict and more.
(00:23):
Join us and make sure you'recreating the Ripples you want.
Welcome to Leadership Rippleswith Leah Fink.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hello and welcome to Leadership Ripples with Leah
Fink.
Today, we're going to betalking about how you can get
your staff thinking moreproactively about how they're
going to be facing newchallenges and working on
improving their environment, sothat when you suggest new ideas,
they're met with a lot ofacceptance and excitement versus
(00:52):
more of a resistance.
Au shares their story.
I'm a mid-level manager whorecently transitioned into a new
company.
Although I know the field well,I'm still adapting to my new
company's way of doing things.
To be honest, I don't thinkthey're doing things in the most
efficient way.
I have a lot of great ideas ofthings that I know will make the
workflow more efficient, but myteam aren't interested in
(01:14):
hearing them.
I'll suggest something.
People will say they don't wantto do it, and after we face an
issue, suddenly they figure outthat this new way is a better
way to do things.
It's getting quite frustrating,especially since everyone
always feels strapped for timeand I just want to help them.
They're tired, they're workingovertime and I know it's a
problem that we could solve ifthey would just listen.
(01:36):
Thank you so much for sharingyour situation, au, and I
appreciate that you care so muchabout your team and you're
really doing this out of thishope to make their lives easier,
and I'm sure that it isfrustrating to share this
information that you know willbe valuable to them and have
them not respond in a way thatyou find helpful.
(01:56):
So let's take a little bit of alook at what kinds of things
could be at play in thissituation and as we're going
through this.
Obviously we're talking aboutthis concept of bringing new,
different ways of working to ateam, but the concepts I'm
talking about today really applyto all change management
anytime you want to bringsomething different into a
current team dynamic.
(02:18):
Now, the first thing that I'mcurious about which you haven't
mentioned AU is what yourrelationship with your team is
like, and that is really where Iwould start.
If you have joined the teamrelatively recently, what do you
know about how they see you andhow they've experienced that?
Have you had the chance todevelop more personal
relationships, both with them asa team and as individuals?
(02:40):
Do you know if they missedtheir previous manager or
something about them in the waythat they led?
Do you know if they missedtheir previous manager or
something about them in the waythat they led?
Do you know if anyone on theteam was vying for the position
that you got, and there could besome underlying feelings there.
Have you developed yourunderstanding of how they used
to operate and what parts ofthat felt good for the team?
What was helpful?
There is this whole history totheir experience with this
(03:02):
company that you probably don'tknow, or maybe at least don't
know the full scope of.
You weren't there, and soalways trying to understand more
of that is a great place tostart because, ultimately, how
much do we ever know of anyone'sperspective?
For all we know, your staff hadtheir experience that they had
a manager that they loved enoughthat they were, you know, not
(03:23):
happy, but enough that they were, you know not happy, but pretty
okay with working overtime forthem regularly, and then that
person left and now some newperson that they don't trust yet
has come in and keeps tellingthem they're doing things wrong.
Now, that is not what you'regoing for and of course, this is
just me making up a story aboutwhat they could be experiencing
.
But thinking of that experienceis a place that we want to
(03:46):
start because, at the very least, it wouldn't surprise me if
there was a little sense offeeling that they're doing
something wrong.
When you come in with all thesenew ideas, even when the
information that we're sharingin this case is about systems
and ways of working and you'rereally focused on how it can
help them, from the other side,think about how that could
potentially feel like acriticism of the work that they
(04:09):
have been doing and are doing.
It's important for leaders toremember that it takes eight
positive statements to balanceout.
Just balance out oneconstructive one, and that's not
even surface level.
Good jobs, thanks for doingthat.
This is specific, positivefeedback about ways that their
(04:29):
actions had a positive impact.
And so making sure, first ofall, that you're having that
really positive balancing outthis brain's negativity bias.
Interaction with the team,because if you've come in with a
great energy and a lot ofenthusiasm and all these great
ideas, mentioning all these newthings that they can do better,
(04:49):
I'm guessing that part of theirexperience is that you come in
and it feels like you're justconstantly putting down the way
things are.
That's what our brain does,right.
It has this negativity bias.
This is, again, totallyunintentional.
It's from a place of caring,but I suspect at least part of
it's being received differentlyand that's why there's this
sense of resisting from yourstaff team, right, the resisting
(05:10):
this idea of that they're doinga bad job.
They don't want to hear that.
So the first thing I would dois focus on those relationships,
how you're taking time andeffort to foster these positive
interactions, making reallyintentional relations out of
this.
Before you keep suggesting andeven if you've already done this
(05:30):
you're like, wow, I alreadyhave a great relationship with
them.
I would still recommend alwaysbeing fostering this, because it
is such a positive and powerfulway to get on board with your
team.
But let's also add a couplelayers to it.
In addition to thisrelationship, health and
strength.
One of the biggest challengesthat leaders often come across
is there's this unearned beliefthat we should be immediately
(05:52):
trusted by those we lead, justby the value of our position,
because we often equate theinfluence that we have in our
position being seen as that kindof expert or someone who gets
to tell others what they need tobe doing with this sense that
people are required to do whatwe tell them and this idea that
that all comes together to thesense that they must trust us
(06:14):
because they are doing what weask.
And as we often talk about onthis show.
When people have less power ina situation, less influence,
they have more vulnerability andtheir brains even react from
more of a place of fear.
That's just the physiologicalresponse, but when we're in
leadership positions, we canactually become a bit blind.
We forget about that feelingand we make assumptions about
(06:35):
how they should feel, based onour good intentions, and that's
part of what leads to thisassumption that we know that we
are trustworthy and thereforeshould be trusted.
Because of that and because ofour position, it sounds to me
like there is a bit of thistrust gap as well, where you're
relying on your good intentionsand this past knowledge that you
(06:56):
know you can help them dobetter and you know you can make
their lives easier.
They are not in a space yetwhere they trust you enough to
believe in what you're proposing.
They know it's worked for themin the past, so they're going to
continue to do that until itsounds like some issues come up.
They're forced to try a newthing and they now know, once
they have their own experience,that that new thing will work
(07:17):
and so they can take it on.
They can trust in that piece oftheir self experience more than
they trust in this newrelationship that they have.
Of course, it's important tobuild that trust, and you want
to do that, and there are acouple things you can do with
that, the first obviously beingthe relationship building that
we just talked about.
People need to know someonegenerally, to like them and to
(07:38):
trust them more, and so thebetter your relationships with
your team are, the more trustyou're going to continue to
develop.
And another component that youcan build onto that which also
fosters trust is how much yourstaff feel heard by you.
This is also a big component ofrelationship building, and on a
deeper level.
So in a situation like this, I'drecommend something really
(07:59):
important to do is to startthese conversations about the
staff's experience in the role.
What do they see as some of thebenefits of the way that they
currently do things, or what dothey see as some of the
drawbacks?
And when you propose, if youwere to bring forward a
hypothetical new way of doingthings, what would they see as
the benefit to that and thedrawbacks as well, the pitfalls
(08:19):
that could come up?
You think about this experience.
There's a big differencebetween being told to do
something and ask their opinionabout something.
In one case, it's someonecoming in telling you that they
are more of an expert and thenthey're holding this expectation
over you, and in the other case, someone's acknowledged for
their experience and opinionsand you're asked about
(08:44):
understanding them more deeply.
Which of those options feelsbetter to you as a human?
Which do you prefer?
I suspect that everyone likesbeing acknowledged for what they
know and asked to understandthemselves and their experience
better.
You can consider that as youmove forward with your team,
because once you also have thatinformation and this
understanding, that opens upeven more possibilities.
(09:06):
You'll get to hear more aboutthe current challenges your team
are facing.
Maybe they're seeing thesechallenges a bit differently,
which is also why they'reresisting this idea of something
new coming in.
You'll understand more abouttheir strengths and how they
could even cultivate that betterand how you could use those to
cultivate these new systems.
This gives you importantinformation, new information as
(09:27):
a leader, to understand how youcan be improving with your team,
alongside of them, instead oftrying to improve something for
your team.
That is what makes you an ally.
You want to be an ally to yourteam, tackling problems together
, being on the same side,instead of now creating this
side, where you're telling themto do something and they're
resisting that concept of doingsomething new.
(09:49):
You put yourself on differentsides in that case.
And with that I want to add justone more component of building
trust and something to consideras you go through this whole
relationship development process, and that is how responsive you
can be to the different needsof different staff.
So, as an example, everyone hasa different personality,
different preferences, differentvalues, and if you can work
(10:13):
more to meeting those specificpreferences, those specific
values, that will help you gaintrust and build relationship a
lot quicker.
So, for example, when peoplefocus more on organization and
structure first of all, they'reprobably going to be the ones
that are the most resisting ofthe change, and showing them a
really well planned out system,a really well thought out
(10:34):
structure, will help them to beable to know that they could
continue to be organized even asthey have to face this change.
For those who focus onrelationships and really care
about that interpersonalinteraction, you want to keep
learning about them.
You want to keep taking thismore personal approach, to
continue to foster that kind ofdeeper connection that they're
(10:54):
looking for.
For the more logically mindedpeople, you want to share more
about your expertise.
You want to share thatknowledge so they know that you
can trust the information thatyou have and your knowledge and
your skill, or they will startto question you and your
decisions.
And finally, for the more highenergy, spontaneous people, you
(11:15):
want to keep things moving andshifting and if you have your
these people on your team,they're probably the ones who
were more okay with the changesand they were the first who were
a bit more willing to acceptthem.
Now, this all being said, what Iwould really recommend is
taking this more human approach.
When you bring change to yourstaff, of any kind, you have the
(11:36):
knowledge, you have theexperience.
You are able to help them withany kind of change management,
any new thing that comes in, andwhat you want to focus on is
connecting on this more personallevel, fostering these better
relationships and reallyfocusing on the sense of trust
that when you bring something in, they are willing to go along
with it, that you're on the sameteam.
(11:58):
Like I said, if you can fosterthis understanding, bring these
ideas alongside, you become anally instead of someone who is
imposing something upon them.
So thank you again so much forsharing AU and I look forward to
continuing our conversation.
As a reminder to our listeners,if you have a great story or
question that you'd like toshare with the show, we would
(12:19):
love to have it.
You can find the link for thatin the description below and, as
a thank you, I'll always followup with a session just to make
sure all your questions wereanswered and to say thank you so
much for contributing.
Finally, I want to thank you somuch for listening, for
learning with me, for justconsidering some of these pieces
instead of continuing along apath that may be less effective
(12:42):
and ultimately not as helpful toyour staff, team or yourself.
And, as we close, remember toask yourself what kind of
ripples are you going to createthis week?
Speaker 1 (12:53):
We hope you enjoyed the episode.
Make sure to subscribe, commentand connect with Leah at
meetleahca.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.