Leadership during periods of change requires recognizing the emotional and behavioral responses individuals commonly experience. Understanding these reactions enables leaders to assess change tolerance and respond constructively to support their teams through transitions.
Key Insights
- Individuals often move through a predictable set of emotional reactions to change, including shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, testing, and acceptance.
- Each reaction stage is characterized by specific behaviors, such as withdrawal during mourning or experimentation during testing, that provide clues to an individual’s current adjustment level.
- Leaders must be aware of both their own and others' tolerance for change to guide teams through the emotional process and support adaptation to new circumstances.
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Let's start by going over how to recognize the common reactions to change, to be able to assess levels of tolerance in yourself and in others, and to be able to respond to others' reactions to change. So let's start off by discussing change reactions, and there are common reactions that people tend to have when they are faced with change.
As leaders, it's very important to be able to understand and recognize these reactions, and we also need to recognize what our own reactions and tolerance for change may be. So the common reactions to change are shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, mourning, testing, and acceptance. So we're going to go through what each of those means a little bit deeper.
So, for the change reaction of shock, it tends to be the initial reaction that people have, and it may involve surprise or disbelief when a change is introduced for the first time. And so some of the behaviors that someone might show during a shock reaction to change are feeling numb or frozen, saying things like, I cannot believe this is happening, maybe some confusion, or just a general inability to act. And there are reasons why we have this type of reaction, and one of them is that oftentimes the brain needs time to process when information is given that's unexpected or when there's an adjustment to expectations.
The next change reaction is denial, and that can be defined as a conscious or unconscious refusal to accept that the change is real or necessary. And some of the typical behaviors we see are just ignoring the information being given, acting like nothing is changing or nothing's happening, or downplaying how important the change is. And again, there are reasons why we see denial as a reaction to change, and for some people, that provides a kind of temporary emotional buffer, and it's a way for people to help manage really overwhelming feelings.
The next change reaction is anger, and we can define that as frustration or resentment once the change reality sets in. And so some of the typical behaviors we see are people saying, why are they doing this to us? And complaints and resistance, irritability, and even conflict with colleagues or leaders. And again, there are reasons why this happens.
I mean, change can be fearful for people. It can mean a loss of control, and it can really cause a lot of discomfort, and sometimes that comes out in the form of anger. Another change reaction is bargaining, which we can define as attempting to negotiate or make deals to minimize the impact of the change.
So some of the typical behaviors, well, if we do this, maybe they won't do that. Seeking exceptions or compromises, clinging to old routines, even though you're supposed to be doing things in the new way. And again, why does this happen? Well, people can still be at a point of trying to regain a sense of control, or they may be trying to delay full acceptance of the change.
Depression and mourning are other change reactions, and this can be defined as a period of sadness, frustration, and low motivation. And this tends to come up as people begin to recognize that the old way of doing things is actually gone. And so some of the typical behaviors we can see are nostalgia for the way things were, withdrawal behavior, having very low energy, less productivity, or enthusiasm, and verbally expressing regret about the change.
And there are reasons why this happens. People are actually mourning. I mean, when a change happens, they're having to let go of something that could be a habit or a system or an identity or a comfort.
The next change reaction is testing, and that's defined as experimenting with the new reality and trying to find ways to adapt to it. Some of the behaviors we see when people are in that testing phase are trying new approaches, asking questions, engaging with training or problem-solving, and building new routines for themselves. And this happens because people are starting to move forward, and they're starting to test their ability to function in the new, changed environment.
And the final change reaction is acceptance. And this is recognizing and embracing the change as the new normal. And some of the behaviors we see are people demonstrating confidence with the new situation, taking ownership of their responsibilities, and even supporting other people through the change transformation.
And there are reasons why this happens as well. So, you know, this emotional resistance that often happens when change comes, it begins to fade as people rebuild stability and see the potential benefits or growth that is going to come from the new ways of doing things.
