2. Change is hard because people crave what they already like.
You have never craved a food you haven’t tried, and change operates on a similar dynamic. Your people want what they’ve seen because people never crave what they haven’t seen.
That’s why vision is so key—you need to paint a clear enough picture that people begin to crave a future they haven’t lived.
3. Leaders crave change more than most people do because they’re, well, leaders.
Your passion level is always going to be naturally and appropriately higher than most people’s when it comes to change. Just know that’s how you’re wired and don’t get discouraged too quickly if your passion for change is higher than others. You’re the leader.
4. Most of the disagreement around change happens at the strategy level.
Most leaders stop at aligning people around a common mission and vision, but you also need to work hard at aligning people around a common strategy.
It’s one thing to agree that you passionately love God, it’s another to create a cutting edge church that unchurched people flock to. One depends on vision; the other is a re-engineering around a common strategy.
When people are aligned around a common mission, vision and strategy, so much more becomes possible.
5. Usually, no more than 10 percent of the people you lead are opposed to change.
OK, maybe it goes to 30 percent at the high-water mark. But are you really going to sacrifice the majority and the future for the sake of a small group of opposition? (I spend a good chunk of my latest book dissecting this principle … I promise you, it’s good news for leaders.)
