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 yet lived.
3. Leaders crave change more than most people do because they’re leaders
The reason leaders love change more than most people is because they’re leaders.
Your passion level is always going to be naturally and appropriately higher than most people 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. That’s your job.
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 dynamic 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
Most leaders are shocked when they hear that only about 10 percent of their church or team is opposed to change at any time. Almost all swear it’s higher.
But usually, it’s not.
When I’ve challenged leaders to write down the actual names of people who are opposed to what they’re proposing, most are hard pressed to write down more than a dozen or so. And often, that’s even less than 10 percent.
It may feel like 50 percent of the people you lead are opposed to change, but that’s almost never true.
The question, of course, then becomes this: Are you going to sacrifice the future of 90 percent of people you lead because of the discontent of 10 percent?
I hope not.
I dissect the 10 percent rule in detail in my book, Leading Change Without Losing It. (I promise you it’s good news for leaders.)
