What Resistors to Change Need You to Know

Why do initiatives fail?

Poor communication, lack of resources, competing priorities, Mercury is retrograde, it's Monday… And the list of rational and irrational excuses goes on.

But there is one reason that most don't think about:

Leaders fail to recognize and respond to the transition people experience

when change is imposed.

I recently came across the Bridges Transition Model 

which explains 3 phases people experience when moving through a transition:

1. Endings. Time to identify what we are losing.

2. Neutral Zone. Time of re-learning filled with creativity, but also uncertainty.

3. New Beginnings. A time to form a fresh identity.

Skillful Team Leaders recognize and address the transition people experience when change is imposed.

Here's a deep dive into Intentional Move 9.8 to try when you are faced with someone showing resistance to change:

Instead of describing people who resist change with words such as:

• "Difficult"

• "Obstinate"

• "Inflexible"

• "Not a team player"

Recognize the transition people are going through.

6 Ways to Rethink Resistance:

What if the person showing resistance to change is not the words bulleted abouve, but instead just passionate, devoted, invested, committed, forward-thinking and valuable .

1. Resistors to change are PASSIONATE about the way things used to be done. 

Letting go can feel like a loss to them. Acknowledge the loss.

Example of resistance:

The instructional coach told second grade teachers they were adopting a new science curriculum. Teachers were reluctant to change because it meant that there was not enough time to do the whale unit that they’d done for the past eight years. All the students across the grade would spend a week building a giant papier-mache whale together.

“It was awesome. Families would come in and help us and then we’d hang it from the ceiling in the cafeteria. To this day I have kids who graduated come back to visit and talk about how they remembered building that whale.”

Skillful Intentional response: 

The instructional coach could say, “I know. I will miss doing that project, too. Remember the year, I got the papier-mache mixture wrong and nothing would stick… (Teachers laugh). It’s going to be an adjustment not being able to do that project anymore. Before I share with you details about the new curriculum, anyone else want to share good stories or what they’ll miss about it?"

2. Resistors to change are DEVOTED to past leaders who set the original policy or practice. 

Changing the policy or practice might feel like a betrayal to the person they miss.

Example of resistance:

A beloved former principal had a policy where teachers could send students to his office any time there was any minor behavioral issue in the classroom. Teachers are upset about the new principal coming in and changing the policy.

Skillful Intentional response:

The new principal could praise the character of the former principal, but not the practice: “He was a strong supporter of teachers and had a wonderful way of connecting to students. This policy, however, does not serve in the best interest of students or teachers. Here's the change and how I will support you through this change.”

3. Resistors to change are INVESTED in the time and resources they put into past practices. 

No one likes tossing out their past hard work and many assume that is what a change is expecting them to do. Don't start from scratch. Build upon what exists and channel resources toward the change when possible.

Example of resistance:

The state has changed the mandated standardized test and it no longer includes writing prompts. Teachers had just spent a year collecting exemplar student written responses to past writing prompts to show students and feel like they have wasted their time doing so.

“Well, now we’ve got this great set of exemplars that we’ll never be able to use.”  

“Yep. There goes a year’s worth of work.”

“Should we even bother jumping through hoops to prepare them for the new standardized test? The state will probably change it again in two years.”

Skillful Intentional response:

The Skillful Team Leader could say, “It’s incredibly frustrating that the new standardized test does not assess writing. But I don’t think our efforts last year to collect student writing exemplars need to be in vain as we can work them into our analyzing text writing unit. And although the assessment might be different, we designed a great process for deconstructing the exam so that we better understand the questions being asked of students. We can apply that same process to the new test.”

4. Resistors to change are COMMITTED to the cause but might be misguided about the solution.

Good news is you are both on the same page about the desired outcome. Bad news is you have different opinions about how to reach it and your colleague does not think the change you are leading is going to get there. (And humble news... they might be partially right.) Connect with them about the goal. Model research-based alternate solutions and provide support and resources to reach your shared outcome.

Example of resistance:

A veteran elementary teacher notices her children are performing poorly on reading assessments, specifically in fluency. She believes students need more practice and that she needs to be able to hear their mistakes so she can design explicit instruction to address their errors. 

She implements the old school practice of round robin reading because that’s what she did when she was in school. In round robin reading, each student takes turns, one after the other in order of how they are seated, reading a paragraph while others “follow along” until it is their turn to read aloud. She doesn’t realize that research has shown this practice causes anxiety in students, disrupts comprehension because students are focused on accurate pronunciation so as not to be embarrassed in front of peers and does not improve fluency.

The principal told the teacher that she can no longer use round robin reading and the teacher is upset and reluctant to try a different method. The principal sends in the literacy coach to work through the veteran teacher’s resistance.

Skillful Intentional response: 

The literacy coach could say, “We both want to improve students’ fluency. I agree that practice is an effective approach. Let’s read about the method you are using now, round robin, and some other current instructional practices to see what will make you most effective with readers who struggle.”

5. Resistors to change are FORWARD THINKING 

about implications others might not yet see. 

Adopting this change will solve a problem, but what unforeseen problems might it create? Give people space to voice their resistance in constructive ways.

Ever heard the true story of the Cane Toads? Faced with a terrible beetle population in the 1930's, Australia brought in millions of poisonous cane toads. What they didn't realize is that cane toads have no natural predators. To this day, they are still trying to get rid of the deadly cane toads.  (Can't help but wonder if they let the naysayers at the time speak up.)

Example of resistance:

A department has implemented the same grading policy for over 20 years. The department head communicates the disadvantages it perpetuates for traditionally marginalized students and proposes a new policy that includes radical ideas such as not giving zeros even for incomplete work, but not everyone is on board. Teachers chatter:

“This isn’t going to work.”

“This is going to be a disaster.”

Skillful Intentional response:

The department head facilitates Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats protocol (Intentional Moves pp. 375-376) to structure talk that carves space for team members to constructively work through their emotional response to the transition and the problems they foresee so that they can set the policy change up for success. (The protocol engages people in a discussion where they “wear different hats” to surface: emotional responses to the change, facts about the change, creative ideas about the change, optimism about the change and anticipated hurdles and risks when adopting the change.)

6. People who show resistance to change are VALUABLE to the change process.

They hold a distinct perspective based on their own cultural positioning, point of view and life lessons. Listen to learn what they have to contribute and communicate in words and actions that they are important and belong.

Example of resistance:

The school district is abolishing the use of Chromebooks and google classroom and is, instead, adopting a change that all students will handwrite notes, tests, essays etc. from this point forward. Teachers who teach students with dyslexia, dysgraphia and ADHD see tremendous value in the use of tech when it comes to implementing accommodations such as enlarged print, speech to text, spellcheck. Even if accommodations remain in place, these students now risk “standing out” as “different” from their peers and older students will be embarrassed. Teachers are also concerned that since spelling and cursive instruction was dropped years ago, handwriting notes will be especially laborious for these students and discourage them. Teachers are so frustrated they complain to the assistant principal.

“Are they nuts? They make these blanket policies and never think about the impact on our kids.”

Skillful Intentional response:

The Assistant principal could say, “I’m so glad you are here to raise that point. You bring up a valuable perspective that the district may not have completely thought through. Yes, special education students will still have access to their accommodations, but one benefit we see in using tech is that it normalizes conditions and allows students with learning needs to feel no different than their peer group. We need to constructively communicate this to the district so that we don’t further marginalize students who have learning differences.”

---

Move 9.8 is more than semantics. Reframing your view of those who resist will not only help you understand and better connect you to your colleagues, but it will also help you better implement your change initiative!

Please use the following citation when citing this blog or any section of it:

MacDonald, E. B. (2026, May 13). What resistors to change want you to know. The Skillful Team Leader Blog. https://www.elisamacdonald.com/post/what-resistors-to-change-need-you-to-know

Explore resistance to change and other important

team leadership topics in my new course:

Learn how to bring the course or any of Elisa's services to your school!

Schedule a call