Stop managing change. Start leading identity.

When an organisation announces a major change such as a restructure, a merger, or a new strategy, most leaders fall into the trap of managing the process. They focus on the new organisation chart, the timelines, and the deliverables.

The result is often resistance, resentment, and foot-dragging. Why? Because employees do not resist change; they resist the loss of identity and competence.

I like to think of this as the difference between change as surgery (a painful, imposed event) and change as evolution (an ongoing shift in how we see ourselves and our purpose).

True transformation requires the leader to focus on leading identity:

1. Acknowledge the Ending: As we learned on the board, every change starts with an ending. Before you communicate the new structure, you must articulate what the team is losing: the old identity, the comfortable process. Honour the past work before demanding commitment to the future.

2. Focus on the New Narrative: The change is not about cutting costs; it is about “building the capacity to serve our customers globally.” Connect the new, scary structure to the Stonecutter Principle, the grand vision.

3. Be the Architect of Psychological Safety: The team needs to know it is safe to fail and to ask 'stupid' questions in the new structure. The leader must model vulnerability, demonstrating that they, too, are navigating an identity shift from the old way to the new way.

Stop leading the change (the external event) and start leading the transition (the internal human experience). When people understand who they need to become to succeed in the future, they stop resisting the process.