The Second Messy Truth of Change

Kia ora (Hi there) Change Wranglers,

This week continues last week's newsletter on the messy truth of what a CM does.

Last week we covered, translating nebulous leader visions, engagement beyond clicking, being the silent objection whisperer and the silo demolition expert.

If you want to listen to this newsletter as a podcast, you can click here.

5. The Leadership Courage Coach

The Reality: Leaders need to publicly champion change while privately processing their doubts, fears, and occasional midnight panic attacks.

Real-world example: After his rousing speech about a new operating model, a brilliant CTO confessed, "I have no idea if this will work. What if I'm destroying everything we've built?"

Change managers provide a safe space for this vulnerability and help rebuild the confidence needed for public leadership.

Practical takeout: Create "courage sessions" where leaders can privately express doubts before helping them craft authentic messages that acknowledge challenges while inspiring confidence.

I'm told I'm the mistress of the 'off the record' deep sharing, and hopefully cathartic chat.

I'm sure many of you would have heard something similar about yourself many times.

6. The Bad News Bearer (With Trust Intact)

The Reality: Sometimes change means delivering unwelcome news, without destroying relationships.

Real-world example: When a company restructuring meant a beloved office location would close, we could have hidden behind corporate-speak.

Instead, we acknowledged the genuine loss, created space for proper goodbyes, and focused on concrete support rather than toxic positivity.

Years later, many affected people still maintained positive connections to the company.

That's a rare one, but it can be achieved if the organisation genuinely wants to support its staff through the process and has the time, money, and capability to do so.

Practical takeout: Bad news delivered with honesty and compassion builds more trust than sugar-coated half-truths.

In the book, I couldn't help sharing the analogy that sometimes a CM is just brought in to 'lipstick the pig'.

I greatly prefer not to be a pig lip-sticker, and these days, I will say fairly volubly why it's a bad idea (for everyone) to do that.

Give people what they need most: the unvarnished truth and a genuine commitment to help.

7. The Loss-to-Opportunity Translator

The Reality: People experiencing change often fixate on what they're losing rather than potential gains, and their concerns are usually valid.

Real-world example: When a new collaborative platform was introduced to replace beloved legacy tools, users didn't see exciting features—they saw years of customised workflows disappearing.

By acknowledging these losses directly and involving users in recreating their essential processes in the new system, we shifted from objections to co-creation.

Practical takeout: Create a "loss inventory" for any change. Validate these losses explicitly before jumping to benefits.

When people feel heard about what they're giving up, they become more open to what they might gain.

This is a great, innovative way to use comparative tables, and it will earn you huge kudos if you do it authentically and over a sustained period.

The Heart of Change Work

Change management isn't about slick PowerPoints or perfectly timed email campaigns.

It's about navigating the messy, emotional landscape of human beings facing uncertainty.

The most successful change initiatives I've led weren't the ones with the prettiest project plans – they were the ones where we:

• Built trust by acknowledging both gains and losses

• Stayed steady when plans inevitably needed adjustment

• Connected personally rather than hiding behind processes

• Didn't tick off actions but rather connections.

As you work on your organisational changes, remember that behind every objection is a human concern worthy of attention, behind every failed adoption is a missing connection, and behind every successful transformation are change managers who understand that organisations don't change – people do.

Thanks again to Werner Kebert for the LinkedIn post that inspired this two-part newsletter.

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My podcast with Penny Zenker is 'in the can' (always wanted to write that!).😉

I'll let you know when my episode of Time to Reset is out for a listen.

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I'm considering offering another discount on my two on-demand digital courses, 'Sell Change with Confidence' and 'Effective Change Impact Assessment'.

If you've been thinking about getting those, DM and let me know, and I'll work out a plan.

Note that both the Kindle versions of my books remain priced at US$0.99 because I want to make what I have to share accessible, not buy a condo!

Until next time, keep changin' for the better.

Your change fairy godmother, Barb 🧚♀️✨

Barb Grant

Unravelling the chaos with you.

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