COACHING & RESISTANCE

It is suggested that in any group facing a new program, process, or practice, 8% of the people will be innovators, 17% will be leaders, 29% will be early adopters, 29% will be late adopters, and 17% will be resisters (Rogers and Rogers, 2003). I adapt this information about groups of people and use it in my coaching relationships. It is important to determine where your client spends most of his/her time and listen for insights about the issue they are addressing. Are they giving you signs that they are an innovator, a leader, an early or late adopter or a resister? Each of these frames for approaching a problem suggests multiple pathways and possible interventions.

In this article, I focus on strategies for helping a client who is describing his/her situation as a resister or perhaps a late adopter. Using the work of Ann Kilcher and Lawrence Ryan on resistance, I listen deeply for clues about the cause of the resistance. Once the cause of the resistance is uncovered, it is easier to support the work of the client in finding a pathway to success, or ways to ease the conflict. Remember that some resistance is healthy and justifiable. It’s not always about removing the resistance.

Here are a few of the classic reasons why people resist change and some ideas about how to find a pathway to ease the resistance or, when necessary, ways to strengthen the resistance.

Perhaps the underlying cause of resistance is that the client does not know what to do (lack of knowledge), how to do it (lack of skills/abilities) or why he/she is doing it (the purpose). Pathways to respond might include: participation in reading and study groups; participation in knowledge/skill-building seminars or problem-solving groups; seeking an expert or colleague with insights about the issue; scheduling visitations to other classrooms and schools to see the innovation in action; talking about where it has made a difference (citing examples from practice and research); explaining where it fits in the bigger picture; or considering desirable outcomes.

Sometimes the resistance occurs when the client was not involved in decision making or is disappointed about the process taken to arrive at the decision. Challenge the client to examine decision making processes early in problem solving venues so that all participants understand who makes what decisions and how decisions will be made. Determine if it is the idea or the process that is triggering the response.

Two challenging causes for resistance are that people are satisfied with the way things are or they can’t see the benefits of changing. It might be helpful to create an alternative future picture (build creative tension.); clarify and raise expectations; identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; do a cost benefit analysis of the change; or take a long, hard, honest look at the data.

I believe that the number one reason why people resist change is workload and work pressure and this is one of the easiest to identify. If you hear evidence that time or “overload” is at the heart of things, it might be time to talk about how to say no; how to identify what to "continue," "stop," "start" doing; or how to set priorities.

The other key reasons that Kilcher and Ryan identified as causes for resistance are that people have a negative past experience with change. They do not see the change agent or advocate of the idea as credible; they don't experience support; or are worried about failure. There are other reasons and if you listen, you will uncover them all. What might you do to move your client if these issues are part of the underlying cause of resistance to change?

Kilcher, A. and Ryan, L. 1996. Dealing with Resistance. Presentation, North Carolina Teachers' Academy.

Rogers, E. M., & Rogers, E. (2003). Diffusion Innovations (5th ed.). New York: Free Press.

By Ann Delehant, CSR Board Member

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