Fear Versus Promise When Communicating Major Change
Leaders who know the organization must undertake significant change in order to survive and thrive face a choice.
When communicating the change, do they describe the promise of what it means to transform the organization, or do they suggest that the failure to change will result in drastically negative consequences?
Because leaders themselves often fear the cold reality of what it would mean not to make the change, they often appeal to fear instead of promise.
They believe convincing the team that their very survival is at stake will be far more persuasive than describing the many benefits of embracing a new path forward.
Unfortunately, research proves that choosing fear is the wrong call and has its own disastrous consequences.
Leaders who prefer to describe the threat certainly create more urgency and mobilize people to act more swiftly. Describing the consequences of not changing can shock people into overcoming their resistance to change.
And some leaders believe outlining anything but the stark reality is not being honest or transparent. But the downside of this approach outweighs any benefit.
Fear appeals about change lead to anxiety, stress, and highly defensive reactions. Team members who feel their livelihoods are threatened will downplay the risks and challenge leaders to provide more information to prove the point.
But no matter what leaders do to persuade them about the reality of the situation, team members quickly tune out the message and actually reduce their commitment to any change.
Skepticism and suspicion take hold and begin to undermine any trust team members felt about their leader. A negative climate of “we” versus “them” becomes more likely as well.
The better call for leaders communicating change is to paint a picture of a more positive and different future.
Outlining the many advantages of change works to inspire and motivate people toward a better future and builds trust. This approach also encourages the collaboration needed to plan for the change and boosts team morale by involving people in the transformation.
Best of all, the promise of a brighter future gains more instant commitment. People want to be a part of creating a new reality together.
They abhor being told that if they don’t change, their world is all but lost. Fear is self-defeating. Good leaders never forget that.
I have learned, First and foremost that the leader has to genuinely buy into the change by seeking out the positives sincerely. Then others will follow suit. Very difficult to instill change without the leader embracing it first
I would suggest more of a balance between fear and promise, which I admit, is difficult to achieve. Employees constantly evaluate their environment through the “reward vs. threat” lens. If employees sense more threats (uncertainty, loss of status, or fairness violations), you’ll activate fear, disengagement, and resistance. On the other hand, overly optimistic promises can feel disingenuous and erode your credibility.