9 Old Rules About Change

People hate change.
You’ve heard it. You’ve said it. It’s wrong.

The truth?

People hate confusion.
They hate feeling shut out.
They hate being told they’ve changed.

But change itself?
People want it.
They just want it to make sense.

The best transformation leaders already know this:

The old rules of change are broken.

The ones in training decks.
The ones recycled in offsites.
The ones that let leaders vanish when things get hard.

They don’t work anymore.
Because the world you’re leading in has changed.

Here’s what’s really happening:

• People don’t resist change.
They resist mixed signals.

• Launch isn’t alignment.
It’s day one of the real work.

• Speed doesn’t prove success.
It creates whiplash when mis-timed.

• Repeating it doesn’t make it clear.
Clarity beats noise.

• People don’t resist accountability.
They resist hypocrisy.

One vague email can undo six weeks of trust.
One skipped stand-up, and the story collapses.

Change doesn’t fail because of the team.
It fails when leaders disappear.

I’ve sat in rooms where the plan looked perfect.
But the leader had already checked out.

Leadership isn’t strategy.
It’s presence.

Seventy percent of change fails after launch.
Not from bad plans. From vanishing leadership.

If you want people to believe in the change:
Don’t bury them in data.
Tell them what it means.
Show them why it matters.

Real leaders get this.

They don’t treat change as an event.
They treat it as a craft.

Old question:
“How do I make them change?”

Better question:
“How do I lead them through it?”

If you’ve ever looked at a change plan and thought:
“This doesn’t feel right.” You’re not wrong.

You’re not the problem.
You’re part of what’s next.

You see the gap. And you’re willing to lead through it.

Are you ready to be the one who stays visible?

Most leaders talk change.
Few stay visible when it gets messy.