How to gain Leadership support for change efforts
Gaining leadership support is vital for our change efforts, and yet “leadership support” and “lack of leadership support” is often listed as a top challenge for Change Managers in surveys, articles and every-day conversation.
Most of us can recognise planning carefully, defining clear leadership activities, and still finding ourselves struggling to get consistent Senior Leadership engagement. In this article, I explore why this may be happening, and share the approach that has helped me gain active leadership support over the years.
Leadership in a change effort isn’t a single role. It includes different types of leadership that support change in different ways and at different points in the project lifecycle. This article focuses specifically on senior leadership: roles such as Executive Director, Regional Manager, or Director of Operations etc.
Regardless of the title, Senior Leaders are people who are listened to. They have a strategic view of the organisation and the market, and they are accountable for designing, sharing, and driving long-term direction.
Due to their strategic view and expertise, Senior Leaders are the preferred senders of the high level messages about the change. We’ve all attended Town Halls or All Hands meetings where Senior Leaders introduce a new direction, strategy, or shift in approach. Their voice gives legitimacy and weight to the change in a way few other roles can.
Beyond communication, Senior Leaders are vital to change efforts in other ways. They provide direction, support governance, and align resources, all while continuing to deliver against the organisation’s wider strategic objectives. They also play an important role in sustaining change, particularly through recognising progress and celebrating success.
But, as vital as these leaders are to change, they do not always support the delivery of the tasks we need them to carry out as effectively as they could.
Meetings are declined. Requests are deprioritised. Sometimes Leaders state the change isn’t relevant to them, and occasionally they disengage altogether. Most experienced Change Managers will have encountered this at some point.
There are many reasons for this happening. Let me share some that the leaders have told me over the years: Some are genuinely overwhelmed. Some experience decision fatigue. Some don’t fully understand the role they play in change. Others understand the role in theory but aren’t confident in how to deliver it.
From their perspective, they are already stretched and the change hasn’t been made relevant to them, which is where many change efforts start to struggle.
And so, because we know people do not truly listen until the message is made relevant to them (and Senior Leaders are people too), we take an Applied Change Management approach. Rather than expecting support to happen by default, the approach makes the change applied to them and for them.
When leaders can clearly see how the change links to their responsibilities, priorities, and performance, they develop a vested interest in its success. Their involvement stops being an additional task and starts becoming part of how they deliver their role.
At a high level, this approach has meant:
aligning change delivery with leaders’ key performance indicators
linking project outcomes directly to their strategic priorities
working collaboratively with leaders in a way that fits their style and focus
There’s no fluff. No theory for theory’s sake. Just practical collaboration that’s shaped around them and applied directly to the change being delivered. When leaders feel supported, understand what’s expected of them, and can see why their involvement matters, engagement becomes much easier to sustain.
If this resonates, I go into more detail in this week’s podcast episode of the “Applied Change Management Podcast”, released on Thursday. It includes practical examples of how to gain senior leadership support using an applied change management approach.
Best wishes in your change management efforts!
Rose
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