Why Most Change Initiatives Stall
And How Healthy Leaders Prevent It
🚧 The Challenge: Most change initiatives don’t fail because the strategy is flawed. They stall because leaders get too far ahead of understanding and buy-in.
Too often, leaders develop the vision, refine the plan, announce the change—and then wonder why enthusiasm quickly fades.
Jim Collins famously described this principle as “First Who…Then What.” Great leaders don’t begin by deciding where the bus should go. They first make sure the right people are on the bus and in the right seats. In a changing world, the “who” is often more important than the initial “what.”
đź’ˇ What I Learned Early
As a young youth pastor in Denver, I had an idea: invite students to spend their Spring Break serving an under-resourced neighborhood in west Denver.
Instead of planning the project myself, I invited about fifteen influential high school students to help shape the vision from the very beginning.
Everything changed.
The students expanded the vision, improved the plans, recruited others, and eventually nearly thirty students spent the week serving children and families in that community.
That experience shaped my leadership for the next forty years.
I discovered that your vision for a better future remains only an idea until it becomes our idea.
🤝 Why This Works
John Kotter reached the same conclusion through decades of research on organizational change.
Healthy leaders build a Guiding Coalition before they launch a major initiative—not another committee, but a trusted group with influence, credibility, expertise, and the respect of others. But not just a group of leaders at the center or C-Suite! It’s a diverse group that represents the varied voices and insights of the broader organization.
These people don’t simply approve the vision.
They strengthen it.
They broaden ownership.
They build momentum long before the wider organization is asked to embrace change.
✝️ A Timeless Leadership Principle
Scripture has always pointed leaders in this direction.
“Two are better than one… A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9–12)
Even the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—models a unified community accomplishing one mission together.
➡️ One Question Before You Launch
Before introducing your next significant change, ask yourself:
Who are the key people who need to shape and own this before we ask others to embrace it?
That single question may determine whether your next great idea gains momentum—or quietly stalls.
Healthy change is a team sport.
Healthy leaders don’t lead change alone.
Related Articles
➡️ Sacred Cows Make Tasty Burgers — Why healthy leaders honor the past without living in it.
➡️ Leading Change Without Breaking Trust — How healthy leaders help people author change rather than simply announcing it.
➡️ Working with Your Shadow Side — Why healthy leaders recognize that self-awareness shapes every leadership decision.