Beyond the Tears and Triumphs there's a Sense of Achievement

If you haven't tasted tears and triumphs in equal measure in your career, you're probably not a Change Manager. For the uninitiated, change management might appear to be some fearful, unknowable process that's all about infographics, long meetings, talking about your feelings and PowerPoint. Change management might seem like a mechanical process, or perhaps a machiavellian one? But it isn’t just about templates, timelines and plans; it can be an adventure that leads to profound personal and organisational growth. Amidst the challenges and uncertainties, there lies a hidden gem: the sense of achievement that change management brings.

The Thrill of Progress

Breaking free from the status quo can initially be risky. But as the change manager brings teams together to collaborate, as the solution adapts, and the leaders overcome obstacles, together they experience incremental progress. From rolling out a new system to supporting a cultural shift, each new milestone achieved brings a surge of accomplishment. With every achievement the team gains altitude, and working in high performing teams can be a feeling like no other.

As a change manager, these are the situations that have caused me over the years to develop bespoke change processes, design faster and smarter tools and creating collaborative design processes.

Progress breeds happy campers, and happy campers innovate

Seeing the Impact

Nothing fuels a sense of achievement like witnessing tangible results. When organisations suspend disbelief, doubt and resistance, change execution starts to hit its straps. When initiatives begin that familiar ripple through organisations, the intended effects on processes, people, and outcomes become tangible. When employees embrace new ways of working and see their productivity improves or the job becomes easier; when customer satisfaction soars, or when profits rise, as a change leader, observing these positive shifts validates your efforts and fuels your sense of purpose.

In Support for People Leaders during change: designing an effective Engagement Plan we write about how change leaders are often investing in the change manager, taking a risk prior to seeing an outcome. After this has paid off, the trust between leader and change manager levels-up and excitement builds to do it all again.

Overcoming Resistance

Change often faces resistance—sometimes subtle, sometimes overt.

Diagnosing resistance can be an art in itself. With one client we recently looked into four possible underlying drivers for what seemed on the surface to be resistance to change:

• a process problem – the process was no longer transparent while at the same time new team members were involved in previously private business relationships;

• an actual resistance problem where a disgruntled stakeholder needs to be managed through a resistance process by their manager;

• a coaching problem – there is anger (signalling preparation for change) and frustration (meaning a breakthrough is imminent) and the stakeholder needs a sounding board to express their views; or

• a gaslighting problem - the change leader had inadvertently created a perfect storm and was surprised by 'resistance' when the team started objecting to it.

When you navigate these complex situations and guide reluctant stakeholders toward acceptance, it can feel like steering through the storm. And the moment resistance softens, and individuals align with the change, you feel the clear sense of achievement.

Celebrating Small Wins

In this field, victories come in all sizes. Celebrating even the tiniest wins like an enthusiastic team meeting or a successful pilot playback, creates a sense of momentum. These mini-celebrations fuel motivation and remind everyone that progress is happening.

Remembering that change is not just about the finish line but also about what we're learning along the way can feel satisfyingly meta and drive the change-nerds onwards!

We talk about celebrating success a lot here at Agencia Change. Read one example here: Dealing with Disappointment in Constant Change and Transformation Environments

Becoming a Change Catalyst

As a change agent, you ignite a ripple affect just by being present. This in itself is a beginning to the transformation. When you witness colleagues adopting new behaviours, embracing innovation, and championing change, it’s like seeing the justification for your role in tangible form. Add to that well-developed and thoughtfully executed plans, and the change manager is working with a fertile ground for growth that brings a true sense of purpose.

Having a sense of purpose is a powerful achievement in itself. By contrast, when change isn't going well, it can create very strong signals on the gut-feel radar, and cause change managers to have more than a few bad days. (Explore this more in Gut feel and lag indicators: When change isn't going well.)

Learning and Adaptation

Change management requires resilience and it teaches us to be resilient over time. When faced with setbacks or unexpected detours, you recalibrate, learn, and adapt. This ability to pivot can provide a sense of mastery in truly seeing that change isn’t always a linear path but a constant opportunity to reach into the toolkit for flexibility and tenacity.

If you're looking to shortcut the time taken to learn key components to resilience, take a look at Beating the Beat Up. This provides essential context when reflecting on your own performance.

Emotions are what drive people from thinking about something to doing something - so change gets emotional. And emotional reactions to change provide very useful information that we can apply to a solution rather than becoming personally overwhelmed by what seems like a lack of progress.

There's the Sense of Achievement

The sense of achievement in change management isn’t confined to a beautifully comprehensive spreadsheet, a highly acclaimed infographic, or a meaningful, realistic project timeline. It sits with those who dare to lead, collaborate, and evolve. Again we say, celebrate the wins—big and small. Acknowledge the sweat, the tears, the late nights, and the moments of doubt. For every change you drive, you’re creating a legacy to resilience, growth, and the high-performance spirit.

For more Agencia Change blogs, see here: https://www.agenciachange.com/blog. For more information on our unique online resilience and resistance program, Beating the Beat up, see here: https://www.agenciachange.com/challenge-page/beat-the-beat-up