How to lead cultural transformation when facing resistance

Organisational culture defines how people work, interact, and make decisions. Whether to meet new challenges, fuel innovation, or stay competitive, this culture will naturally shift over time.

But for leaders seeking to drive a cultural transformation, resistance from within the organisation itself (whether passive of active) can often be the biggest barrier to change.

In this blog, Gemma Toner explores why resistance occurs, and how understanding why it happens and how to navigate it is key to ensuring a long-term and sustainable culture shift.

Why do cultural transformations become necessary?

Cultural shifts are required for also kinds of reasons, from responding to external pressures like market changes, new technologies, or evolving customer expectations, to simply better meeting internal goals like collaboration, fostering innovation, or driving higher performance.

But changing an ingrained culture can be tricky. It’s not as simple as implementing new processes or policies. It’s about shifting mindsets, behaviours, and the way people engage with their work and each other.

Yet, even when the need for change is clear, resistance is inevitable. Why? Because culture is deeply rooted in people’s habits, comfort zones, and sense of identity within their organisation.

Understanding resistance: Why it happens and what it looks like 

Resistance to cultural change can take many forms, and it often stems from fear. Fear of losing control, fear of the unknown, or fear of failing. Some of the most common expressions of resistance include:

• Passive Resistance: This might look like silent disengagement. Leaders nodding in agreement during meetings but failing to take action, teams continuing with ‘business as usual,’ or employees expressing scepticism about the likelihood of real change.
• Active Resistance: More overt pushback can take the form of vocal criticism, refusal to engage with new initiatives, or even sabotage (often unintentionally) of efforts to shift the culture.
• Lack of Alignment at Leadership Levels: One of the biggest blockers to cultural change is when senior leaders are not aligned. If leadership teams allow personal egos or conflicting priorities to get in the way, it creates a fragmented message to the rest of the organisation.

Navigating resistance: What can leaders do?

Driving cultural change requires a commitment to engaging with and addressing resistance head-on. In our experience this requires a few things:

1. 1. Aligning leadership and fostering psychological safety

Cultural change starts at the top. If leaders are not aligned, the wider organisation will struggle to follow. This means creating an environment where leaders can truly hear each other and aren’t threatened by different perspectives or operating in silos. Psychological safety plays a crucial role here. When leaders feel safe to voice concerns, admit mistakes, and challenge each other constructively, silos begin to break down, and collaboration strengthens.

Ego is often the biggest blocker to collaboration. Any “us vs. them” dynamic within leadership teams will ripple through the rest of the organisation. Leaders must ask themselves: Are we modelling the behaviours we want to see in the culture? Are we creating space for open dialogue and genuine problem-solving?

2. 2. Setting realistic expectations and track progress

When trying to drive cultural change, it can be frustrating when things seems not to be moving or have stalled. But cultural change doesn’t happen overnight, for large organisations it’s the equivalent to turning an oil tanker.

If for example, you expected to drive through the change in six months, ask yourself was this a breakthrough ambition a pipedream? Was three years more appropriate. If things seem to be moving slowly, this doesn’t mean the transformation itself is unrealistic. It might just mean that a longer-term commitment and structured milestones are needed along the way.

One way to stay on course is identifying and measuring the metrics that show change is happening. Often, cultural transformation is happening beneath the surface, but it’s not being acknowledged. Identifying incremental progress, through engagement surveys, team feedback, or performance metrics, can reinforce momentum and keep people invested in the journey.

3. 3. Identify breakthrough initiatives and learn from resistance

Not all parts of an organisation move at the same pace. Some teams or individuals will be more open to change than others. Instead of trying to push transformation evenly across the board, leaders should focus on identifying and investing in breakthrough initiatives. These are small pockets of success that can serve as proof points for the wider organisation. Success breeds success, and visible progress in one area can help build confidence and enthusiasm elsewhere.

Instead of seeing resistance as a roadblock, leaders can treat it as a source of insight. Resistance often reveals where deeper conversations, better communication, or more support is needed. Creating open spaces for discussion, where people feel safe to voice their concerns without fear of judgment, can help unearth the real reasons behind pushback and allow leaders to address them constructively.

Cultural transformation is complex and rarely follows a straight path. Resistance is in many ways an expected part of the process. Leaders who successfully drive change do so by aligning at the top, setting realistic expectations, measuring progress, investing in breakthrough initiatives, and engaging with resistance rather than avoiding it. With the right mindset and approach, leaders can create the conditions for lasting cultural transformation.

Looking to accelerate change in your organisation? Get in touch to explore how we can support your leadership team in driving meaningful shifts.