Building Resilience for Change: How We Can Adapt and Lead

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to participate in an impactful Change Leadership workshop. Among the many valuable takeaways, one question kept echoing in my mind, prompting me to reflect on how we, as individuals, can adapt, build resilience, and lead others through times of organisational change. The question is:

Your organisation is changing, do you know why?

It is a simple and fair question – and one many of us never stop to ask. Too often, change feels like something done to us, rather than something we can engage with. But what if, instead of waiting on top-level leadership to lead us through change, we start building the capability and resilience to navigate the change ourselves? How might we do that? I hear you ask!

In this blog post, I will use insights from the referred workshop, combined with reflections from my own experience, to highlight how we can navigate change more effectively by taking ownership of our responses and attitudes toward it.

Change is a constant

Change is a constant in modern workplaces. Whether it is a shift in strategy, a new tool, a restructured team, or a broader transformation initiative, change is happening all around us, all the time. According to a 2024 LinkedIn research, 64% of professionals report feeling overwhelmed by the rapid pace of workplace changes, with 68% seeking more support than ever before.

So, with change and transformation happening faster than many can process, building resilience is no longer a luxury — it’s a survival skill. Therefore, it is not something we can wait to receive from top-level leadership; it is something each of us must actively develop to navigate change effectively.

In my experience working in different organisational context, I have found that instead of always looking to leadership to guide us through the uncertainty of change, we benefit from asking a different question:

What can I do myself to build the capability and resilience needed to adapt to change?

The answer to this question begins with an understanding of the context of change you are in, knowing why your organisation or team is changing, and understanding what is expected from you as part of the change. This is usually not an easy question to answer. Hence, why many change initiatives often never kick-off, struggle in flight, or fail eventually.

Why change initiatives often fail

During the workshop session I earlier referred, it was made evident that when change initiatives are discussed amongst those impacted by the change, a common theme often emerge: resistance to change, which is not always visible. Because, people respond to change with a spectrum of emotions – denial, curiosity, frustration, disillusionment, and eventual acceptance. This emotional rollercoaster can cause even well-intentioned change programs to stall or fail.

One major roadblock that stood out to me during the discussions in the referred session was the concept of learned helplessness – the idea that people begin to believe their actions have no impact.

When we don’t understand the “why” behind change or don’t feel empowered to influence our experience of it, disengagement follows.

In such a situation, we can find ourselves moving across what has been described by Swedish psychologist and researcher Dr. Claes Janssen as The Four Rooms of Change, which I will briefly describe below.

Understanding the four rooms of change

The Four Rooms of Change offers a powerful metaphor for understanding our reactions, and how individuals navigate through change.

Room 1: Contentment and complacency – a time and place where things feel rather stable, but often we are complacent of an impending change and how we must respond to it.

Room 2: Denial – a time and place where the signs of needed change arise, but we ignore them or fail to engage and respond accordingly.

Room 3: Confusion and chaos – a time and place where we feel dis-stabilised by a change, where we are full of questions, uncertainties, and unsure of how to respond or engage with the change.

Room 4: Renewal and revitalisation – a time and place where new clarity and energy take shape and we feel motivated to engage and ride with the change.

It’s important to note that this isn’t a rigid model as such. In reality, we often move fluidly between the different “rooms.” At times, we may find ourselves lingering in the corridor between stages – unsure whether to move forward into the next room or retreat to the previous one. More often than not, many of us want to skip straight to renewal – either because that’s where we aspire to be, or because our environment or organisation expects us to be there. However,

Personal resilience in times of change is built in the messy middle – in the spaces of denial, confusion, and chaos – where we begin to question the “why” and figure out how best to engage with and ride the wave of change.

The key to building resilience, in this case, is not to rush through the chaos but to develop the tools to move through it intentionally. Therefore, understanding where we and others sit on the four room spectrum during a given change process is key to leading and supporting change effectively.

Building resilience: what we can do

To build personal resilience and combat the challenges we face during change, particularly to move beyond the state of learned helplessness, we need to:

1. Recognise our emotional response

Emotional intelligence is critical during times of change. It starts with recognising where we are emotionally, naming how we feel – frustrated, lost, unmotivated – and recognising that these responses are valid.

The next step is to work towards regulating those emotions constructively, and for someone in a position of leadership – to support others in doing the same.

That self-awareness gives us the grounding to respond to the given change, not just react to it.

2. Move from incompetence to confidence

Change often introduces us to new operating models, ways of working, roles, or tools. This exposure can trigger what psychologists refer to as the competence ladder, a model developed by Noel Burch. It describes the emotional and cognitive stages individuals experience when learning something new – such as adapting to a new role, mastering a new skill or a new tool in the workplace. The model includes four key stages:

• Unconscious incompetence – when we don’t know what we don’t know.
• Conscious incompetence – when we become aware of our skill gaps.
• Conscious competence – when we are actively learning and applying new skills.
• Unconscious competence – when those skills become second nature.

Recognising where we are on this ladder helps us stay patient and compassionate – both with ourselves and with others – as we navigate the complexities of change.

3. Break the cycle of helplessness

Feeling powerless during change is completely normal – but it doesn’t have to be permanent. Even small, intentional actions can help us regain a sense of agency and momentum. During the workshop I referred to, I noted down a few simple steps I have used myself, which I believe can be helpful when feeling helpless with a given change:

• Ask questions to better understand the purpose behind the change.
• Identify what you can influence, even if it’s just within your immediate team or tasks.
• Support others who may also feel stuck – change is easier when we navigate it together.
• Focus your energy on doing your best in the areas you can control.
• Communicate your challenges, to those with the possibility to provide you with support.

Recognising that you have a role to play, however small it may seem, can be a powerful first step toward building resilience and staying grounded through the uncertainty of change.

4. Lead from where you are

I have often argued that you don’t need a title to lead change. Some of the most impactful change leaders are those who model curiosity, empathy, and adaptability in their everyday actions. They create space for dialogue, hold room for discomfort, and celebrate even the smallest signs of progress.

In my experience, transformation becomes truly sustainable when individuals feel empowered – not just informed. And here’s the catch: empowerment in this sense, doesn’t always come from what others gives us. Often, it comes from how we choose to respond, where we choose to focus our energy, and how we choose to engage with the change around us.

In the change context many of us find ourselves in today, navigating through change requires us to lead ourselves – from wherever we are – toward the good we envision and the future we hope to shape.

5. Understand the leadership pipeline

Whether you’re in a formal leadership role or not, understanding what good leadership looks like during change is essential.

Effective leaders don’t just manage tasks – they communicate vision (the “why”) behind a given change, align people with a shared purpose, and create environments where resilience, trust, and adaptability can thrive. The good news? These aren’t traits reserved for those with titles – they’re qualities anyone can model.

Equally important is the ability to recognise when these leadership traits are missing in your environment. By doing so, we can respond more thoughtfully, support those driving the change, and help others navigate the uncertainty with empathy and clarity.

When we take ownership of our role in the change process, no matter how big or small, we position ourselves not just to adapt, but to grow. In doing so, we build our own resilience and contribute to a culture where transformation is not only possible, but sustainable.

Final thought

“Change is coming – are you ready?”

Change is inevitable. It is happening all around us, and it is happening fast. But how we respond to it – individually and collectively – is a choice.

Your organisation is changing, you should know “why”, and you should know “how” to respond. Because change is coming, and you should be ready to grow with it.

Change isn’t just happening to your organisation – it is happening everywhere, around you, through you, and sometimes because of you. Understanding why and how to adapt is your best strategy for thriving, not just surviving, in a transforming workplace.

It is easy to always look up and expect top-level leadership to steer the ship of change. But real resilience is built when we look inward and ask: What can I do to lead myself through this change?

When we build our emotional intelligence, understand our reactions, and by modelling leadership (formal or informal), stepping up to take action for ourselves, and those around us, we can transform a given change from something that happens to us into something we can help shape.