Dr Louise Chisholm ری ٹویٹ کیا
Being able to walk away from a change initiative (often something we have invested huge personal effort in and feel passionate about) is a defining capability for leaders of change.
In change work, we celebrate the leaders who “push through resistance” and “never give up”. We talk less about the leaders who know when to stop – or walk away – from a change initiative altogether.
Sometimes that decision is about the work itself:
- The initiative is no longer aligned with organisational priorities.
- The context has shifted so much that the original case no longer holds.
- The effort required now far outweighs any likely benefit.
But sometimes, the decision is about the toll on the person leading the change:
- Sponsors are absent, inconsistent or obstructive, leaving us carrying the risk but not the authority.
- We’re repeatedly asked to “spin” the story or sidestep hard truths in ways that clash with our values.
- The behaviours rewarded around the initiative (blame-shifting, pressurising, tolerating poor behaviours) are the opposite of the culture we’re trying to build.
Walking away will rarely be applauded. It may look to some people like a lack of resilience or loyalty. Yet it can be an act of deep responsibility: to our own wellbeing, to our credibility, to the people we lead & to the people we are seeking to create better outcomes for.
Actions to reduce the risk of having to stop or walk away:
1) Name the conditions we need (sponsorship, resourcing, psychological safety) and pay attention when those conditions are chronically missing.
2) Build regular check‑ins with sponsors to test commitment, reset expectations and surface misalignments early, rather than absorbing them alone.
3) Set the change process up from the start as a series of “experiments” with clear hypotheses and time‑boxes, so we can make decisions about what to do next based on real data, not assumptions.
4) Hold structured learning huddles as a change team, focusing on “What are we learning? What needs to change in our approach? What should we stop?”.
5) Invite voices from outside the core project team (frontline staff, service users, partner organisations) into periodic reflection sessions to test whether the change still makes sense in their reality.
6) Create reflective space with others (coaching, mentoring, peer support) to notice when the work is eroding your own energy, integrity or wellbeing. The first rule of being an effective change agent is that “you can’t be an effective change agent on your own”.
As leaders of change, our legacy isn’t just the initiatives we drive to completion. It’s also the ones we have the courage and strategic insight to stop. Sometimes the best move is not to push through, but to step away.
See, for instance, @AdmiredLeaders on reactive quitting versus strategic quitting: admiredleadership.com/field-notes/kn….
The graphic is by the brilliant @milanicreative.
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