ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the phases of adaption to change and describes effective change leaders understand the way that individuals react to change and use the principles to ease the process. Change creates anxiety, uncertainty and stress, even for those managing change. One simple and helpful idea for managers dealing with change involves looking at the relationship between self-esteem, performance and stress. A simple model will be used to describe how people experience change and then consider how they can cope with the pressures created by change. Managers often encourage ‘resistance to change’ by dealing with people as if that is the response they expect. If self-esteem does increase performance is unlikely to improve, either because the discussion of impending change can absorb energy or because there are systems in place which may hold back performance improvement, e.g. payment systems. Coping with the process of change places demands on the individuals involved.
