People Driven Results · Leadership Workshop
Stop fighting resistance.
Start creating momentum.
Most leaders think change stalls because people resist. Or because communication wasn’t clear enough. Or because managers didn’t get enough buy-in. But after helping nearly 2,000 organizations navigate change, the pattern is clear: change usually stalls because leaders are fighting the wrong battle.
“Change succeeds when leaders create momentum — not when they win arguments.”
Leading Through the 6 Change Reactions teaches managers to recognize the six predictable reactions people have to change — and how to use each one to move change forward instead of getting stuck fighting it.
Why change gets stuck
Leadership is ready to move. The workforce isn’t.
Executives often spend six to nine months discussing a change before employees hear about it. By the time employees are wrestling with uncertainty, skepticism, frustration, or discouragement — leadership is already ready to move on.
That’s when momentum disappears. Managers start trying to convince everyone. Resistance becomes the focus. And implementation slows.
The timing gap nobody talks about. Leaders have already processed the change. Employees haven’t. What looks like resistance is often just people being behind — at a stage their managers left months ago.
Most change training ignores this. The 6 Change Reactions framework is built around it.
Every major change creates six predictable reactions. Some people immediately see opportunities. Some wait to see if it’s worth the effort. Some spot flaws that could derail implementation. Some process their concerns out loud. A very small number can poison momentum for everyone around them.
Most organizations treat all of these the same. That makes everyone stall at the same time. You aren’t fighting resistance — you’re creating a stall.
The 4 Big Mistakes
What most leaders unknowingly get wrong.
These four patterns feel like the right thing to do. They’re not — and understanding why they backfire is half of what makes this framework different.
Quit doing this
Trying to get everyone on board
The goal isn’t to convince everyone. The goal is to reach the tipping point. Half your people must see it to believe it — no speech will move them first.
Quit doing this
Spending time on the resistant end
The more leaders focus on convincing resistant people, the more resistance becomes the center of attention — and grows.
Quit doing this
Talking too much
Many employees have heard change speeches that went nowhere. They believe what they see, not what they hear. Stop spraying and aim.
Quit doing this
Building the wrong change teams
Different reactions contribute different things. Effective leaders know who should help build the change — and who should help test it.
The framework
Six reactions. Six functions. One tipping point.
The six reactions aren’t six personality types. They’re six forces. Some accelerate change. Some improve it. Some slow it. Some poison it. Leaders bombard the resistant — but it’s the group that is watching and waiting that determines the momentum and success of every change. Everything else in this framework exists to reach them.
Enthusiasts
The early energy
Create lift-off and energy. Emotionally positive, always talking up the future — but quickly lose interest when the novelty fades. Leaders learn to harness this energy without depending on it.
Advancives
The change influencers
Create influence and help others move forward. The core of effective change teams. Leaders build change teams around them and train them to answer the questions Fence Sitters are actually asking.
Fence Sitters
The key to lasting change
Watching. Waiting. Saying nothing. They believe what they see, not what they hear. The positive half jumps on board when they see initial results. The negative half is listening to the Preservationists. Leaders learn to show results first — and stop trying to convince people who must see it before they move.
Preservationists
“Hound Dogs” — The Nose
Improve the plan by identifying flaws, risks, and blind spots. Not the enemy — quality control. Leaders learn to accept their analytical skills as a gift, cycle them as consultants, and disarm them by crediting their input when rolling out the change.
Resisters
“Yippers and Yappers”
Need redirection so they don’t distract momentum. Processing their discomfort out loud — not malicious, but contagious. Leaders redirect them back to productivity before they irritate the Fence Sitters into joining them.
Light Eaters
“Stick it to the man”
Drain energy and momentum and require direct intervention. Power-focused, must convert everyone around them. Leaders learn two specific plays: the Trap Play for political situations, and Cellophane for isolating them when removal isn’t yet possible.
What makes this different
Most change programs focus on reducing resistance. This one focuses on momentum.
That’s not a semantic difference. It changes who you spend time on, what you say, how you build your change team, and how you measure progress. Participants leave with tools they can apply immediately.
Proven in the field
Why this matters for AI — and every other major change.
Organizations implementing AI are discovering the same truth every major change initiative eventually learns: the technology isn’t usually what slows implementation. People are.
Confidential · Global financial institution
They wanted their managers to be good at change before they announced it.
The challenge
A major AI integration was on the horizon. Fear and resistance could derail adoption before it started. They didn’t want to manage the fallout — they wanted to prevent it.
The approach
Before the announcement, managers were trained on the 6 Change Reactions. Not to teach AI — but to reduce fear, improve readiness, and create momentum from the first day employees heard about it.
The result
Years later, leaders credited this preparation with making the transition significantly smoother than comparable efforts.
Managers understood how to move people forward instead of fighting resistance — and that made the difference.
Program format
Half-day or full-day — here’s what’s in each.
Both formats cover the core framework. The full-day adds three sections that take managers from dispersing resistance all the way to raising team performance.
Included in both formats
Half-Day Core
Ideal for time-limited rollouts or as a module within existing training.
Adds three sections
Full-Day Complete
Recommended for organizations building long-term change leadership capability.
Will it stick?
Built for behavior change, not just awareness.
The program is structured so skills show up in the next real change — not just the one practiced in the room.
Readiness — arrive with a real person in mind
Pre-work primes participants with their own situation. Managers arrive thinking about a specific person on their team, not a hypothetical.
Course module — the framework in depth
Facilitator-led session covering all six reactions, the 4 Big Mistakes, and step-by-step tactics with scenarios from your organization.
3-week runway — apply before the skills fade
Participants use the framework on their current change while the learning is fresh. The time analysis tool keeps them on the highest-leverage actions.
Partner support — accountability that sticks
Each participant is paired with a partner who checks in during the runway. This single structural element dramatically increases follow-through.
Manager update — close the loop
Participants report what they applied and what changed. Remaining obstacles surface so the program keeps paying off past day one.
What’s included
Practical tools managers keep using.
Every participant leaves with materials designed for the next change — not just the one they came in with.
About the facilitator
Haydn Shaw
Haydn Shaw
Founder & CEO, People Driven Results · Speaker · Consultant · Author
For more than three decades, Haydn Shaw has helped leaders navigate workforce challenges, improve management effectiveness, and lead successful change initiatives. Known for combining practical tools with real-world experience, he equips leaders with strategies they can use immediately — not just concepts they can admire. His work has been recognized at the graduate business school level and delivered to more than 2,000 organizations across government, healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, and construction.
Getting change unstuck starts here
Most change efforts don’t fail all at once. They get stuck.
Momentum slows. People disengage. Leaders become frustrated. And implementation drifts. Leading Through the 6 Change Reactions gives leaders a practical framework for creating momentum, reaching the tipping point, and helping change move forward.