The Change Impact Leaders Often Miss

By: Jennifer Franko, Coach, Renogize Professional Coaching

“I’m still the same person, only now I have new responsibilities.”

A client said this after being promoted to lead the team he had been part of for years. His peers became his direct reports, and while the role changed overnight, the relationships did not know how to change with it.

That is one of the quiet losses change can create.

Change is often talked about in terms of strategy, timelines, communication plans, and execution. But there’s another side of change leaders can’t afford to overlook, and that is the quiet losses people experience along the way.

Not every loss is obvious. Sometimes people are grieving the role they used to understand, the routine that helped them feel steady, the relationships that changed, or the confidence they once had in knowing how to succeed.

This is ambiguous grief—the kind of loss that can be hard to identify, doesn’t always come with clear closure, and still affects how people show up.

And the tension for leaders is real. The organization needs forward motion, but people may still be carrying unresolved loss. When that grief is ignored, it often shows up as resistance, disengagement, or frustration. What looks like pushback may actually be people feeling uncertain and trying to make sense of the change and what it means for them.

Leaders can support teams by:

• Listening without rushing to fix

• Communicating clearly and consistently

• Creating space for questions

• Helping people reconnect to purpose

• Reinforcing what remains steady

Helping others name ambiguous grief does not slow or halt forward progress. It helps them move from holding on to moving forward.

For my client, moving forward started with acknowledging the awkwardness, exploring what felt different, and openly discussing how to build and maintain trust with each other.

Before you ask people to move forward, challenge yourself to notice what they may still be holding onto.