We spend so much energy trying to convince the skeptics. The resisters. The ones who drag their feet and question every initiative.
What if we had it backwards?
Change starts with the willing
I watched a leader exhaust herself trying to win over her most vocal critic before launching a new collaboration approach. Months of meetings, data presentations, and persuasion attempts. Meanwhile, three team members were quietly excited about the idea, waiting for permission to start. She was so focused on the "no" that she missed the “yes."
The first link matters most
Change doesn't need everyone on board from day one. It needs someone brave enough to go first (the champion). To signal that this new thing is real, worth trying, and safe to explore.
You don't need a title to be the signal
Whether you're the CEO or the newest hire, you can be the first link. The person who says, "I'll try this." Who models the behaviour before it's mandated. Who makes the new normal feel... normal.
Ideas don't spread because they're imposed. They spread because someone makes them inevitable and look easy breezy (or cool).
It’s best to start where there's energy
Instead of battling resistance, find the spark. The person who lights up when you mention the possibility. The team that's been waiting for something like this. Start there.
One willing person creates permission for another. Then another. Before you know it, the reluctant ones aren't fighting change, they’re catching up to it.
It's worth it to go first (especially when you don’t have a title)
Because being the first link isn't about having all the answers. It's about having the courage to signal that something better is possible. And sometimes, that signal is all the change needs to begin.
What small signal could you send this week to become the first link in something positive?
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