By Rick Maurer on Tuesday, 05 June 2018
Category: Organizational Change | Leadership

Commencement Speech and Level 3 Resistance

This past weekend, Ben Bowling, this year’s valedictorian of Bell County High School, said, “This is the part of my speech where I share some inspirational quotes I found on Google.” “Don't just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table.’ — Donald J. Trump.”

The crowd applauded and cheered. And then he said, “Just kidding. That was Barack Obama.”

The crowd got silent and then someone booed.

This is a great example of a Level 3 reaction to something. It was a great quote when people believed it came from someone they liked, but a boo-worthy quote when it came from someone they didn’t.

Too often people who are promoting something new at work, ignore the potential impact of Level 3 support or resistance (trust and confidence – or lack of trust and confidence).

Experience tells me that often Level 3 is more important than whatever the idea is we are trying to get across. If people don’t trust us, they don’t listen.

What can you do to reduce resistance and build support almost immediately?

Take a look at the short article and video on my website to learn how to spot this level of resistance quickly:  https://rickmaurer.com/coc3/ Then, use the Assessment tool on the site. Once you do that, you will be able to see ways to reduce resistance and begin support almost immediately.

Rick Maurer

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