15 Change Management Quotes That Inspires

Change Management is one of the most challenging aspects of leadership. It requires us to inspire our teams, overcome their resistance, and build the necessary momentum that will see us through to success.

Here are fifteen Famous Change Management quotes that have inspired and helped me deliver outstanding results.

Famous change management quotes

1. "Be the change you want to see in the world." - Gandhi

This quote is an excellent reminder that change starts with you. You need to model the behaviors and actions you are looking for in others. All change begins with you, and if you won't change, then why should anyone else.

Leadership defines the culture, and if you embrace the change, then so will others.

2. "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change." - Darwin

There are two things that I love about this quote. The first is that it clearly states the importance of change and that our futures will be limited without it. And in a world that is increasingly competitive, this has never been truer.

Secondly, it shows that those who can successfully deliver change will always be in demand as the need for change is constant and will have a great future themselves.

3. "If you're walking down the right path, and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you will make progress." - Barack Obama

I like this quote because it's a reminder that change takes time and that you need to be persistent, and if you persevere, you will ultimately be successful. Anything worth doing will require patience, big rewards require significant effort, but it's worth remembering that enormous success is just an accumulation of many small successes.

4. "However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results." - Churchill

A beautiful strategy is excellent, but it alone won't bring in the change you're seeking. For that, it requires action. And to know if the correct steps are being taken, you need to check the results to see if progress is being made. Only then will you know if your strategy is working.

It's the action that closes the knowing-achievement gap.

5. "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." - Peter Drucker

Even the best strategies in the world will fail if you don't have the right culture. Remember, change is all about the people, and sometimes change needs to start with people to implement your strategy. The wrong culture will eat your strategy for breakfast, and the right culture will help you eat your goals for breakfast.

6. "The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new." - Socrates

Sometimes we can get caught up in the resistance to change and end up attacking the old, trying to get people to drop it to move on.

But you will get much better results if you focus on selling the new benefits, letting them know what's in it for them and why it is a good thing to do.

It's much easier to motivate people towards a better situation than pull them from the old ways.

7. "Flexibility in times of great change is a vital leadership quality." - Brian Tracy

One of the secrets to driving change is a willingness to be flexible. It's not flexibility with your goals or objectives but how they will be achieved. It's not good to get too attached to an approach because if it's not working, you must be willing to adapt and try new things. Not only that, but different people need to be motivated in various ways to get their buy-in. You cannot use a one size fits all approach.

‍8. "If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got." - Anonymous

I love this because I often see a change that isn't changing anything, and if you don't change anything, nothing changes. It is as simple as that. You cannot just hope to get new results by doing the same things, yet this seems to be the strategy of so many.

9. "Slowness to change usually means fear of the new." - Phil Crosby

People are not afraid of change. They are scared of the new, and you need to take the time to make them feel comfortable with the new destination. The better they think about it, the more willing they will come on the journey with you.

10. "Change is the law of life, and those who continually look to the past or the present, are certain to miss the future." - John F Kennedy

I like this quote because we must constantly look forward, think about change, and adapt to the future even if things are good now. Change comes quickly, and being prepared is our best way of dealing with it. Too many miss opportunities because they are not looking forward.

11. "Change doesn't roll in on the wheels of inevitability but comes through continuous struggle." - Dr. Martin Luther King jr

While change is good, it's important to remember that it's not easy to accept it. It can be an arduous journey but knowing that you will help prepare you for the upcoming challenges. If you don't think change will be a struggle, you don't understand change, and you will find it hard going, if not impossible.

12. "Change your thoughts, change your world." - Norman Vincent Peale

This quote always reminds me that you have to change your thinking and your teams before taking action. If you don't change your thoughts, new measures with the same old beliefs will deliver the same old results.

All change starts in the imagination!

13. "Your success in life is not based on your ability to simply change. It is based on your ability to change faster than your competition, customers, and business." - Mark Sandborn

Change alone isn't enough. It's the speed of change that can have a massive impact on your results and long-term performance. Image the benefits for your business if you can be the first to market or benefit from a new opportunity. In some industries, the first to market can dominate that market.

14. "The rate of change is not going to slow down any time soon. If anything, competition in most industries will probably speed up in the next few decades." - John Kotter

Change isn't going anywhere, and we need to get on board with it and do it quickly; otherwise, we could find ourselves left behind, or even worse, out of business. Change is a constant, and it seems to be speeding up, so ignoring it isn't an option.

It took many leading brands 100 years to build a $20 billion company; Whatsapp took just five years before being bought for $20 billion.

15. "It always seems impossible until it's done." - Nelson Mandela

I believe this wholeheartedly. I have driven dozens of changes throughout my career that people shied away from because they thought they were too complex or just downright impossible. This negative thinking can stop us from achieving our full potential and delivering fantastic results. Usually, when you share results, people look at the achievement and say it wasn't that great. But that's because they are looking backward. But you need to have that same view looking forward and be bold enough to take on the challenge.

Yes, Change Management is one of the most challenging aspects of leadership, but it's also one of the most important and rewarding. If the last year has taught us anything, it's that businesses and leaders who can navigate change during uncertain times will continue to thrive. Get change management right, and you can handle whatever comes your way and future-protect your business for years to come.

What better way to manage change than by using Empuls!

Put, implementing and managing change is a continuous process for organizations, whether employees accept it or not. Empuls helps organizations with change management by providing a platform for communicating with and inspiring employees to internalize change. The employee feedback feature is essential for leadership to seek employees' opinions about ongoing changes. More than 1000 global brands use Empuls to align their workforce and drive successful change initiatives.