Change Leadership

We help organisations lead change by aligning people, purpose, and identity

Pitstop change

Leading change is not just a technical challenge, it’s a social one

Change is rarely resisted because people dislike progress. It’s resisted when it feels imposed, illegitimate, or misaligned with who we are.

At Synact, we understand change as an identity challenge. Whether people support or resist change depends largely on how it affects their sense of belonging, purpose, and meaning at work.

This is the foundation of the Social Identity Model of Organisational Change (SIMOC) (Mühlemann et al., 2022). It shows that employees adjust more successfully to change when they are able to:

  • Maintain a valued sense of identity through the change process (identity continuity pathway), and/or

  • Develop a new identity that feels positive, empowering, and future-focused (identity gain pathway).

Critically, leaders play a central role in making these pathways possible. When neither pathway is supported, people experience identity loss — leading to disengagement, resistance, or distress.

Insights from other studies reinforce the importance of visible leadership, shared identity, and process legitimacy. Successful change is not only about good planning. It requires leaders to be seen as “one of us”, acting in the interests of “all of us”.

We help leaders understand these identity dynamics — and actively shape a change journey that people can believe in.

Technical change

How leaders shape change outcomes

Change leadership is identity leadership. Leaders can enable positive adjustment by:

  • Creating a narrative that reinforces identity continuity and recognises what is worth preserving

  • Representing and advancing a new shared identity that inspires and energises

  • Aligning systems, symbols, and structures with the emerging identity

At Synact, we don’t deliver pre-packaged change programs. Instead, we support leaders to:

  • Understand identity dynamics across team, occupational, and organisational levels

  • Lead with empathy and insight through identity transitions

  • Strengthen post-change support through shared or distributed leadership models

FAQs

  • We focus on identity: who people believe they are, where they belong, and what matters to them. This is what makes or breaks change efforts. Our work is grounded in SIMOC, a tested academic model that provides a clear framework for managing identity dynamics during organisational change.

  • Yes. We use validated tools and tailored assessments to understand current identity strengths, fault lines, and perceptions of the change. This helps leaders anticipate risks and strengthen alignment.

  • We typically begin with stakeholder consultation and identity mapping. This is followed by leader workshops and support to design and implement an identity-informed change plan. We often work in partnership with internal teams and then taper off as capability builds.

  • No. SIMOC principles are useful for any change process, large or small. That includes structural changes, team restructures, leadership transitions, culture shifts, or introducing new strategy or technology.