A recent HBR study offers interesting insights about organisational change. Andrew White and colleagues found that almost every transformation hits a moment where things drift off course and leaders need to intervene. In a survey of more than 1,600 leaders and employees, 96% said their transformation faced a significant turning point; a moment that required a reset to get momentum back.
If you’ve ever run a major change effort, you know this moment well. At the start, there’s energy, clarity and optimism. But overtime the pace slows down. Nothing is dramatically wrong, but something is clearly off. The transformation seems to be losing its emotional energy.
This moment is not a sign of failure. It’s a natural part of the transformation journey.
When teams are learning new behaviours, adopting new tools and adjusting to new expectations, there will be a period where things feel wobbly. That wobble can be a turning point. The leaders who recognise it early are the ones who can steer their organisations through it.
One of the most powerful insights from the research is that the earliest warning signs are not found in dashboards or KPIs. They’re found in the emotional energy of the teams. This is exactly what I see in my own work on buy-in. People must believe the transformation is the right thing to do and put in the effort to help it succeed.
When emotional energy dips, it’s usually because one of these ingredients has weakened. People may still believe in the transformation, but they no longer feel confident or supported enough to contribute meaningfully. Or they may still be contributing, but their belief in the direction has softened.
The article describes a finance transformation at Applied Materials that was being supported by a high-profile external supplier. Everything looked fine on paper. But in workshops, the transformation leader noticed that the team’s confidence in the supplier had evaporated. There was no data to show this, it was a judgement call based on observing interactions. By acting early and replacing the supplier, the leader restored trust and kept the transformation on track.
So how do leaders recognise these moments early? The authors identify several behavioural cues including: rising anxiety, slower decision-making, more frequent misunderstandings, reduced collaboration and quiet rooms where people stop asking questions. These aren’t dramatic indicators, but they can signal that employee buy-in is weakening.
The leaders who navigate turning points successfully do three things consistently:
- They pay close attention to emotional energy: They listen not only for what’s said, but how it’s said. They pay attention to small emotional shifts. They ask teams how things feel, not just how things are going.
- The dig into the underlying issues: According to the study, successful leaders gather the team to dig deep and make sense of why things are shifting. They surface the issues and co-create the next steps.
- They take visible actions: This doesn’t require dramatic team restructuring. Sometimes the most effective move is simply removing an obstacle, clarifying priorities or providing the support people felt they were missing. What matters is that people see their concerns being addressed.
Seen through this lens, the turning point isn’t a threat at all. It’s the moment where belief can be rebuilt and buy-in can be deepened. When leaders embrace that moment rather than fear it, the transformation can regain momentum.