This week I wanted to scream.
I’d been talking with some business owners about the next Leading Yourself and Leading Others experience, coming up in February 2026.
“They’re not ready”, they kept telling me, referring to their team members.
I was so frustrated because I’ve seen the transformation in people who were “not ready” and who absolutely did not want to do the leadership training and yet they did.
The frustration comes from knowing what is possible for people and not being able to help them see it.
I’m guilty of it myself. Years ago, my mother and father arrived one weekend with a mysterious box which turned out to be a barbeque.
“We don’t need a barbeque”, we thought.
How wrong we were. We ended up using that barbeque about 4 nights a week.
It was a classic example of you don’t know what you don’t know.
Having invested in personal and professional development all my life, I just don’t understand why people don’t rush to take advantage of what is being offered to them, especially when it can make such a positive difference in their lives.
Still, you can’t force people to do something if they don’t want to do it.
So, I will console myself with one of the topics we teach in the Leadership experience: The Cycle of Change by Prochaska & Di Clemente (who originally devised it in the health industry to understand the process to help smokers quit smoking).
The cycle goes like this:
- Pre-contemplation (not ready, not aware, not even thinking about it or in denial)
- Contemplation (aware that change might be beneficial, starting to think about it)
- Preparation (getting ready to take action, planning)
- Action (making the decision, taking some steps toward change)
- Maintenance (keeping on with the new behaviours, thoughts or attitudes)
- Relapse – what most of us suffer from at one time or another. Start again.
- Transcendence – having changed, it would feel strange to “go back to the old ways”. Change is most likely permanent.
If you’re in business you too can apply this to your customer decision making process as well as your team.
Are they ready or are they getting ready?
And if they are getting ready, DON’T GIVE UP ON THEM.
As frustrating as it can be, one day “They’re Not Ready” will turn into “They’re Ready” and then the change can begin.
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