Leading Through Change: Reflections on Redundancy and Restructuring
Practical insights for managers guiding teams through change with empathy, clarity, and resilience.
What Years of Supporting Organisational Change Have Taught Me
Change is constant. Restructures, redundancies, and organisational shifts are part of modern work life. Yet, the human impact of these events is often overlooked. Having worked alongside business leaders and HR directors navigating change in the UK and Australia, I’ve seen first-hand what works (and what doesn’t) and the emotional toll this takes on both employees and managers.
I recently ran a workshop with tyllr, the platform for managers to enhance wellbeing, skills, and professional growth. Putting the session together reminded me just how much impact effective leadership can have during challenging times. In this post, I share my reflections on guiding teams through change with clarity, empathy, and confidence.
Change IS Personal – Even When It’s Business
Leading through change, especially redundancies, is deeply personal. Early in my career, I was made redundant shortly after booking a holiday. Overnight, my sense of security vanished. I felt exposed, uncertain, and anxious. The plans I had carefully made and even my confidence in my own abilities felt suddenly fragile. Losing a job was not just a career setback; it felt like losing stability, identity, and control.
Change is the New Normal
Economic shifts, AI disruption, and global uncertainty mean workplaces are evolving at an unprecedented pace. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, almost 40% of the skills we use today may be outdated within five years. AI could augment or replace a similar proportion of work tasks over the next decade, and millions of workers may need significant retraining by 2030 (weforum.org, ilo.org).
This relentless pace can leave us experiencing “change fatigue,” the feeling of being drained, anxious, or overwhelmed as everything keeps shifting. Recognising this fatigue is the first step toward managing it effectively, both for yourself and your team.
Understanding the Emotional Journey
We all move through emotional stages of change at different speeds. Some feel shock or frustration, while others reach acceptance more quickly. People may cycle through disbelief, anger, bargaining, low mood, and finally acceptance. Managers who recognise these stages and meet their teams where they are, rather than where they expect them to be, cut out unnecessary stress.
Never assume seniority shields anyone from the impact of change. Even experienced leaders can feel their confidence dip, stress rise, or a kind of emotional fog settle in. Empathy is not just something you offer your team; it is something you owe yourself. Supporting managers through change begins with noticing your own reactions as much as those of the people you lead.
This is something I see time and again in my coaching practice. I work with leaders navigating turbulent chapters and with individuals who have been made redundant. Some are searching for a role for the first time in over ten years. Others are trying to balance a young family while finding their next step. Across all these experiences, the effects are strikingly similar. Confidence shifts, wellbeing takes a hit, and self-esteem can feel shaky.
Self-Care for Leaders
Before you can effectively support others, you must care for yourself. Leading through change is emotionally exhausting. Your team mirrors your energy; if you’re stressed or burnt out, they feel it too.
Practical self-care strategies include:
Pause and process before difficult conversations
Seek support from HR, peers and mentors
Set boundaries and protect them
Model calm and reflection to create psychological safety
Leaders who prioritise their wellbeing make clearer decisions, manage stress better, and provide stability to their teams.
Leading With Emotional Intelligence
Think of a leader you admire most. Chances are, it is rarely technical expertise alone that sets them apart. Emotional intelligence enables leaders to inspire, influence, and guide effectively, especially during uncertainty. Leaders with high emotional intelligence navigate complex dynamics, support their teams through stress, and maintain clarity and composure under pressure.
Key components include:
Self-awareness: Understanding your own emotions, triggers, and stress points
Self-regulation: Managing your responses to maintain composure and model stability
Empathy: Recognising and understanding others’ emotions to connect authentically
Motivation: Staying focused on goals to lead with purpose and encourage perseverance
Social skills: Building trust, communication, and collaboration within your team
The POWEr OF Reflective Inquiry to LEAD OTEHRS
One of the most practical ways to support others through change is through reflective inquiry. Rather than providing all the answers, leaders who ask thoughtful questions encourage employees to explore solutions themselves.
A structured tool for reflective inquiry is the GROW Model, created by Sir John Whitmore in the 1980s
G – Goal: What is most important to you right now?
R – Reality: What is happening now? What are the challenges or obstacles?
O – Options: What could you do? What alternative paths exist?
W – Will: What will you do next? What steps will you take to move forward?
This approach builds confidence, accountability, and ownership. It fosters critical thinking and problem-solving, helping team members feel empowered rather than dependent. Leaders can then create an environment where teams feel heard, supported, and empowered.
FINAL REFLECTION
Years of supporting organisational change have taught me that how we lead through uncertainty matters as much as the change itself. Leaders who approach change with empathy, emotional intelligence, and structured reflection enable their teams to navigate disruption with confidence.
Change will always bring challenges, but it also presents opportunities to build trust, resilience, and lasting impact. By prioritising self-care, recognising emotional stages, and asking the right questions, leaders can guide their teams with clarity, compassion, and confidence, ensuring both people and business thrive through change.
