You Don’t Need a Complicated Framework. You Need a Backbone & a Mirror.

You’ve likely seen it before. A change initiative kicks off with a polished slide deck, a neatly packaged multi-step framework and a timeline that looks airtight. Everyone nods in agreement, confident that success is on the horizon because “there’s a plan’.

And then… reality happens. Deadlines slip. Bugs surface. People resist. The team loses sight of why they started. The polished framework doesn’t stop frustration from spreading like wildfire.

Here’s the truth: Change isn’t about how many steps are in the plan. It’s about how you show up for the people living through it.

You don’t need a complicated roadmap. You need a Backbone to help you stand firm in the hard moments. And you need a Mirror to check your awareness, your impact, your shadow, and your integrity along the way.

I’m not saying you don’t need a framework to set yourself up for strategic success, I’ve used them and believe they’re necessary to act as a guiding light – but when that’s all you have, things are bound to get a little rocky and uncomfortable.

Change is human. And humans don’t fit neatly into diagrams, processes, or checklists. Successful change is built on courage, awareness, and human connection. When leaders focus on checking the boxes without truly engaging, they aren’t leading change; they’re hedging bets on a false sense of security while real adoption slips away.

I’ve seen it too many times. A transformation rolls out without taking the time to truly do the work, without having the difficult repeated conversations. Uncertainty spreads but goes unaddressed and by the time leadership realizes they’ve lost buy-in, morale has tanked, meetings & project updates are met with silence and the hallway (or Teams in our virtual world) conversations are about how much longer people have to “put up with this”. At that point, the perfectly designed framework becomes irrelevant. Communication plans and training schedules are the least of the problem.

Frameworks can guide you; but if you’re not actively leading the people, you’re just managing a project plan. It’s impossible to effectively lead yourself or others through a change if you’re not connected to what’s really happening or connecting decisions to the deeper reason for the change. It’s having the backbone to walk into a meeting, notice the energy and address it directly. It’s about staying accountable, looking at yourself in the mirror, and asking am I leading people or managing a project plan.  

As leaders, the instinct is to withhold information until we have all the answers. Until we can offer everything perfectly wrapped in a package. But silence breeds uncertainty and allows imaginations to wonder, typically to the worst-case scenario. Over a decade of supporting transformation initiatives (and living through my share of plenty), I’ve found that even when the news isn’t all good news, people would rather navigate with the truth than be comforted with partial facts. It’s all data and it shows that we aren’t hiding anything, and that we’re here to lead with a steadfast consistency no matter the weather.

This willingness to communicate, even when it’s uncomfortable, and to keep the conversation alive well beyond kickoff is what builds momentum. Momentum and motivation will dip. That’s normal. Backbone is what helps you reconnect actions to the deeper reason for change when the grind sets in. The mirror is what makes you pause and ask if you’re still modeling the behaviors you expect from others.

Leading through change isn’t a one-and-done activity, it’s a muscle. You will get tired. People will resist. Shortcuts will look tempting. But keep showing up anyway.

Change leadership isn’t a test of how well you can follow a prepackaged framework. It’s a test of how deeply you can connect with people, stay true to the purpose, and keep going when it gets hard, messy, and uncomfortable.

Frameworks can help, but they’re just tools. You are the real driver of change.

So next time you face a challenge, ask yourself: Am I leading with a backbone and mirror? Or a checklist?

The courage to act and the humility to reflect will take you further than any framework ever will. People don’t remember frameworks. They remember how you showed up when it mattered most.