Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” John F Kennedy.

In your leadership career you will find it’s easy to keep the train on the tracks in the direction it is going. Leading people to keep doing what they are already doing is more in the category of management than leadership. Great leaders shine when they are agents of change; looking for where a market might be going and leading the way to capture that market, honing in on where improvements might make a business more profitable or identifying actions that would make a difference for people and the planet. Changes like these set you apart from the competition and make your business the place to be.

However, every individual in your environment has a different stomach for change. Everyone transitions differently. For example, research shows that men need to have more of a transition period and a framework for getting something new underway while women typically multitask and make changes more frequently.

While pain occurs with the breaking of connections and even the anticipation of it, pleasure is the making of and anticipation of making connections.

This is what you can do to take change from pain to pleasure:

1. Find the people that typically are more willing and more engaged in changes that are made. Gather input also from those who will be involved in implementing the change. Get these people involved in the process of creating the new direction. People are usually more willing to buy into something they had a say in creating.

2. Clarify a step-by-step process. Any time a giant step becomes too stressful, people might revert to their comfort zone. But if you break a big project into small baby steps, people would get accustomed to one manageable stage at a time and learn from each step along the way.

3. Celebrate each change and each day along the way with gratitude and appreciation for the people who are dealing with it.

So how about you? What is a new direction that you want to lead your team or your world toward, and how will you facilitate a smooth transition?