I recently attended a fund raising event for a local hospital.  During the program, one of the speakers pointed out that to be effective, a physician needed to deal with the emotional issues confronting a patient as well as the medical issues.  This involved a sequence of three steps: Listen to what the patient has to say, explain the medical aspects of the patient’s condition and, most important, talk through the patient’s fears.  He went on to say that if this final step is not dealt with, the patient will experience needless anxiety which could make his or her situation worse.  Business leaders would make their lives much easier if they followed these same three steps when trying to implement change.  Normally when a change is introduced, there is little or no listening that takes place, the business rationale for the change is only minimally explained and there is no talking through the fears of those affect by the change.  This, in turn, creates high levels of anxiety which manifests itself in the form of resistance to the change.