Courage Is an Adoption Strategy
It’s easy to talk about frameworks. It’s harder to talk about fear.
Adoption doesn’t fail because the communication plan was incomplete or because the training wasn’t thorough enough. It fails when leadership loses nerve. When sponsors step back. When middle managers nod in meetings and disengage in practice. When people sense that no one is willing to say what needs to be said, let alone model what needs to be done.
That’s why adoption isn’t just a process issue. It’s a leadership issue. And the leadership trait that’s often missing isn’t knowledge, or charisma, or even clarity.
It’s courage.
In a 2021 publication, Deloitte Canada stated plainly that “Canada needs more courage.” The report wasn’t about war or social justice. It was about leadership. It was about our economy. It was about innovation, risk, transformation - and what’s holding us back. The behaviors they identified as essential for courageous leadership weren’t about vision boards or slogans. They were about doing the right thing, even when it’s uncomfortable: taking calculated risks, challenging the status quo, prioritizing long-term outcomes over short-term safety, and starting with personal accountability.
It’s no different in the context of adoption.
Courage in adoption is the ability to act when the outcomes are still unclear. It’s standing behind a change when it’s unpopular. It’s coaching the sponsor who sends mixed messages. It’s pushing back on a rollout timeline that’s too fast to support real engagement. It’s asking difficult questions - and allowing time for the real answers to surface. It’s saying, “We’re not ready,” even when everyone is hoping for a green light.
In a 2025 survey published by Gallagher, 39 percent of organizations cited lack of clear direction from leadership as a primary barrier to navigating change fatigue. Right behind it? Poor leadership communication. These aren’t tactical failures - they’re symptoms of leaders hesitating to lead. Of organizations tiptoeing around hard truths. Of environments where speaking up feels more dangerous than staying quiet.
The result? Adoption stalls. Not because people are resistant, but because they’re uncertain. And uncertainty thrives in the absence of courageous leadership.
It’s tempting to respond to these gaps with another tool or another template. But what’s missing can’t be solved with a spreadsheet or a communications calendar. What’s missing is the voice in the room willing to say, “We need to go deeper.” The leader willing to move first. The consultant willing to stop being liked in order to be useful.
Courage isn’t a buzzword. It’s the difference between watching change happen and helping it take root.
If we want adoption, we have to build environments where courage is normal, not rare. That means rewarding clarity over comfort. It means making space for pushback - and not punishing it. It means leading out loud, even when the outcome is uncertain.
And it starts with us.
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When was the last time you saw courage shift the direction of a project - for better or worse? What changed because someone was willing to say the thing no one else would?
I’d love to hear your story.