Why the Desire Phase Breaks Most Change Initiatives

Rethinking Motivation in Organisational Change

Desire is fragile—emotional, exposed, and easily bruised. And yet, it’s the beginning of everything.

In The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho introduces Melchizedek, the King of Salem, who nudges the young shepherd Santiago toward his Personal Legend. “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it,” he says.

But desire alone is not enough. Even the most genuine aspirations often need a guiding hand—someone outside the system who can help us see clearly, speak freely, and move deliberately.

In organisational change, the same principle holds. Desire is the beating heart of transformation. But it is also the most fragile stage. It depends on emotional honesty, internal alignment, and the willingness to take risks. And that’s where external coaches make the most profound impact.

What follows are the key focus points of the Desire phase—each illustrated with relatable, real-world dynamics—and how an external presence can make the difference between passive compliance and absolute momentum.

1. Connecting to Personal Values

Scenario:

A mid-level employee sits in a values-mapping session, colouring in a wheel of personal drivers. Her top values—integrity, autonomy, contribution—don’t seem to fit with the new restructuring plan.

In a team meeting, she’d never voice this misalignment. But alone with an external coach, she hesitates, then says: “I don’t see how I belong in what they’re building.”

External coaches create the psychological safety for moments like this to surface. Free from the weight of hierarchy, employees can reflect more honestly on their values and how they relate to the change.

External neutrality lowers the stakes, allowing vulnerability without the fear of being labelled disloyal, resistant, or difficult. And when misalignment is named, it can be addressed constructively—before it festers into quiet disengagement.

2. Addressing Concerns and Fears

Scenario:

During a coaching debrief, an employee confesses their biggest worry: “I’m afraid I won’t be good enough in the new system.” This hasn’t been said out loud to anyone—especially not to their manager. They don’t want that fear to define them.

Fear is intimate. It touches identity.

That’s why it’s often masked in meetings and performance reviews.

External coaches act as trusted containers for these private fears.

And because they are not embedded in the organisation, employees know the conversation won’t follow them around.

Moreover, external coaches can distil and anonymise collective fears—filtering out identifying details—so leadership can hear the emotional undercurrent without individuals being exposed.

Unlike anonymous surveys, coaches bring context, nuance, and credible interpretation, while still protecting the individual.

3. Involving Influencers and Champions

Scenario:

In a team of 12, one quiet voice consistently speaks with realism, integrity, and subtle influence. They’re not the manager’s favourite. They don’t ask for extra responsibilities. But peers listen.

An external coach sees it clearly: this is a potential change champion.

External coaches are uniquely positioned to identify informal leaders based on peer respect, rather than internal visibility. Free from politics, they can nurture these influencers privately, helping them align with the change without publicly thrusting them into the spotlight too early.

This matters.

Public endorsement from a manager can inadvertently alter team dynamics, leading to resentment, the emergence of new hierarchies, and unspoken power imbalances. Coaches work beneath the surface, supporting champions without disrupting team cohesion or triggering status anxieties.

4. Personalised Pathways for Growth

Scenario:

A skilled technician sits with a coach, wrestling with the idea of moving into a more customer-facing role. “I’m curious… but I’ve always been the person people come to for answers. I’m not sure I want to be the one asking questions.”

It’s a quiet moment of truth. And it wouldn’t happen in a career development review. The vulnerability required to admit both aspiration and hesitation doesn’t easily flow when the person across from you also controls your performance rating.

External coaches offer a safer space for this internal navigation. They help employees explore potential paths without pressure, shame, or premature commitments.

From a psychological standpoint, the coaching dynamic encourages self-determination and internal motivation, key drivers of lasting change.

5. Recognising Quick Wins

Scenario:

After two weeks of incremental tweaks, a junior team member successfully reduces a recurring reporting process by two full days. In the next team meeting, her manager thanks her, but it lands like a passing nod.

Later, in a coaching session, an external coach acknowledges the effort and connects it clearly to the broader change goal. Something shifts. “You saw that?” she asks, surprised. “It felt small. But it was hard.”

Recognition from an external, unbiased source often carries more weight—particularly during times of change. It doesn’t feel performative. It’s free from internal politics. And that authenticity reinforces progress more deeply, helping build the momentum needed to sustain desire.

6. Engaging in Co-Creation

Scenario:

A strategic design meeting is underway. One team member puts forward an idea—something they believe could make a real difference.

But it’s quickly brushed aside. The manager and a few colleagues find it unrealistic, and the discussion moves on.

The atmosphere shifts. Afterwards, the team member confides in a coach: “After that, I stopped offering suggestions. I didn’t want to risk being dismissed like that again”.

External coaches serve as facilitators of safe and inclusive co-creation.

Because they’re not part of the internal hierarchy, they can challenge flawed ideas, uphold the rules of engagement, and give space to quieter voices, without jeopardising relationships or authority structures.

They also help organisations avoid the relational scars that come from unresolved moments.

A single offhand comment from a manager can create an enduring grudge that derails openness. Coaches can identify these wounds early and work behind the scenes to repair trust and maintain honest co-creation.

Complementary Forces: The Shared Role of Internals and Externals in Driving Change

The Desire phase sits at the intersection of motivation, vulnerability, and trust.

These are precisely the conditions where external coaches can bring the most distinct and credible support.

While internal managers, trainers, and HR professionals play a critical role in driving and sustaining change over time, this particular phase often benefits from a neutral external presence—someone who can help people speak freely, align honestly, and step into change without fear of repercussion.

That said, the earlier Awareness phase is a natural domain for internal leadership—especially when reinforced by external coaches who can help translate strategic intent into accessible, emotionally resonant messages.

In fact, closing the “K to A” gap (between Knowledge and Action) is often most successful when organisations combine internal continuity with the facilitation expertise of external coaches.

Internal trainers or senior colleagues, when supported by external input—especially around didactical methods, facilitation structure, and tone setting—can ensure that key learning moments land with credibility and consistency.

Embedding that learning requires both structural reinforcement (e.g. through performance reviews or scheduled feedback loops) and informal, real-time feedback mechanisms that reflect the everyday rhythm of work.

Each format carries its own dynamic: planned feedback offers reflection and benchmarking, while spontaneous feedback drives agility and integration.

When organisations maintain occasional touchpoints with an external coach—even beyond the initial Desire phase—it strengthens both cultural continuity and psychological safety.

Externals, when well-integrated but still independent, become strategic mirrors: they bring a systems-level vantage point and a trusted ear on the ground.

This dual position allows them to support leadership in defining the next improvement phase (e.g. in DMAIC terms, sharpening the “Define” and “Measure” steps), while offering employees a space where challenge, reflection, and renewal are always available.

External coaches also help create emotional anchors—those moments where the purpose of the change becomes personal.

Whether through storytelling, shared commitments, or rituals (such as Team-Building Exercises) that mark the transition, external coaches can help teams move beyond mere compliance to a more profound sense of meaning.

These emotional touchpoints don’t replace logic or planning—but they give people something to hold onto when things get messy. Something that feels like theirs.

In the best-case scenario, external coaches become true partners in the lived experience of the business—not just facilitators of performance, but stewards of trust.

Building Internal Capacity for Desire

Desire can begin with clarity, enthusiasm, and drive—but over time, even the strongest starting point can erode. In relationships, hobbies, or professional pursuits, that quiet fading happens when we slip into routine, lose perspective, or stop tending to what once felt vivid.

In the workplace, the same erosion shows up in subtle ways.

A new hire starts full of energy and purpose. But in the rush of early demands and mixed signals, they begin to disconnect—not deliberately, but gradually.

Their motivation gets buried under tasks, meetings, and uncertainty.

Experienced professionals feel it too.

A salesperson who once thrived on challenge and instinct finds themselves operating in survival mode—targets increase, team structures shift, recognition grows scarce. The edge dulls. The meaning thins out.

What often gets missed is that people can be taught how to navigate these shifts.

The capacity to re-engage with purpose, to notice what still feels alive, and to adjust goals in ways that feel personally meaningful—these are learnable dynamics.

Gratitude, reflection, meaningful goal-setting, and regular check-ins with one’s own sense of direction aren’t just nice to have.

They form the emotional foundation that enables people to sustain motivation even during turbulence.

That’s where we come in. Our work helps people understand the Desire phase not as something fleeting, but as a space they can revisit and strengthen.

Through guided reflection, value reconnection, and forward-focused dialogue, we equip individuals to hold onto what matters—even when things change.

By making that connection an ongoing practice rather than a passing moment, teams are better prepared to navigate complexity without losing their spark.

And organisations benefit from a culture where motivation is no longer left to chance.

Desire isn’t something you manage. It’s something you listen to, support, and help take shape.

In the fragile and often turbulent terrain of change, such nurturing requires something rare: a balance of psychological distance and relational depth.

External coaches offer just that. Like Melchizedek in The Alchemist, they may not walk every mile of the journey—but their presence at the beginning matters deeply. They help individuals name their hopes, confront their doubts, and take the first steps with clarity and trust.

But their role doesn’t end there.

When integrated wisely, external coaches become part of the organisation’s rhythm—available when the next wave of change hits, when the team needs to reconnect with what matters, or when motivation starts to thin.

Because when desire is nurtured with care—and when people know they have a safe space to return to—change stops feeling like a demand.

It becomes a choice.

A commitment. A shared movement.

And that’s when it works.