From Stuck to Empowered: Transform Hidden Barriers and Live with Integrity
- Mar 29
- 4 min read
Welcome to the first installment in a three-part series exploring the robust "Immunity to Change" framework with guest blogger, Collective Member - Jennie Snyder.
In this series, she'll share how understanding the hidden barriers that get in our way can transform our capacity to grow and lead authentically. This approach has profoundly shifted her relationship with change, moving her from frustration to empowerment. Join in as we discover why our best intentions so often fall short and, more importantly, how to transcend those invisible barriers.
I have a confession.
I am a recovering workaholic.
As a senior leader, I worked long hours, ate on the go, and pressed on with my daily tasks, late-night board meetings, and endless phone calls. I wore my busyness like a badge of honor and was rewarded. To those around me, I was “successful” – someone who got stuff done.
I spent years operating in this mode. Until one evening. I returned home after a long day and told my wife, “I have chest pain.” Her face registered panic, and she sprung into action – grabbing a set of car keys.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
Shaking her head in disbelief, she said emphatically, “WE are going to the hospital!”
Puzzled, I asked, “Why?” Her incredulous expression told me she could not believe what she was hearing.
I explained, “But it’s just a little chest pain.”
As professional women, we often juggle competing demands – work, partners, kids, households, etc. We feel we need to do it all and look good doing it. Against the backdrop of our culture of busyness, we hear the common refrain to “slow down” and “take care of ourselves.” Frantically busy, we tell ourselves there is no time. Our health and well-being fall at the end of our overflowing to-do list.
Recently, the call for self-care has come into fashion. Though well-intentioned, this advice can become another cudgel we beat ourselves up with. We know we should exercise, eat healthy, sleep, and relax. We genuinely want to take better care of ourselves, yet time and time again, we can’t seem to follow through. The endless cycle continues—good intentions followed by commitments to try harder. Meanwhile, our aspirations remain out of reach.
What is going on?
One piece of the puzzle is our shared understanding of how people change. We believe that if people do not make the changes they want, they must not want it bad enough. Yet, research has shown that this belief is incomplete at best.
A medical study has shown heart patients whose doctors have told them that if they do not make lifestyle changes such as exercise, diet, and quitting smoking, they will die. How many could make the necessary changes when faced with this serious advice? Only one in seven was able to implement the recommended changes.
According to our traditional ways of thinking about change, these patients knew what to do (clear information) and had powerful motivation—life itself! In my case, I knew that I needed to get exercise, and I even had a membership to a gym that I drove past every day on my way to and from work. However, information, motivation, access, and willpower were not sufficient.
If knowing what to do and having incentives are not enough, what else might account for this startling finding?
The other puzzle piece can be found in the work of Harvard psychologists Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey. Their work on Immunity to Change has highlighted the underlying dynamics that keep us stuck. It helps us to understand why people often struggle to make lasting changes in their lives, even when they genuinely want to. Kagan and Lahey found that, in addition to our sincere aspirations, we also have hidden commitments that keep us safe from perceived threats in our comfort zones. This internal conflict between our conscious desire for change and our unconscious commitments works to keep us from moving forward.
For me, this insight was powerful. The Immunity to Change framework gave me a key that opened the door to deeper reflection and ultimately empowered me to shift my mindset and take better care of myself. It gave me a new way of seeing and honoring myself and my behaviors with compassion. My inability to follow through on my goal of regular exercise was not about laziness or a lack of motivation. Through this process, I discovered and named the hidden barriers in my way and made changes that resulted in a healthier way of life and a renewed sense of myself. Most importantly, I found alignment between what I said I valued and how I lived—a harmony that brought a profound sense of empowerment to embody authenticity in my personal and professional life.
In the next two blog posts, I will share my journey and the tools I used to chart my course. I invite you to join me.
About the author:
Meet Jennie Snyder.
With 25 years as a leader navigating dynamic organizational systems, I now serve as a Leadership Coach and Facilitator, helping women leaders thrive amid life's complexities with genuine confidence and flexibility. Through years of leading teams, balancing diverse needs, and fostering positive change, I've gained perspective on the common challenges that connect leaders across different fields. I've learned that great leadership means cultivating meaningful connections while creating results that truly align with one's deepest values.
I work with women in demanding careers who seek greater self-awareness and courageous authenticity in their leadership journeys. Leadership isn't just about what you do—it's about staying grounded while becoming your most authentic self. By blending compassionate systems thinking with transformational coaching, I help women connect with their inner wisdom, embrace vulnerability as strength, and create meaningful impact in their organizations and communities.
My journey includes a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of California, Davis, and an Executive Leadership Coaching certificate from Georgetown University's Institute for Transformational Leadership. I've completed advanced training in Compassionate Systems Leadership through MIT's Center for Systems Awareness and am a certified Immunity-to-Change™ facilitator. I'm also qualified to administer and provide feedback using the Leadership Circle Profile™ and MyWorldView™ assessments.
When I'm not coaching, you'll find me at home in Northern California with my wife Vanessa, planning our next adventure, catching live music shows, hitting local hiking trails, hopping on my bike, or curled up with a good book.
Photo by Imat Bagja Gumilar on Unsplash
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