Top executives are the least populous, least customer facing, and least responsible for executing change. As you head down the organizational hierarchy, each subsequent level becomes more populous, customer facing and responsible for executing change. That simple fact suggests that if executives are concerned about the success of their change management efforts, they should put considerably more time into persuading the people most likely to resist their efforts.

Many, if not most, change efforts will fail, often with dire consequences for executives. In fact, a few years ago I conducted a study that found mismanaging change was the top reason why CEO’s get fired. And this data shows why.

If you’re a top-level executive, a simple memo announcing the change is not going to be enough to convince your frontline employees to leave the status quo. Remember, 45% of employees believe that people generally prefer to remain in the status quo. And that number may be low; historically the people who take my assessments are more motivated than the average person so the actual situation could be worse than my data shows.

If you’re going to persuade employees to leave the status quo and reach for something bigger, you need to clearly explain three things: why this change is necessary, where this change will take us and how we’re going to get from here to there. The “why” creates a need and urgency for change and stops people from eulogizing the past (“the way we used to do it was so much better”). The “where” provides positive forward direction that turns the anxiety of “why” into excitement. And the “how” gets people comfortable with the idea that they can be successful.

And again, one memo probably won’t cut it. You’ll need to invest as much effort convincing the frontlines as you did your fellow executives. And if you make that investment, while providing the why, where and how of change, you’ll persuade people to make the transition from where they are now (i.e. the status quo) to the bigger and better place you want them to go.