Business Acumen

Emotion in Change: How the SCARF Model Helps Leaders Drive Engagement

Leading teams through change can be tough. Emotions run high, resistance builds, and motivation can drop. But change does not just come from well-structured plans — it comes from managing the emotional energy of your people.

The SCARF™ model offers a simple, brain-based framework that helps leaders understand emotional triggers and can turn resistance into engagement. It identifies five emotional drivers — status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, fairness — that shape how people respond to change. When these needs are met, people feel engaged; when they aren’t, people resist.

Why It Matters

You can’t change an organization without changing the individuals within it. Although organizational and individual change coexist, they’re not the same. Shifting a system is one thing, but shifting the hearts and minds of those who make up that system is another challenge. The SCARF model helps leaders address the personal and emotional side of change to engage their teams on a deeper level.

It’s about more than just empowering people. Real change happens when you give individuals the responsibility to act on their freedom. When you trust them to own the change, they’re more likely to embrace it. Once you understand what drives resistance, like a need for certainty or fairness, you can turn those emotional barriers into opportunities for growth and engagement.

Status and My Trigger

About a decade ago, I discovered firsthand what my most dominant SCARF domain (trigger) was, and it wasn’t during a boardroom meeting or a coaching session, but on a 100km walk through the bush.

A friend invited me to join a team for the Oxfam Trailwalker, a tough endurance challenge that winds through suburbs, bushes, mountains, and trails. I love challenges, so I jumped in without much thinking. We trained for months, walking the trail and preparing physically and mentally. Our goal was ambitious: to finish in under 26 hours.

When the day arrived, we started full of energy, but one team member dropped out by the 22km mark. At the next checkpoint, another pulled out due to injury. Still, I pushed on — but as the night fell, I began to feel sharp pain in my knees. By the time we hit 62km, I had no choice but to withdraw from the race, the back of my knees swollen like oranges and unable to walk.

For someone who thrives on high achievement, this was tough. I had trained hard, prepared meticulously and set high expectations for myself, but my body had other plans. The disappointment was difficult, not because of how others viewed me but because I had fallen short of the standard I had set for myself.

This experience triggered what I later came to recognize as a threat state tied to status, not to others, but to my own internal standards. It was an a-ha moment: status isn’t always about external validation; sometimes, it’s about the expectations we impose on ourselves. Even now, when I take on new challenges, I am more mindful of this, knowing that status drives me the most.

Interestingly, I recently took the SCARF self-assessment. While status remains my dominant driver, I was pleased to see that autonomy, relatedness and fairness closely follow, all in equal measure. Understanding these nuances has helped me navigate my emotional triggers more effectively, whether coaching leaders or facing personal challenges.

SCARF: A Brain-Based Framework for Supporting Change

Dr David Rock’s SCARF model is rooted in social neuroscience and its five core domains — status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness — drive social behavior in the workplace. These domains trigger either a reward state, which encourages engagement, or a threat state, which causes resistance.

In the workplace, this means that threats to these core social needs can impact performance just as significantly as physical danger. For instance, when people perceive a threat to their status or certainty, the brain reacts as if survival is at stake. That’s why emotional responses are so strong during periods of change. By understanding these triggers, leaders can better manage emotional energy during change.

Defining the Core Domains of SCARF
 

  • Status: Less than or better than
  • Certainty: Knowing what to expect
  • Autonomy: Sense of control
  • Relatedness: In-group or out-group
  • Fairness: Perception of fair exchange

How to Apply SCARF™ With Change Models

I recently designed a training program on change communication capability, covering a selection of change management models, and incorporated how SCARF™ can be applied, whether addressing individual or organizational change. Here’s how it applies to a couple of common ones.

Integrating SCARF with the ADKAR change model helps address the emotional side of change:

  • Awareness: Address status and certainty by explaining the change clearly and showing how it impacts roles.
  • Desire: Focus on relatedness and fairness by building trust and ensuring fair treatment.
  • Knowledge: Increase certainty and maintain status by providing training and reinforcing individual value.
  • Ability: Empower autonomy by giving employees control over how they adapt to the change.
  • Reinforcement: Recognize status and fairness by publicly celebrating contributions and ensuring rewards are fairly distributed.

This approach ensures people feel valued, informed and supported throughout the change process.

The Change Curve tracks emotional reactions to change. Here’s how SCARF applies at each stage:

  • Shock/Denial: Offer certainty by clearly explaining what’s happening and why.
  • Anger/Fear: Address status and fairness concerns by acknowledging the emotional impact of change.
  • Bargaining: Provide autonomy by involving them in decision making, while building relatedness through open dialogue and collaboration.
  • Depression/Confusion: Reinforce certainty by clarifying the why and the direction, and focus on relatedness by offering team support and connection.
  • Experiment: Encourage autonomy to try new approaches and discover what works best.
  • Acceptance: Strengthen status and relatedness by recognizing employee effort.
  • Commitment: Promote autonomy by giving people more control as they adjust to new roles.

SCARF™ helps leaders guide their teams through change's emotional highs and lows, leading to faster commitment and success.

Practical Tips for Leading with SCARF

  1. Pay Attention to Emotional Shifts: Notice when your team’s energy shifts — whether it’s disengagement in meetings, lack of enthusiasm or resistance to new ideas. Emotional energy is a key signal of how well (or poorly) the change is going.
  2. Diagnose With SCARF: When you see resistance or withdrawal, ask yourself which SCARF domain might be triggered. Is it certainty, where people feel unsure of what’s coming next? Or is it status, where individuals are worried about their standing or roles?
  3. Respond Quickly: Once you’ve identified the emotional trigger, act quickly. If certainty is the issue, provide clear, regular updates on what’s happening. If status is at risk, publicly acknowledge contributions and reaffirm individual value.
  4. Encourage Autonomy: Give people a sense of control wherever possible. Even small decisions can boost engagement and help your team feel more empowered during uncertain times.
  5. Maintain Fairness and Transparency: Fairness is critical to keeping your team engaged. Be transparent about decisions and explain why certain actions are being taken. Ensure rewards, recognition and workloads are distributed equitably to prevent feelings of injustice, which can undermine the success of any change initiative.

Digging Deeper into SCARF

The SCARF model offers a powerful lens for understanding the emotional drivers influencing how people respond to change. Whether you're guiding your team through a straightforward change or a transformation, being mindful of these emotional triggers can make all the difference.

If you want to explore how SCARF can be applied to your organization’s change communication strategies or if you're interested in leadership coaching tailored to managing emotional energy during change, I'd love to help.
 

Editor’s Note: Zora Artis, author of this article, is an IABC Fellow, the highest honor the association bestows on its members. From now until 2 December 2024, IABC is inviting nominations for communication professionals who demonstrate integrity, leadership and excellence in the field, to be considered for this recognition. Detailed information about the IABC Fellow nomination process and evaluation criteria can be found in this guide.