The reason for making a change may be logical — like a need to keep up with shifting market conditions, joining the digital party or acquiring a competitor to expand market share — but it’s the failure to understand and lead the psychological or “human side” of change that often leads to avoidable errors and subpar results.

Below are five of the most common mistakes leaders make when they fail to lead the human side of change and how to avoid them.

1. You assume everyone is motivated by what motivates you.

I once spoke on leading change for a company whose CEO was frustrated that his sales team did not embrace his new sales incentive plan. In essence, his pitch to them was this: “If you travel 250 days a year like I did last year and sacrifice everything for work, you can make a million dollars!” To his surprise, this went over with a thud.

The CEO failed to recognize that not everyone was primarily motivated by making lots of money like he was. To get more buy-in, he would have done well to devise a pitch or better yet, a plan that appealed to a broader swath of the audience, rather than the few who may have shared his own values and priorities.

2. You make promises you can’t keep.

When selling change, it’s human nature to stress gain and downplay pain. Effective leaders conquer that temptation. They tell people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.