TheLeadershipNotebook

Hudson’s Cycle of Change—Phase 4 “Getting Ready”

 
 

“No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right;

a single experiment can prove me wrong.”

~Albert Einstein

 

 

This past Sunday, I attended the 2011 International Coach Federation Conference. I heard tremendous presentations on the art and science of coaching and the current research on various aspects of coaching efficacy.

 

I ended the day by spending a great evening with some of my friends from The Hudson Institute, the coach training program where I had the good fortune to receive my coaching certification.

 

So it seems fitting that this blog post wraps up my series of describing each of the four phases in Hudson’s Cycle of Change and Renewal. The Cycle is also described in more detail in the book, Life Launch: A Passionate Guide to the Rest of Your Life by Frederic Hudson, PhD. and Pamela McLean, PhD.

 

As Hudson reminds us, change is not a linear process but rather a cycle through a series of predictable transitions within each stage. “The continuous flow of the four phases is how we grow and develop throughout our adult years.”

 

Hudson’s Cycle of Change and Renewal

The last three posts covered brief descriptions of what life looks like in:

 

Phase 1—Go For It! (high energy, focused, confident)

 

Phase 2—The Doldrums (stuck, disenchanted, restless, bored)

 

You can make minor changes to your life and embark on a “mini transition” enabling you to return to the Go For It! phase.

 

Or, you can go inward and take a deeper look at your life and your purpose, embarking on what Hudson calls a “life transition.”

 

Phase 3-- Cocooning (deep reflection, inner work, self-evaluation)

 

The fourth phase in the cycle, Getting Ready, is the phase that takes us out of “Cocooning” and back into the Go For It! phase where it all can begin again.

 

When you embark on a life transition, the “Getting Ready” phase is your time for training, exploring, experimenting and launching your next chapter.

 

Life in “Getting Ready”

My career coaching client “Eric” is in the “Getting Ready” phase. He has made his way through the cycle and in going through the work in Phase 3, Eric has chosen to make a significant career change.

 

Having come through “Cocooning,” Eric is eager to learn and full of ideas and possibilities. He is currently “trying on” new and different ideas, not wanting to make major long term decisions without the proper exploration and experimentation. He’s researching different training opportunities and considering returning back to school for an advanced degree.

 

Coaching Eric involves helping him explore new possibilities, holding him accountable to his stated “trial and error” action steps and being a sounding board on how his new career options fit with his stated values and vision.

 

Summing It Up

The Hudson Cycle of Renewal is a wonderful framework for understanding life’s changes and transitions. Knowing how to move yourself around the cycle of renewing change involves developing skills and strategies for learning and adapting to each of these identified chapters and transitions.

 

Hudson-trained coaches are able to assist individuals in understanding where they are on the Cycle of Renewal as well as partner with their coaching clients in helping facilitate the achievement of their desired future.

 

So where are you in the Cycle of Renewal? Can you identify times in your life when you’ve been in the various phases? What skills have enabled you to navigate through those chapters?

 

To your success,

 

Mary

 

 

Cycle of Change: Are You “Cocooning?”

 

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes

it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”

~ Maya Angelou

 
 

 

My last two blog posts covered the first two Phases in Hudson’s four phase Cycle of Renewal; four predictable phases of change that we adults experience in our lives.

 

A reminder:

Phase 1 is Go For It! -- you’re in a world that works, in sync and creating new possibilities and opportunities, you’re optimistic and energized.

Phase 2 is The Doldrums -- a time when you’re out of sync, stuck, dependent on the past, perhaps in denial or resistant to change.

 

Leaving The Doldrums and Phase 2 involves either making minor changes in roles or behaviors and transitioning back to Go For It! or making  major changes by taking a different and deeper look at your life and entering Phase 3, which Hudson terms Cocooning.

 

Phase 3 and Cocooning involves turning inward, searching deep for meaning and identity. Taking stock and re-evaluating your life, your roles, your purpose or your passions.

 

As I mentioned in my post on The Doldrums, I found myself moving into Cocooning about seven years ago. During that time in my life, I examined my passions and purpose and how I was utilizing those in my career as a practicing CPA.

 

It turns out I wasn’t utilizing my own unique gifts and talents in a way that I felt was consistent with my values and purpose. And I just couldn’t see myself making minor tweaks in my role and returning back to the same unfulfilling professional responsibilities.

 

No, my deep introspection caused me to see an entirely new path for my professional world. A path as a coach and consultant emerged, a path focused on using my background and experience in a whole new way. My time in Cocooning enabled me to write a new script for my life.

 

My own coach was incredibly helpful during this time. She coached me from the “inside- out,” encouraging me to take stock of my passion, values and vision for the future I wanted to create.

 

She helped me develop my plan for utilizing the skills and experience I had accumulated while tapping into work that was truly important to me.  The outcome of my introspection and coaching work was new energy and a commitment to living my life “on purpose.”

 

One of the greatest Ah-ha moments I had during my own learning process was the fact that I was not alone. Lots of people just like me have experienced Cocooning and make their way successfully to the fourth Phase Hudson termed “Getting Ready” (More on that in my next post.)

 

Hudson’s focus on our understanding of the Cycle of Renewal is to help us identify where we are so that we can take the steps to move quickly from the Doldrums into more productive and positive phases.

 

So how about you? Do you see yourself in any of these previous three phases in the Cycle of Renewal? Are you stuck in the Doldrums or perhaps in Cocooning, re-assessing or re-evaluating your next steps?

 

I’d love to hear your comments and feedback.

 

To your success,

 

Mary

Life in The Doldrums

 

“In spite of warnings, nothing much happens until the status quo becomes

more painful than change.”

~Laurence J. Peter

 

 

Last week’s blog post, Go For It!, reflected on the behaviors and characteristics of individuals in Phase One in Hudson’s Cycle of Renewal. Goal oriented, energetic, focused and congruent are all attributes that can be used to describe us when we’re in this Phase.

 

Sooner or later however, we reach a point where we get flat or out of synch. We become bored or disillusioned. Or often, life circumstances like the loss of a job or a divorce launch us into Phase Two, which Hudson appropriately calls, The Doldrums.

 

About seven years ago, I found myself in The Doldrums. I lacked passion for my role in the financial consulting world. The last of my daughters was preparing to head off for college. My 85 year old Mom, who was a fixture in my life, passed away.

 

These circumstances created a time for me when I felt stuck and “out of gas.” My attitude and perspective was negative and I felt immobilized.

 

One of my current coaching clients, Mark, is in The Doldrums. He didn’t use those words but he describes feeling stuck and unable to see how he can extricate himself from his current situation.

 

Working day to day in a job that has little connection to his signature strengths and desire for advancement, he came for coaching for help in crafting and creating the next chapter in his life. One of Mark’s challenges is that he remains stuck in the past and is resistant to taking responsibility for creating his future. He knows however that he must do “something.”

 

Coaching with Mark (and my own personal experience with my coach) focuses on crafting an “exit strategy” from the Phase, working on shifting from a dependence on the past and “the way it’s always been” to a future orientation.

 

Coaching questions in this Phase include:

• What's the price for staying where you are?
• How can we work to make decisions for moving ahead?
• What obstacles are still in your way and how can we remove them?
• How can we create a “graduation” so you can say good bye to your old chapter?

 

Unfortunately, we adults stay in The Doldrums far too long. Remaining unhappy or continuing to complain or whine is far easier to many than risking a new direction.

 

But it’s important to remember that at this point, you do have two additional options. You can change your script by tweaking the ineffective parts of this chapter in your life and reenter Phase One (Go For It!). Or you can begin a transition toward a brand new chapter. (More on that in my next post.)

 

Mark is working on changing various aspects of his professional life and certain limiting behaviors, a so called “Mini Transition,” so that he can reenter the Go For It! Phase.

 

Seven years ago, I took a different path and along with my coach, embarked on crafting a Life Transition. I left behind a financially successful but unfulfilling career as a financial consultant and embarked on building my new career as a coach and consultant who facilitates individual and organizational change. I'm firmly back in the Go For It! Phase.

 

As I mentioned last week, the Cycle of Renewal, describes the definite pattern to our personal experience of change. According to Hudson, “if you know that pattern, and where you are in it, you can identify the best choices for guiding your life, no matter how much change you are enduring.”

 

It stinks to be in The Doldrums.

  

But the good news is that you don’t have to stay there forever. You can take the steps (baby steps are good) to transition your way to create your next chapter.

 

To your success,

 

Mary

Go For It!

 

 

Focused and driven.  This little girl knows where she’s going and how she’s going to get there. (Ok I know, she’s only 5 and “racing” on a Merry-Go-Round) but when I look at this picture, I see a young child who believes that nothing can hold her back.

 

How about you? Are you focused on your purpose and your vision? Do you have a plan for how you’ll reach your goals or aspirations? What is the future that you want to create for yourself? What obstacles might you face on your journey?

 

“Go For It” is Phase One in The Cycle of Renewal developed by Frederic Hudson, an expert in adult development and founder of The Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara. “Go For It” is a time in our lives when we feel “in sync,” excited about building our future, evaluating possibilities and new opportunities.

 

Coaching for clients in the “Go For It” phase focuses on helping them develop their vision, understand and get clear about their purpose and being a sounding board who can stretch and challenge them to achieve their goals.

 

If you’re in this phase and find yourself needing focus, clarity of vision, purpose or plans, a skilled coach can help you target your passion and your energy to achieve your goals.

 

My middle daughter, Lisa, took the picture this summer on a trip with her sisters to France. She’s fully in the “Go For It” phase, just beginning year 1 of her MBA program at UVA.’s Darden School of Business.

 

The Cycle of Renewal is just that, a cycle, and we know if we’re in the “Go For It” phase we won’t be in it forever. Burnout, work life balance issues, other change in circumstances or vision can move us out of “Go For It” and into the next phase. But if you’re there, enjoy it and be certain to make the most of it!

 

To your success,

 

Mary