TheLeadershipNotebook

Conquering Organization and Time Management from the Inside Out

 

 

• “My office is a disaster area.  I can’t find anything.”
•  “I’m always late for meetings and appointments.”
•  “I can’t seem to meet my deadlines.”
• “My disorganization is driving me crazy.”

 

Do any of these statements describe your situation? If so, you’re not alone. These are actual comments made to me by four different coaching clients. Each client expressed the frustration and stress they felt as a direct result of their disorganization. In each case they said, “Something has to change.”

 

It’s not surprising. A lot is expected of today’s leaders. Increasing demands on our time and resources require a new way of operating. The chaos we create for ourselves is more stressful than productive and our disorganization wreaks havoc on our lives and the lives of our coworkers, family and friends.

 

As I shared with each of my coaching clients, there is hope! We do not have to accept disorganization as a way of life. However, just like any valuable endeavor requiring change, moving from disorganization to organization requires us to shift how we think, feel and behave.

 

When you think of being “organized,” what comes to mind? According to Marilyn Paul, author of the book, “It’s Hard to Make a Difference When You Can’t Find Your Keys” being organized means you can:

 

• find what you want, when you need it
• complete your tasks in a timely way
• arrive at your destination when you choose
• keep agreements, and make agreements that you can keep
• focus on what is important to you
• do all of this with a great degree of presence of mind

 

Sounds great doesn’t it?

 

How can I Get There?

"How can I get there?” That’s what each of my clients asked. For those of you who have tried unsuccessfully the “only handle it once” technique or similar tactical approaches to organization, it’s time to think about becoming organized in a new way. My clients came to learn that getting organized required them to understand how their thoughts, behaviors and beliefs were negatively impacting their desire:

 

• to live with confidence, knowing they could find something when they needed it
• to live with reliability, knowing they would show up when they said they would
• to live with responsibility,  in meeting their deadlines
• to live with the calm of knowing that they could count on themselves

 

The Seven Step Change Cycle

In her book, Paul describes a cycle for change applied specifically to creating a path for organization. Thus, Paul’s cycle was an excellent tool that I integrate with one on one coaching in helping my clients when organization (or lack thereof) is their coachable issue. Her approach is an extremely useful framework for focused change in behaviors, thoughts and beliefs.

 

The steps in the cycle along with some of the representative questions are below:

 

Step 1 ~ Establish Your Purpose

 Why do you want to get organized? What is your disorganization costing you?

What will you gain from creating new, organized behaviors that you want?

Step 2~ Create your Vision

How would I like my home or work space to be?

 How will I feel when I arrive to my meeting on time?

 How will I feel when I do what I say I will do?

Step 3~ Take Stock of your Current Reality

How do I organize myself now? What choices am I currently making?

What areas of disorganization (i.e. clutter, timeliness, etc.) are causing the most challenge?

Step 4~ Choose Support

What kind of support do I need?

Who can help me stay the course in this valuable change effort?

Step 5~ Draw on Organizing Wisdom

This step is where the practical solutions come in. When we integrate the tactical organizing process with the deeper changes in beliefs, habits and behaviors, success is possible.

 Step 6~Take Effective Action

How will I overcome my blocks to change? What specific steps will I take?

 Step 7~Go Deeper to Keep Going

How can I sustain these changes?

 How can I stay motivated to learn and grow through the change process?

 

This Seven Step Change Cycle integrates well with my Retained Learnings™ Coaching Program and my clients have experienced success as they work through the process with the support of me as their coach and change agent.

 

The Bottom Line

When you challenge your underlying thinking, feelings and beliefs and begin practicing new behaviors, fundamental change can occur. Utilizing the Seven Step path to organization as outlined by Marilyn Paul provides a new opportunity for restoring or beginning a life of order and control.

 

How do you stay organized? What practices and belief systems get you to where you need to be on time? I’d love to hear your ideas on “organization from the inside out.”

 

To your success,

 

Mary

 

 

 

 

Objects in the Rear View Mirror May be LARGER Than They Appear…

 

“In order to plan your future wisely,

it’s necessary to understand and appreciate your past.”

~Jo Coudert

 

This is a guest post by my daughter, Lisa Werner, a first year MBA student at University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

 

“Have you prepared the Finance Case? Are you ready for your mock interview? What is the next race you’re training for? Where are we going out on Thursday night?”

 

The Future.  It’s something we are always looking forward to, dreading, or maybe in some situations, just bracing ourselves for.

 

As a first year student at Virginia’s Darden School of Business, so much of our time is spent preparing, getting ready, and in the case of a random “cold call” in Accounting,  just bracing ourselves for the inevitable. Believe me, I’m a full proponent of planning and looking ahead. 

 

In high school I studied hard and involved myself in athletics and activities to prepare myself for college. While at college at Villanova, I forged my way through a Liberal Arts education, new activities, and lasting friendships to arm myself with the tools I thought I would need for the real world.

 

That “real world” of a corporate job (Capital IQ) and big cities (NY and Chicago) proved to be no different. Always pushing ahead with my eye on the next big client, bonus, (or in some cases vacation was great fuel), I saw many successes and yes, plenty of failures. 

 

The future can be a powerful thing. It can motivate you to reach new destinations, challenges, and opportunities. Seeing the possibility of a new career track is what led me to apply to business school and eventually to Darden, and for that I will forever be grateful. 

 

Sometimes, however, I think a little peak into our past can be just as powerful. It can remind us of how far we’ve come, and yes, a sense of appreciation and pride in how much we’ve learned.

 

As I sit here writing this post, my table is covered with notes, binders, and one, oh wait, two Diet Cokes. Deep into what is lovingly called “Black November” here at Darden, we are swamped with school work, recruiting events, student activities, and yes plenty of social events (don’t let any MBA students tell you otherwise).

 

Having been deemed the “constant planner” by friends and family, I am now surrounded by 319 other “constant planners” who have incredible goals and aspirations.  But what’s even more incredible are some of the things we have already accomplished.  

 

Each day we push through another case, another class, another cold call, and sometimes we succeed; many times we fail, but every time we learn. We learn about new concepts, new frameworks and new perspectives. With the pace we move it’s often impossible to see the changes each day, but I know they are there.

 

They’re in the DCF model I was able to build from scratch in Finance Class (but never could imagine doing as an undergrad English major); in the Aggregate Supply and Demand curve I drew last week, and in amazing friendships I’ve built in a short amount of time.

 

The future is important, but sometimes appreciating and being proud of how you got there is just as important.

 

It’s November 17^th and finals and interviews loom in the near future. But as I try to stay grounded and sane over the next few weeks I hope I can remember how far I’ve come, how hard I’ve worked, and I can be proud.  At least while I wait for that next Darden “cold call”….

 

Thanks, Lisa, for that great reminder to all of us.

 

What about you? What have you learned? What are you most proud of? How often do you step back and reflect, appreciating that “objects in your rear view mirror may be LARGER that they seem?”

 

To your success,

 

Mary

 

 

The Time is Now

“Change almost never fails because it's too early.

 It almost always fails because it's too late.”

~Seth Godin

 

The CPA Horizons 2025 Report was just released last week. Following up on the CPA Vision Project tackled over 10 years ago, the Report is a culmination of study and strategic planning completed over the last six months by a wide variety of thought leaders and members in the profession.

The Report identified the core competencies necessary for CPAs to compete in the marketplace including:

 

• Communication Skills
• Leadership Skills
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills
• Anticipating and Serving Evolving Needs
• Synthesizing Intelligence to Insight
• Integration and Collaboration

 

In summary, the roadmap drawn for the profession calls on CPAs to be open to change, be nimble and adapt, be collaborative and forward thinking.

 

Frankly, the CPA profession isn’t alone in requiring its members to embrace change, seek collaboration and look beyond today. And the competencies above are the same I see required in virtually all of my executive coaching clients.

 

Regardless of the profession or industry, these skills are mandatory for leadership right now.

 

What Are Your Sacred Cows?

 

I’m facilitating a CPA firm’s Strategic Planning Summit in a couple weeks and this report will provide the Firm’s leadership team with insight into the future of the profession and also a reminder of the core skills needed for the team in the future.

 

In planning the Summit, the Managing Partner is committed to putting everything on the table. “Same old, same old” will no longer work and “We’ve always done it this way” will no longer be a valid excuse for not changing an ineffective office practice, policy or behavior. The leadership team is focused on challenging their “sacred cows” and moving beyond the status quo. That’s great news and a cornerstone of their strategic intent.

 

The attitude of challenging your sacred cows applies both at the organization level and at the individual level. How are your own beliefs and perspectives getting in the way of embracing change, of collaborating or of anticipating your client’s needs? How are you holding yourself back from becoming the effective leader your firm needs you to be?

 

The CPA profession has done a tremendous job of identifying the key challenges and required skills needed over the next 15 years. And CPAs have always been great problem solvers. But the real growth and development opportunities for members in the profession lie squarely in the leadership and change realm.

 

The time is now. We can’t afford to wait until 2025.

 

To your success,

 

Mary

 

 

Your Success Rules: Time to Upgrade to Your Next Version?

 

“Like everyone who counts most in the world, he (Steve Jobs)

made himself up as he went along, improvised himself out of scratch…”

~David Gelernter, Professor of Computer Science, Yale University

Wall Street Journal

10/07/11

 

 

I’ve read a lot about Steve Jobs in the last couple weeks. He was obviously brilliant, visionary, creative, and fundamentally a design wizard. But the author of a recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece captured what to me was one of Job’s most inspiring attributes: “he made himself up as he went along.”

 

He was always upgrading his own personal operating system, not settling for the status quo. Taking life’s lessons and molding them into his own updated “version” of his best self.

 

This attribute resonates with me. Maybe it’s because of my own personal experiences with change and reinvention or the work I do in coaching others who are basically “improvising themselves” as well.  But regardless, I believe it is one lesson that we can learn from Steve Jobs.

 

Is it Time to Upgrade Your Personal Operating System?

What are your rules for success? Are you working from an outdated operating system? One that served you well at one point, but is based on a set of assumptions and beliefs that no longer fit in your life or your career?

 

It’s a coaching question I ask my clients who are looking at creating different outcomes for themselves in a whole host of professional or personal situations.

 

Recently, when I asked a client, I’ll call “Paul,” a CPA firm Partner working on improving the quality of his client base and the profitability of his firm, his “rules” were as follows:

 

1.      “Everyone must like me.”

Which translates to: A fear based approach that requires he must maintain relationships at all costs. Think: “disease to please.”

 

2.      “People must have access to me at all times.”

Which translates to: no boundaries between his personal and professional life.

 

3.      “Your crisis is my crisis.”

 Which translates to: doing tons of extra work that he is not compensated for.

 

4.      “I take any client regardless of complexity or fee range.”

 Which translates to: a lack of focus and working for some clients below the level of his expertise.

 

5.      “Each client gets equal attention regardless of fee level or payment history.”

Which translates to: the dud clients who don’t pay still get his attention.

 

Clearly, these rules for success are outdated and are based on a “start up” practice mindset left over from years ago. Not only are these personal guidelines no longer working for Paul, they are actually inhibiting his firm’s growth and development.

 

Asking Paul these questions in the context of coaching hit a nerve. He had been so focused on having his clients “like him” that he lost sight of how he was training his clients to treat him.

 

He had been so focused on building his revenue stream, he lost sight of the true cost in serving the “C” clients that zap his energy and his time to develop his own higher quality accounting and consulting business.

 

Looking at it from an outside, objective view, of course these rules are obviously ripe for change. But Paul had been too close to see it. Paul knows now that it’s time for him to upgrade his operating system to whatever version accommodates his vision for success.

 

What about you? Do you need to take a step back and ask yourself: What are the rules for success that I live by? Are they outdated and ready for an upgrade? We may not possess Steve Job’s genius or creativity but we sure can emulate his continuous improvement mindset.

 

To your success,

 

Mary

 

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

FlexAbility: A Key Skill for Leadership and Living

 

Excellent leadership requires an ability to adjust your emotions, thoughts and behaviors to changing conditions.  And flexible people can move off their positions, and comfortably change their minds when new evidence suggests that they are mistaken. In other words, flexibility is a critical leadership skill in our current environment.

The skill of flexibility enables leaders to:

• Solve new and different problems they’ve not faced before
• Shift strategies and priorities when new situations arise
• Empower others, and let them know their ideas and input are valued

Some Strategies for Improving Flexibility

• A key to flexibility is self-awareness. Look at a period of time, (a day, a week) and jot down situations where flexibility has been a challenge, where you viewed yourself as inflexible. Look for frequent and consistent themes.
• Actively listen to colleagues and those who work for you even when they disagree with you.
• Be conscious of your words. “No,” “But” and “However” send strong messages that you are uninterested in being open to the ideas of others.
• Shift to a learning perspective. Let others’ good ideas lead you into new territory so that you can learn new approaches.
• Ask yourself: If I were to change just one thing about myself, what would it be? Be open to the answer and begin the process!

Go ahead. Enhance your “FlexAbility”, a key skill for leadership and living. 

To your success,

Mary 

A Delicate Balance

 

“Many a friendship is lost for lack of speaking.”

~Aristotle

 

I just got back from a 360 feedback meeting with a client. Giving feedback can be challenging, especially when some of the feedback is not so positive. But it’s a skill set that I’ve finely tuned in my role as a coach. 

 

In this case my client has many strengths. But he has one significant weakness, and without change, it could be a derailer.

 

One strength in particular is his ability to develop and maintain great relationships with his colleagues and his boss. He has an optimistic, positive attitude and builds trusting and genuine relationships. Always helpful and supportive, he’s a “connector” who is a valuable team mate. Sounds great, doesn’t it?

 

It would be if he was also able to assert himself, to speak up with his own opinions and beliefs even at the risk of others disagreeing. Instead, he acts passively, not engaging in constructive conflict at the risk of others not “liking” him. In meetings, he listens but does not actively contribute to discussions.

 

His lack of assertiveness is seen as a lack of initiative and thus a roadblock to his effective performance and ultimately his promotion opportunities.

 

This situation is not uncommon. In fact, I wrote about it in an earlier post, Top Dog on a Tightrope.

 

Many find it difficult to be assertive. And assertiveness is much misunderstood. People often confuse assertiveness for aggressiveness. And the “nice” ones definitely avoid the aggressive label like the plague, leaning toward being passive.

 

Assertiveness requires a delicate balance. It involves the ability to communicate clearly and unambiguously, while being sensitive to the needs of others.  Being assertive is all about getting at the problem and not the person. It’s about analyzing a situation, determining a reasonable solution that is a win-win for both parties.

 

Assertiveness requires self awareness to be able to recognize your feelings before you express them and self regard to stand up for your own rights and deeply held beliefs. Combine self awareness and self regard with a genuine care and consideration for the thoughts and feelings of others and you have the balance that assertiveness requires.

 

Helping my client build his assertiveness will require him to practice new behaviors, like speaking his opinion in meetings and focusing on positive self talk rather than negative self talk that undermined his self regard. He’ll also look for role models in his team and his Company to model assertiveness.

 

What about you? Do you find it easy or hard to be assertive? What skills do you employ to assertively communicate your opinions and beliefs without stepping on others or having others step on you? How do you keep the delicate balance?

 

To your success,

 

Mary

Change vs. Transition

 

“Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.”

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

It’s commencement season. A time of new beginnings. I spent last weekend at the University of Notre Dame, celebrating the graduation of my daughter, Sarah, now a newly minted MBA. Her ND experience included many rigorous classes, late nights and challenging team projects. But it also included meeting great new friends, world travels and much personal growth.

Sarah’s headed back out into the business world as a new “IBM-er.” She’s landed a new job, in a new city, with new many experiences ahead of her.  Plenty of new beginnings, as well as the ending of her ND “career.”

The experience of change that Sarah faces is not so different than what my coaching client, Kevin, now faces. When we first met last month, he had just been promoted to a new senior level position within his company. Kevin has a new job, in a new location with new responsibilities.  Now reporting to the CEO, Kevin is excited for his new role but uncertain about the unfamiliar territory that he finds himself.

We know that personal and organizational changes happen all the time and they can be significant. Typically we focus on the outcome that the change produces. For Sarah and Kevin, each has a new job, in a new environment with new demands.

But for their change to be successful, Sarah and Kevin must go through the necessary process of transition. Transition is the more difficult piece but absolutely essential to successful change.  Whether at the corporate or personal level, we often lose sight of the critical importance of the transition process, focusing on the change itself. 

I wrote about transitions last November, in my article, Successful Transitions: Where Endings Come BEFORE Beginnings. And now that it’s hitting so close to home, I’m reminded of its importance.

Author William Bridges, in his book, Managing Transitions describes each of the three required phases of transition as he helps us chart an effective course for the change. They are:

1. The Ending
2. The Neutral Zone
3. The New Beginning

These phases are not necessarily linear, but for successful change to occur, ironically, Sarah and Kevin must BEGIN with the END. This Ending phase represents the need to recognize the losses and endings associated with the new change.  It’s not typically the change that we object to. It’s the giving up of the current, having to let go of something that is familiar and comfortable.

Here are some recommendations from Bridges as Sarah and Kevin address this Ending phase:

1. Identify the losses you’re feeling as a result of the change. Be specific.
2. Acknowledge the losses openly and sympathetically. Often, it’s not talking about the loss that causes trouble.
3. Define what is over and what is not. One of the most important leadership roles during times of change is that of putting into words what it is time to leave behind. Be specific about what goes and what stays.
4. Mark the endings and show how endings ensure the continuity of what really matters.

Sarah is leaving behind day to day contact with great friends and the lifestyle that accompanies college and graduate school. And when I met with Kevin again last week, we discussed how his Ending included leaving behind the comfort he had with the projects he led and the direct authority he held. Now reporting directly to the CEO, his new role requires less “doing” and more leading and a much more strategic focus. He leads an entirely new team with different personalities and a very different focus. Kevin now realizes that before he could fully launch into his new role, he must address what he was leaving behind.

Commencement season is a time of change and new beginnings. What’s happening in your world? What changes and transitions are you facing? How have you addressed your “endings”? For the individuals you lead, how do you help them work through the process of transition and experience successful change?

We're so proud of Sarah and her accomplishments and have absolute confidence in her ability to successfully navigate this change and the process of transition that it requires.

 

To your success,

Mary