Trapeze artists defy death. They swing high above the ground. They pry their fingers away and let go of the bar of safety and security. They leap into the unknown of mid-air.
And they do all of this without a net! One slip, and their act comes to an end.
If you have ever navigated a transition, you are ALSO a trapeze artist.
As I work with leaders and teams facing transition, the trapeze leap becomes the model. I’ve created it from the work of William Bridges, in his 1991 book "Managing Transitions." Bridges writes,
"Change is something that happens to people, even if they don't agree with it. Transition is internal: it's what happens in people's minds as they go through change. Change can happen very quickly, while transition usually occurs more slowly."
In my experience, navigating change is pretty simple. GIve us a whiteboard and an hour or two and we can sketch out a change. But the TRANSITION carries an impact that, if not navigated with intentionality, can leave us stuck.
Like that trapeze artist’s leap, any transition involves three phases.
1. Ending or Letting Go
2. Flying Through the Air
3. The New Beginning
While each person or organization will progress through these phases at their own pace, all three phases are important to recognize and navigate through.
Let me unpack these phases:
1. Letting Go of the Bar
This phase is filled with emotion because you are letting go of what you know. Whether the transition is planned or unplanned, chosen by you or chosen for you, you are leaving something.
All leaving is losing. All change is experienced as loss in some shape or form.
You don’t cross the line separating change management from transition management until you have asked “Who will lose (or has lost) what?” -William Bridges
When I left a 25 year career as a pastor, I underestimated the impact of loss this had on me. Even answering the question, “So what do you do?” was tricky. “I used to be a pastor…”
Rather than brush these losses aside, or to cover them up with a “But things will be better,” platitude, it is important to name and navigate these losses. Especially with the team left behind.
2. Flying Through the Air
This is the season of disorientation. The old is gone; the new has not yet come. Limbo. People experience:
It is important to care for yourself, and care for the team, during this season. It is also key to bring clarity to what is, and is not important, what needs to be done and what can be pushed off (I call this “Transition Triage”).
Increased communication, including check-ins and feedback, must take place. It is also a time to begin to give shape to the transition, including naming your transition, establishing timelines and benchmarks, and celebrating milestones.
During this time, you will want to keep revisiting why you are transitioning, and what you are transitioning to.
3. Grabbing on to the New Normal
This is the upswing season, when your grabbing of the new bar brings with it momentum and energy. It is where you begin to settle into your new normal. And you begin to see how you have replaced what you have lost with something new…or you have learned to let it go.
This is a time to celebrate, to give rest to those who carried extra weight during the transition, and to begin to accept and implement what life looks like in this new beginning.
Change is simple; transition is hard. Help yourself and the team you lead by recognizing and spending time letting go, making the best of the time in the air, and grabbing solidly on to your new normal.
Two Action Steps:
1. Consider transitions you or your team have made in the past. How do they resonate with this model?
2. Consider an upcoming transition. What phase do you need to lean into yourself, or lead your team through, to make the leap well?
Thomas helps leaders navigate what’s next. If he can serve you in this, reach out to him at thomas@thompsonleadership.org
Photo by Miikka Luotio on Unsplash
