Transitions II

It does feel as if we are all navigating the most significant transition period. This has led many to grapple with the situational angles of leadership, hasn’t it?

As I said here, I sometimes think that everything I have done in my career comes together in a transition coaching session.

Many have trodden a path to my door recently for support in this regard. They want to be at their very best when all is changing, uncertain and novel. When interference is undoubtedly heightened. When what has previously led them to success possibly will not in the unsettled world of the 2020s.

Transitions out of a period, then, as well as transitions into a new phase.

So many related points have come up in the coaching room. I’d like to share some of them with you.

A purely relational approach to coaching will be mostly free of content. It might be limited to some gentle, huge questions (it’s both) such as “who are you in this new phase?” or “how are you going to be in the next year?” Such questions take us to fascinating places. We know this.

Many coachees will benefit from a little more guidance than this and I don’t see any of Chelsham’s coaches being too rigid on this point. We’re all way beyond the single-dimensional “coaching ought to be non-directive” which you do still see out there. Why withhold ideas if they are pertinent? If.

A few headlines, therefore, about transitions and how they might apply to our current circumstances:

• Think about how your strengths (personal, team or organisational) apply now, specifically now. Work out ‘gaps’ and fill them, including by negotiating new resource levels as needed.

• ‘Contract’ your relationships with those who really hold organisational power. Support them. Influence them. Make requests of them.

• Turn stakeholder management into a key part of how you operate. Increase the percentage of your time you devote to it. Build coalitions. Strong coalitions. Broad coalitions. Build them way before you need them.

• Negotiate what is actually deliverable or doable. Manage expectations and avoid agreeing to deliver what is not possible with existing resource levels. Focus!

• Prioritise inclusion (this will always feature for me). Avoid assumptions about people. Get to know your people. Really get to know them. Understand them.

• Own your time - ruthlessly if you have to - and deflect tangential requests (whilst protecting those coalitions).

This is just a taste. There are more ideas. Many more.

Which will maximise your chances of a successful transition?