In a world filled with change, it is often not the practical changes we find difficult but rather the psychological and emotional letting go of the way the world used to be and the moving to a new reality.
These psychological and emotional shifts are called transitions. And they come in three stages.
The first stage is to let go of the familiarity and apparent security of the way the world used to be. The second is to step confidently into the unknown: the way the world is going to become.
This second stage of transition is called the Threshold phase.
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Crossing the Threshold
The Threshold phase is the chrysalis stage between the caterpillar and the butterfly: here the old world has gone but the new world has not yet arrived.
In the Threshold phase, everything is undefined. So people (including you) are likely to be feeling uncertain, disoriented, lonely, vulnerable, and even afraid.
Your role here is to provide the structure that seems to be missing — first for yourself and then for other people.
In a world that is churning, this can’t be rigidly imposed: people need to make sense of it for themselves.
But there are two ways that you can help them (and yourself) to accelerate the process:
- First, top down, you can put the culture of your future vision in place.
Management guru Peter Drucker showed us that, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
This Threshold phase brings you the opportunity to build that culture.
You do this by defining the values that will make your vision succeed, along with why they matter, and the attitudes and behaviours that will bring them alive.
And when you do this you create a guiding framework that enables you and the people around you to respond to anything that happens.
. - Second, bottom up, you can encourage people to develop their own inner leadership. Then they can begin to lead themselves through the uncertainty of the Threshold phase.
Teach them to centre and ground themselves, to make clearer sense of their situations, and to find more opportunities in a crisis. If they can find their own purpose and values and choose a way forward for themselves then so much the better.
The more people are able to build their own inner leadership, the calmer, clearer, and more confident they will become — and the better they will become able to choose how they respond to anything that happens, without needing guidance from you.
By putting in place these two frameworks (one external, one internal), you will enable people to cope better with the uncertainty of the Threshold phase.
And as their focus then shifts from the apparent ‘problems‘ they face to the activities and behaviours they are carrying out, the meaning of these tasks and the values they are bringing to life, so they will also begin to learn to thrive because of change.
When did you last experience a major shift in your role or identity? Would it have been useful to know how to:
- Stay calm in a crisis, make clearer sense of the situation, and find more opportunities?
- Have a clear vision of what matters most that you?
- Have a clear set of values, attitudes, and behaviours to guide and shape your responses to anything that happens?
Would it be useful to start learning these things now?
Adapted from Inner Leadership: a framework and tools for building inspiration in times of change.
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