"I need the seasons to live to the rhythm of rain and sun."
--Sophie Marceau
August and September are exciting and sometimes bittersweet for anyone who is a student or a parent of a student. Approximately 1,200 miles ago, I dropped my daughter off for a gap year program. After weeks of planning, packing, and putting life into a car, she was there, experiencing a new beginning in a new place with new people and expectations. I returned home, reflecting on seasons in life and the importance of transitions. Friends have been asking what I plan to do with my extra time. The truth is that I don’t have a plan--yet. I think I’m still focused on the ending of a season rather than the beginning of the next.
According to William Bridges model for leadership transition, a transition requires an ending before a beginning can occur. The ending requires us to let go, to acknowledge how we feel. It is an opportunity to reflect on what we are losing. We can choose what we want to hold on to from the past and what we might like to change going forward.
Once the end has occurred, most transitions involve what Bridges refers to as the “neutral zone.” During this time, humans within the system (companies, groups, organizations, families, etc.) are at a point where they are just figuring out their role and how everything fits todgether in the new structure. Using Tuckman’s stages of development, they are forming and norming.
Only after these two phases can a beginning occur. Bridges describes beginnings as a release of energy toward a new identity.
Beginnings, even the beginning of a new time in life, a new year, a new job, or a new day, are a natural time to reflect on past seasons, wonder what the new season will bring, and to adjust for the coming cycle.
Tying the start of something to a temporal landmark—like the first day of school, the first day in a new job, the beginning of a quarter, Labor Day, etc. makes us more successful in that endeavor. Those temporal landmarks provide what psychologists call the “fresh start effect.”
We are more likely to view our lives as a clean slate in those moments. The timing creates an opportunity to consider and reflect about what we want, what we’re doing, and how we want to move forward. When we pause during these seasonal shifts and try something new, we are more likely to recognize opportunities and adjustments we can make.
Lately, I’ve been working with leaders during times of transition. They have an extra burden. They are expected to keep the “old” running while at the same time learning a new role and forging a new beginning.
They impress with their ability to do that and to tie new beginnings to the temporal landmarks of fiscal years, academic years, quarters, and even months. The leaders I am working with have remained open to both the opportunities of the beginning and the challenges they find. For them, it is a new slate, a chance to hold on to the things that are working, let go of the things that are not, and to try something new to face the challenges.
As they have paused to consider what is next for them and their organizations, their slower thinking results in meaningful differences in their organizations. Even better, those differences affect the human beings who work in these organizations, learn in these organizations, and are served by these organizations.
I am impressed and humbled by their beginnings. Like them, I hope to recognize the opportunities of a new season and move forward toward a renewed vision. As we approach the first day of school, Labor Day, and the first day of fall, consider whether these temporal landmarks might launch a seasonal beginning in your life or leadership. I think I’ll begin a new season as an adult living with a dog.
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