Change is inevitable. A stressful transition is optional.

Hi,

One of the secrets to mastering executive career transitions is that it requires?a nuanced approach that prioritises the psychological and emotional experience, no matter how senior the leaders are.

It was a couple of years ago when I learned that a significant part of my childhood was a lie.

I had learned, from reading ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle, that the natural order of things was that caterpillars got very hungry (although I had my doubts about whether they could truly eat through a lollipop), then they took a brief nap in their cocoon and emerged as a beautiful butterfly.

Imagine my surprise at the age of 40-(something) to discover that something much more extraordinary (arguably gruesome) happens during this transformation.

The Scientific American describes what actually happens as:

"First, the caterpillar digests itself, releasing enzymes to dissolve all of its tissues. If you were to cut open a cocoon or chrysalis at just the right time, caterpillar soup would ooze out."

The caterpillar does not have a nap while they grow wings. Their entire being dissolves and rapidly reforms (the way this happens is truly fascinating but absolutely not relevant to my metaphor) in their new butterfly form. This is a transition. My assumption was that it was a fairly simple change.

We can relate this transition to those shifts in the workplace where what expected of us in our new context is significantly different to what has allowed us to succeed in the past. For example:

• becoming a Partner rather than an employee,
• joining the C-suite with full access and accountability to a board of directors, or
• moving from a being a technical expert to a leader of people.

It therefore makes sense that our approach to supporting people going through transition must be different to how we support people experiencing a change. We need to be much more alive to the psychological and emotional experience of those people – no matter how senior.

If you'd like to learn more about change and transition, why it matters and how to support it - please read our more detailed article here.

I’d love to hear your experiences with this topic so please reply to this email and let me know your views.

All the best,

Ellie