From Endings to Beginnings: Leading Through Change

In this episode of The Career Refresh, Jill Griffin breaks down the Bridges Transition Model—a timeless framework for leading yourself and your team through change with clarity and compassion. Learn how to navigate the emotional side of transformation, manage uncertainty, and build momentum for what’s next.

You’ll learn:

• The difference between change (the external event) and transition (the internal process)
• How to guide yourself and others through the three phases: Endings, the Neutral Zone, and New Beginnings
• Practical ways to communicate, lead, and build trust during times of uncertainty

Articles I wrote or contributed to on Forbes.com: 

Grief Without a Funeral: grieving loss opportunties

How to navigate the loss of top talent

Chapters

• 0:01 Setting The Stage For Change
• 0:49 Change vs. Transition Explained
• 2:33 Why People Resist: Loss And Grief
• 3:13 Phase One: Endings And Letting Go
• 5:14 Honoring The Past In Mergers
• 6:32 Phase Two: The Neutral Zone “Hallway”
• 8:31 Lead As Anchor And Architect
• 9:22 Phase Three: New Beginnings And Clarity
• 11:05 Celebrate Wins And Reinforce Identity
• 12:09 Three Leadership Principles For Transitions
• 15:31 Reframing The Messy Middle

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

Hey, I'm Jill Griffin, and this is the Career Refresh. And today we're talking about how great leaders navigate the messy middle of transformation, change, and transition. We are talking about the bridges transition model. This is a model that's been used for decades to help leaders and organizations move through the human side of change, right? There's a lot of change out there, both within organizations, our world, our local economies, a lot of change. And when we understand how to have a model that will help us through the human side, because strategy can be really, really clean and you can be clear, but the emotional side of change, well, you and I both know that may not be easy. So we're gonna dig in. All right, let's do it. So first we're starting with the idea, what we know that change is external. When change is happening outside of you, there's a new system that's rolling out, there's a leadership shuffle, there's a re-org or a merger. That's a circumstance external to us, but yes, it's happening and we're experiencing it. Transition is internal. It's the process of what's happening, the confusion, maybe some resistance, curiosity, uh, hopefully hope, right? It's the story we're gonna tell ourselves when we're adapting to whatever is new. And the piece that leaders often underestimate is this piece that there's the internal impact of what's going on with themselves and each individual member of the team, the organization, as we are going through change. This tends to be underestimated. So you might announce change or restructuring in a single meeting or an email announcement or saying or hinting or teasing out that change is coming. But that transition part, the internal part, takes time, it takes empathy, and it takes trust. And when leaders forget that, and often it might be at the CHRO, the head of human resources, the CEO, it might be at that ELT level, when they're thinking and forgetting that distinction of the transition of what it does to people internally, they may push really hard, push fast, and people will start to push back. And you'll see that uh morale, motivation, productivity will all start to decrease because they're starting to resist the change itself, right? People resist change because it's there's loss. There's they're attached to what's happening, and all of a sudden there is a loss and they're not sure what to do. So, William Bridges, hence the Bridges framework, talks about this process in three phases. It's really smart, it's it's simple, but it's really smart. I'm gonna walk you through each one of these phases because it helps us think through what leadership looks like in each part of these page, each part of these phases. And let's get clear. Leadership is at every level. I don't care if you're an entry-level individual, you've been there for a couple of years, or you're a more seasoned professional within the organization, leadership is at every level. We all have a chance every day to get clear on sort of who we are as a person and as a leader and how we want to show up accordingly. So the first part is the endings, the losing, the letting go. Transition starts with an ending. It might sound paradoxical, but that is true. It's, I always say that no is the beginning. No is the start. Once we have the no, we now know we can't stay here. We have to go someplace else. We have to move forward in the negotiation, in the transition. That is something that will happen naturally. That transition is actually the beginning of something new. So when something begins, by definition, it means that something else is ending. And this could be your identity, your department's identity, um a process, a sense of familiarity, all of these things. And when people feel grief or nostalgia, they may feel some anger. When they're feeling this way, again, it's going to come out in their behavior and most likely impact their way of being and the way they're showing up productively. So this is where, as a leader, I want you to think about empathy, because this is going to be your most powerful tool here. I've done quite a few episodes on grief of like the loss of opportunity, actually, the loss of loved ones while you're in the workplace. I also wrote a recent article for Forbes, one on um titled Grief Without the Funeral, which is the loss of opportunity or grief of working through change. And I'll put those informations in the show notes so you can read those as a more structured way of thinking through the grief part of things. But your role as a leader is to be aware of it, to have empathy, but you're not necessarily supposed to fix it. That's not your role to fix other people's feelings. Your role as a leader as with high emotional intelligence is to acknowledge them. And you might say things like, yeah, this is hard, everyone, and we're going to move forward together. I want you to ask yourself and get clear in this process that you're in, this first phase, the endings, the losing, the letting go, what are people losing right now? And are there parts of the old way that's worth honoring? I've often seen when merges and acquisitions happen and two companies come together, if you're being acquired, right, you're being folded into that organization and this is a new way of being. But think about it, we bought that company or that division because of the value they created. So, how are we thinking about parts of the culture of the company that's being absorbed? And how is that living in the company as it moves forward, right? We don't want to squash everything because, again, you bought them for a reason. It's not just about buying talent, it's not just about buying the systems. There's something energetically about that whole culture that was worth it for you. And you want to think about what aspects of that are worth honoring. And here's an opportunity to talk to your teams, ask them what they want. Maybe there are some traditions that were done that you want to keep alive and move on as you're moving forward through this phase. And then how can you help them and give them concepts that will carry them as to what still matters about the work they're doing and how they're going to carry that into what's next, right? So that letting go becomes this emotional prerequisite for growth. You can't stop something new if you're clinging to something old. There's no space to move forward. So that's the first part. The next part I like to call the hallway. William Bridges calls it the neutral zone, and this is the in-between. This is the space between no more and not yet, right? That's my language, not his language. This is the space where the old is gone, but the new hasn't fully taken a shape. So this is a really uncomfortable stage. There are a lot of companies right now going through this as I'm recording that they are in this place of trying to pivot to what's next, especially with the penetration of AI through so many of our jobs. How do we wrangle it and make it worth the investment of time, human people, resources, and when is it actually going to start paying out? That is the uncomfortable stage because you're building the car while you're driving it. It's that feeling. So when people hear there's a lot of time to be creative, there's a lot of creative tension. People are also going to feel uncertain. They're going to feel lost. And it is often where the innovation starts to get uncovered or born, so to speak, right? So you're in this hallway where you're waiting for a door to open, you're between no more and not yet. And that in and of itself is a place for birthing what's next. So in this stage, leaders, your best opportunity here is to normalize the uncertainty. Understanding that the only thing that's really certain are the thoughts that you choose and that everything else is uncertain. And we've always been in a level of uncertainty. It just feels more amplified now. I'm going to say because of probably the speed of the information cycle and the use of social media, where that speed is much more, but there's always been a layer of uncertainty that we didn't know. So when you're there saying out loud to others, you know what, we are still defining this. I know it's okay to be unclear right now. And I understand that probably is bringing you some thoughts. If you want to process them, you know, I'm in my office or give me a call or let's get a meeting, right? Being able to provide a space for people to process so that they can start thinking through. Because if they're stuck in the uncertainty, they're not going to get to that place of creativity because uncertainty, there's probably an underlying of fear. So when that happens, is you know what, we don't really know, but let's test and learn together. Let's figure this out. What can we do in the meantime with what we actually know? And this is where how you show up and your leadership identity is going to matter enormously at this time because this is what people are going to rely on. That you become, as I've said a lot lately, both the anchor and the architect. You are the anchor for which they can be steady and know that you're the steady source in the storm and the architect where you are guiding to what's next. And even if you don't know what's next, it's what's the next right action? What can I do today? What are we doing this week? It might be moving forward in small increments, but that's what we need you to be articulating and verbalizing it. If something new is being created, that means something is growing. Even if you can't see it, trust me, this is the place where you want to lead with transparency, keep communication open, and encourage experimentation. Okay, third phase, right? So just to recap, we have the ending phase. We have the neutral zone, the hallway phase, my words, not uh William Bridges. And then the last phase is the new beginnings, right? We finally start to reach the stage where the energy returns, the new reality starts to actually feel real. We're working in new processes and new systems. We might have new colleagues, we might have a new org shock, we might have a new skip level. Those are the things that we're starting to work for. And here's where leaders must continue to provide clarity of both the intent, the purpose, reinforce the meaning of where we're where we're chartering. What's the glide path forward? Right. People need to understand not just what they're doing, but why what they're doing matters and contributes to the overall goal or the project or moving the organization forward. So at this point, it is really important to really revisit the team purpose and the goals that they're set out, uh, jumping into OKRs, right? Objectives and key results, understanding what the objective is, and then each person is having a key result of how they're contributing to that objective. You also want to slow down and celebrate small wins. If everything just feels like we're chasing something and we don't know where we're going, without having those milestones to say, here's a win, let's celebrate this, celebrate the person, the teams, or the team as a whole as what we're we're inching along and moving forward. Without that, I've talked about this before. That's sort of the the brain twist where like I'm trying to go for something and get something, right? That's that dopamine, the molecule more, the thing that I want. I'm trying to get it, but I'm not actually seeing any progress. So I could be running to stand still. I don't actually know. Really important in this time to celebrate small wins. Or if you're reading any of the things around, you know, the weight loss industry right now, they would call it non-scale wins, right? So you may not have had weight loss, but you had more energy when you exercise this morning. Those are the things that we want to be looking for in this. And this is also a time to reinforce identity. This is who we were, this is where we are now, here's where we're going, but we're still building that. So in the beginnings, we need to be reorientating people regularly with a sense of self and how they contribute to that space that they're in. So always communicating that these are the goals for now, and the goals might change again because we're moving and that's understandable. So leading through the human side of transition, making sure that you're guiding people through that uncertainty, that there is a steadiness and a compassion, right? You might be privy to information that you can't share with others. I am seeing this a lot with my clients, that they are aware of changes that are happening that the rest of their org isn't. And there's also an emotional labor on the leader for that kind of information, but they can't say anything yet because things aren't finalized. So being in that space and really leading with compassion, that people are going to have questions. They might have anxiety, they might have fear. And where are you showing up as a leader? And just you don't have to tell them anything if you're under um, you know, sort of a uh a lock order where you can't share it, but you can say, I understand you're holding a lot and I get it. This is a lot right now. We'll know more in time. You can hold space in that way. So, three principles that I always coach my clients on and guide them on is that you're starting with the empathy, not with the urgency. We have to remember that these are people, they're not projects, and we can't be rushing them. Again, transition is internal. The restructuring and the change and the uncertainty is external. So we can't accelerate that trust. Letting people process before you're expecting them to perform instantly, this doesn't mean you have a long roadmap before they start to perform. I'm just saying the day they get information, maybe cut them a break. Let it sort of shake through the system and the and the membrane a little bit. Let people get their central nervous systems back online and adjust the new information. So it might be also time to think about are there things that can be moved? Are there things that can be paused for a couple of days as people are processing this information? Um, and if the information is also a skiff, right? If there's a reorg and a layoff, you want to make sure that there's time. Yes, we're gonna get busy and we're gonna get back to it, but people might need a little space to process that they have new colleagues or that their colleagues are gone or that there is new leadership and how they're going to adjust. So start with the empathy, not necessarily rushing to the urgency. The next thing that I want you to think about is communicate the why or the intent or the purpose, all used interchangeably in this conversation repeatedly. Just because you've said something doesn't mean people heard. Remember, in times where there's great uncertainty, people are going to hear through emotion. They're not going to hear through logic. So repeating yourself, let them be annoyed. When have we ever been annoyed that uh leadership has overcommunicated or the CHRO has overcommunicated? It's never happened because it often doesn't happen. So overcommunicate. Remember, emotions are what people are hearing through. They may mishear you where possible. If you can put things in writing, have FAQs, all of that available. I understand at times we can't do that because we're fearful that someone might screenshot it and share it externally. We don't want it shared externally, all understood, but understand that emotion is running things and we need to give place because logic comes second. And then the last area that I think is really relevant for this at this time is that adaptability, right? If you want your team to embrace the new, you must embody it first. You have to show learning process. You have to be honest, you have to show discomfort, you have to say things like, yeah, there are times where I feel a little bit stressed about this too, but I'm certain about the skills that I bring to the table, the value that I can create within any organization. And I know how to insert your subject matter, right? I know how to do this. So even though there is discomfort around uncertainty, around the marketplace conditions, the merger, the layoff, the clients, whatever is happening, you're still get to be certain about who you are and how you show up. Because that's really the only thing you're going to be taking with you, regardless. Career well-being is about your well-being and your performance, regardless of the vessel in which you're in. So, how are you building that that it stays with you wherever you go? All right. So, whether you're navigating a re-org, a new role, a personal career shift, a personal reinvention, coming back from unemployment, recently unemployed, this bridges model transition reminds us that when there's ever an ending, there is a beginning. So the beginning starts with the ending. And if you're in this messy middle place right now, just remember that that neutral zone isn't failure. It's going to feel uncomfortable. It might feel stagnant, it might feel like you're like moving really slowly. But all of that is really fertile ground. So pause, have an opportunity to reflect. What can you release? And this is a time for you to be thinking about what's the next version of you, your organization, your department, even as it's taking shape, right? Even if you can't see it yet, you can build the car while you're driving it. I've done it before, folks. I'm not saying it's easy, but it absolutely can be done. All right, friends, if this episode resonated with you, I want you to share it with a friend or colleague who's leading through change. And if you're navigating your own transition, visit Jill Griffin Coaching and see the tools for clarity, confidence, intention, how we could even work together. As always, stay in possibility, be intentional, and always, always, always be kind. I'll see you next time.