Your Role at Every Stage of Transition
What to focus on when you don’t have all the answers.
Change is the event.
Transition is the process people go through in response.
That distinction matters — especially if you’re the one people are looking to for guidance.
Because after the reorg, the restructure, or the big announcement, you’re not just leading through logistics. You’re helping real people navigate uncertainty, identity shifts, and all the quiet fears that don’t show up in status updates.
Here’s what it could look like:
Team members going silent
Overfunctioning/hyperarousal that looks like urgency
Disengagement that looks like compliance.
Your role isn’t to have all the answers.
It’s to communicate clearly, consistently, and honestly — especially when you don’t.
My coaching draws inspiration from William Bridges’ foundational work on transitions, which distinguishes between change as a moment in time and transition as the lived experience that follows.
What I offer below is a more practical lens for showing up through that process with grounded leadership in each stage.
Because what builds trust in uncertain times isn’t control.
It’s being able to say:
“Here’s what I know.”
“Here’s what I don’t know.”
“Here’s how I’m working to find out.”
That’s how you lead when the ground is still shifting.
Your role through each stage of transition:
1. Endings: Rebuild trust after loss (Security)
When something ends — a role, a structure, a sense of certainty — people need steadiness and transparency. They need to know you’re present, not just productive. Acknowledge what’s been lost. Don’t push it aside.
Try this: “I know this change is affecting people in different ways. If you’re feeling unsettled, that’s ok. Let’s keep checking about it.
2. The In-Between: Clarify what’s still possible and what might be next (Horizon)
The key word here is disorienting. The old way is gone, and the new one isn’t fully here. Some parts feel familiar; others are completely scrambled.
I often tell clients it’s like mastering one level of Tetris, then suddenly jumping ten levels ahead. You see the same shapes, but everything’s faster, harder, and the rules feel off.
Your job is to orient, even if you're still figuring it out. Focus attention on what’s still available, and invite people to help shape what comes next.
If you want a deeper lens for this space, the Three Horizons model offers a helpful way to hold the tension between what’s fading, what’s emerging, and what’s still unclear. It’s an older model that has regained relevance in the post-pandemic workplace.
Try this: “Let’s talk about where we still have momentum and what could open up from here.”
3. Meaning-Making: Reconnect with what matters — and how you’ll measure it (Impact)
People want to know their effort still matters — not just to output, but to purpose.
This is a moment to re-establish what’s meaningful, clarify how progress will be measured, and co-create a sense of direction.
That means naming not only what goals you're aiming for, but also:
What skills your team needs to grow to meet this moment
What success looks like now and how you'll measure it
Try this: “Here’s what we’re working toward in this chapter. Let’s define the skills we’ll need to get there and how we’ll know we’re making progress.”
4. Reorientation: Support adaptability and narrate change as it happens (Fluidity)
Change doesn’t arrive fully formed — it moves in waves.
You don’t need to predict the future, but you do need to create a rhythm of shared learning. Keep people close to the process: what’s shifting, what’s being tested, what’s being adjusted.
Try this: “We’re building the plane as we fly, and that’s ok. Here’s what we’re experimenting with and what we’ll be watching as we go.”
5. Reconnection: Foster purposeful collaboration and shared direction (Ties)
Don’t just gather your remaining team in a room to “bond.”
Connection doesn’t come from awkward icebreakers or catered sandwich platters. It comes from reconnecting people to a shared sense of purpose, and giving them clarity on how they’ll work together now in this new chapter.
In transition, people crave direction and belonging. They want to know:
Who are we now?
What matters most?
How do we move forward together?
Give them tools that do more than “boost morale.”
Use simple prompts to realign the team:
What do we want to rebuild or protect in how we work?
What norms need updating?
What expectations do we want to re-clarify?
Try this: “Let’s name what’s changed and define how we want to work together from here.”
When everything is shifting, the most powerful thing you can offer is consistent clarity, honest communication, and a visible commitment to rebuilding. Transitions are disorienting. But they also set up new beginnings. Full of moments when new norms can be shaped, trust can be re-earned, and direction can be co-created.
You don’t have to lead through that alone.
But you do have the chance to lead in a way that builds something stronger than what came before.
Want help applying this to your team or your leadership?
I guide leaders through transitions like this every day.
You can book a short call here — no pressure, just a conversation to explore what might support you.
-Rachael