{"id":1208,"date":"2017-09-06T16:18:11","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T16:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.prd.vanderbilt.edu\/owen-all-ldp\/?p=1208"},"modified":"2017-11-06T22:35:29","modified_gmt":"2017-11-06T22:35:29","slug":"tran-si-tion-n-the-process-or-a-period-of-changing-from-one-state-or-condition-to-another","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/owen-all-ldp\/tran-si-tion-n-the-process-or-a-period-of-changing-from-one-state-or-condition-to-another\/","title":{"rendered":"Tran-si-tion (n.) The process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another"},"content":{"rendered":"

Diane Watson, Leadership Coach,\u00a0Your Authentic Leadership<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

September 6, 2017<\/h4>\n

There is a thread that flows through my executive coaching engagements \u2013 transition.\u00a0 Clients are moving into challenging new positions, planning retirements, or searching for the next best opportunity. It was my own transition that led me to executive coaching.<\/p>\n

During my mid-fifties, I realized that while I liked my job and worked with amazing colleagues at a stellar university, my work was no longer fulfilling.\u00a0I wanted to be purposeful as I moved to my next career and started reading about professions that interested me, interviewed people working in those areas, and attended a few classes. One day, I found my inspiration in a Wall Street Journal story about coaching. I trained and received my coach certification at one of the top schools in the country and hung up my shingle.\u00a0While the journey has included a few pot holes along the way, I haven\u2019t looked back.<\/p>\n

Transitions occur often during our lifetime, and while some may be unwelcome or challenging, when embraced with growth in mind, life on the other side can be amazing. Today, we frequently confuse change and transition.\u00a0William Bridges, author of Transitions: Making Sense of Life\u2019s Changes<\/em>, says that change is situational, while transition is psychological.\u00a0In other words, an internal shift will make the change stick.<\/p>\n

Change is moving out of your parents\u2019 house.\u00a0Transition is the shift that occurs when you moved out of your parents\u2019 home and learned to live independently. This applies to any personal milestone. We moved from \u201cme\u201d to \u201cus\u201d when we found our life partner.\u00a0We understood unconditional love when we held our first child.\u00a0We developed new skills and expertise when we stepped into a new position.\u00a0We learn to redefine our self when we retired. These transitions move us from one life chapter to another.<\/p>\n

Bridges discovered three stages to transition: 1) the Ending, such as the loss of a job; 2) the Neutral Zone, where we experience a disconnection with our past and future; and 3)\u00a0the New Beginning, when we move into new activities and start our next chapter without the limits of the previous chapter.<\/p>\n

U.S. culture values individualism.\u00a0We admire self-starters and believe in pushing forward through adversity.\u00a0We want to move through the most challenging and emotionally difficult transitions quickly.\u00a0Yet, the neutral zone is where our growth, insight, and next chapter begin.\u00a0There is richness in the neutral zone.\u00a0That is where we find the opportunity to reflect, question our beliefs, and audition new behaviors and ways of doing things. To skip the neutral zone is to skip self-discovery and deprive ourselves of lasting change.<\/p>\n

Make the neutral zone work for you<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Take time to celebrate the end of your previous chapter.\u00a0<\/em>Many clients tell me they experience excitement in starting a new job but know they will miss their former colleagues. Reflect about what went well in your pervious chapter and how it will serve you in the future.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n
    • Reflect on what supported you in the past and what beliefs no longer serve you.<\/em> This is the time to reflect on what you did well and what you would do differently.\u00a0Consider how you contributed to your past successes and failures in a job, relationship, or other life chapter.\u00a0Note the beliefs that served you well for years but are holding you back today.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n
      • Reconnect with your values and what\u2019s most important in your life.<\/em>\u00a0 Our daily lives are full of must dos. We are so busy accomplishing that we seldom take the time to be quiet and reflect on who we are and what we want.\u00a0 When we know and stand in our values, our best choices become clear.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
          \n
        • This is the time of discovery.\u00a0 Discover what you really want in your life, work, and relationships.<\/em> This is the time for big sky thinking.\u00a0What do you want your life to be in the next chapter?\u00a0This is the time to explore and audition your options.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          By doing the work, you will make the most out of the transitions in your life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          There is a thread that flows through my executive coaching engagements \u2013 transition.\u00a0 Clients are moving into challenging new positions, planning retirements, or searching for the next best opportunity. It was my own transition that led me to executive coaching.<\/p>\n

          During my mid-fifties…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1231,"featured_media":1147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[130,134,135,133],"class_list":["post-1208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights","tag-change","tag-new-position","tag-retirement","tag-transition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/owen-all-ldp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/owen-all-ldp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/owen-all-ldp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/owen-all-ldp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1231"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/owen-all-ldp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1208"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/owen-all-ldp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1210,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/owen-all-ldp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1208\/revisions\/1210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/owen-all-ldp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/owen-all-ldp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/owen-all-ldp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/owen-all-ldp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}