Q3 · 2015Successful transitions – why peace might be your missing piece

Hello everyone,

Some of my clients are currently facing a transition; be it a change of jobs in the same company, moving to a new company, or moving to another city or even another country. For some of them the change has been well planned and is based on their own decision to move to something new. Others have not had the choice because of organizational changes.

Why does change not have the same impact on everybody?

While some professionals and leaders seem to go relatively smoothly through the transition period, others have a harder time and this period has a significant impact on their careers and lives in general. Why does change not have the same impact on everybody? Is this only because of personality traits? Are some of us simply more resilient? Or are they better prepared for change?

In order to understand what change is we need to dig deeper.

In general a change is an event that is situational and external to us. Something old stops and something new begins; it’s that simple. What is much more important – from a performance psychologist’s perspective – is that there is not just a change management, but also a transition management.

Let me explain: a transition is a gradual psychological reorientation that happens inside us as we adapt to change, meaning it is that neutral zone between an ending and a new beginning. But what makes a transition so difficult and why is it that people often resist the transition and not the change? Because transition can lead to a loss of your identity and the entire known world, being in the neutral zone, is disorientating – and then there always remains the risk of failing in a new beginning.

But what makes a transition so difficult?

In this piece, I will not go deeper into the process of successful transition management. I would rather add an additional angle, which is based on the work I have been doing with clients who have been through change successfully: transition management starts with wherever YOU currently are.

To start your new journey successfully, it is a massive advantage if you have achieved inner peace before any transition. This will maximize the chances that the transition will not have an overwhelmingly negative impact on you and increases the chances of a prosperous new beginning.

Let me explain how I look at inner peace in the context of sustainable high performance. In the P6PROP® model, Peace is the fourth component of Personal Leadership Excellence. Put simply, inner peace is being in harmony with yourself and your perspective on life. From a more technical viewpoint, inner peace is a result of a high degree of self-awareness and self-acceptance. Knowing and accepting yourself allows you to be grounded within yourself, to remain confident and to develop optimal behaviors of personal effectiveness. This level of self-insight means that you must first know your personal preferences, your strengths and weaknesses, as well as how you come across.

Furthermore, in order to achieve inner peace, it is important that you reflect on and appreciate your personal history and that you have a clear understanding of your vision, where you want to go and what you want to achieve. Based on this, you must clearly identify your “good habits” for sourcing and managing your energy (physical, emotional and mental) and know when and where you have to make an effort to stay in control of your impulses.

Inner Peace will ground you in exceptional periods in your life

Inner Peace will ground you in exceptional periods in your life, when you have to be at your best while being in a transition.

I wish all of you who are currently facing a time of transition great strength and a positive outlook. The new beginning may be just around the corner.

Yours,