Leading Through Transitions

The best-selling guide for coping with changes in life and work, named one of the 50 all-time best books in self-help and personal development Whether you choose it or it is thrust upon you, change brings both opportunities and turmoil. Since Transitions was first published, this supportive guide has helped hundreds of thousands of readers cope with these issues by providing an elegantly simple yet profoundly insightful roadmap of the transition process. With the understanding born of both personal and professional experience, William Bridges takes readers step by step through the three stages of any transition: The Ending, The Neutral Zone, and, eventually, The New Beginning. Bridges explains how each stage can be understood and embraced, leading to meaningful and productive movement into a hopeful future. With a new introduction highlighting how the advice in the book continues to apply and is perhaps even more relevant today, and a new chapter devoted to change in the workplace, Transitions will remain the essential guide for coping with the one constant in life: change.

The business world is constantly transforming. When restructures, mergers, bankruptcies, and layoffs hit the workplace, employees and managers naturally find the resulting situational shifts to be challenging. But the psychological transitions that accompany them are even more stressful. Organizational transitions affect people; it is always people, rather than a company, who have to embrace a new situation and carry out the corresponding change. As veteran business consultant William Bridges explains, transition is successful when employees have a purpose, a plan, and a part to play. This indispensable guide is now updated to reflect the challenges of today's ever-changing, always-on, and globally connected workplaces. Directed at managers on all rungs of the corporate ladder, this expanded edition of the classic bestseller provides practical, step-by-step strategies for minimizing disruptions and navigating uncertain times.

mastering the human side of change Leaders are constantly challenged with the daunting task ofmanaging ongoing change and transition. Not only do they need tocope with the structural side (creating a vision, reorganizing, andrestructuring), but they are also on the front lines of the peoplepart of change (grieving, letting go, building hope, andlearning). The Leading Through Transitions workshop and accompanyingParticipant Workbook provide you with the important information andtools needed to develop the key leadership skills that are socritical while facing unrelenting change. As a participant in this dynamic one-day workshop, you will beintroduced to the Authentic Leadership Paradox Wheel, and you willbegin exploring the dynamic tension between six pairs of seeminglyparadoxical leadership attributes: Being tough while simultaneously expressing appropriateempathy Catalyzing change while understanding transition Expressing a sense of urgency while retaining the capacity forrealistic patience Being self-reliant yet trusting others Radiating both optimism and realism Capitalizing on strengths while fostering the capacity to goagainst the grain Once you strike a balance with these behaviors, you can achieveauthenticity and trust. The maintenance of trust is the coreingredient required to lead others through difficult times. The Leading Through Transitions workshop is based on soundresearch, solid frameworks, and practical resources. It is designedto help you assess your individual and organizational patterns ofleadership behavior. During the workshop, you will be given thetools to evaluate what's working, what's not working, and what'smissing. This grounded, real world learning experience will giveyou the confidence to meet the demands of both managing thebusiness and leading your people.

The business world is a place of constant change, with stories of corporate mergers, layoffs, bankruptcy, and restructuring hitting the news every day. Yet as veteran consultant William Bridges maintains, the situational changes are not as difficult for companies to make as the psychological transitions. In the best-selling Managing Transitions, Bridges provides a clear understanding of what change does to employees and what employees in transition can do to an organization. Directed at managers and employees in today's corporations, Bridges shows how to minimize the distress and disruptions caused by change. Managing Transitions addresses the fact that it is people who have to carry out the change. When the book was originally published a decade ago, Bridges was the first to provide any real sense of the emotional impact of change and what can be done to keep it from disrupting the entire organization. With new information and commentary on layoffs, corporate suspicion, and the increasing tumult in the business world, Managing Transitions remains the definitive guide to dealing with change.

Combining expert knowledge, experience and reflections from senior leaders to distil collective leadership experiences, this book explores the realities of leadership at universities rather than the imagined and often-unrealistic expectations and perceptions of how leaders should act. This key text is an informed insider’s guide to leadership transitions that will assist talented individuals in considering whether to apply for, how to prepare for and how to take on the task of leading a university. The collection of leadership experiences provided will help universities to be more successful, students to have great educational experiences and staff at all levels to have more-fulfilling working environments. It will also consider how to avoid the emotional pain and suffering that can arise when leaders find themselves poorly equipped, unprepared, unable or unwilling to provide the sound and competent leadership that universities deserve. Centred on the practice and experience of leadership, this book will be a must-read for all new and existing heads of universities. It will also provide useful insights to those actively involved in the recruitment and development of senior leaders, members of senior leadership teams and those who hold governance roles in universities. Further updates and details about the application of the ideas in the book in practice can be found at www.leadershiptransitionsatthetop.com/.

Clear, actionable guidance toward managing a major leadershipchange Transitions at the Top is an insightful, informativeguide to navigating a change in leadership. A smooth transition iscritical to both the health of the organization and the success ofthe new leader, but good planning and strong strategy can helporganizations come out fresher and more driven on the other side.This book provides the specific principles, guidelines, and actionsthat boards, C-suite executives, and HR leaders need to guarantee asuccessful CEO transition. Continuity is key as one leader passesthe mantle to a successor, and this book spans the steps and eventsthat take place from when the candidate accepts the offer, all theway through the point where a critical mass of followers haveaccepted him or her as the established leader. Coverage includesguidance on who should be engaged in the process, as well asrole-specific advice for each member of the transition managementteam. Many books have been written to advise new incoming CEOs, butthere is little guidance available for the organization as a whole.This book provides actionable advice on smoothing the transitionwithout breaking stride. Maintain continuity during leadership transitions Strengthen focus on culture, systems, and processes Engage all influential executives in smoothing thetransition Lay a foundation to help the new leader succeed The transition management team plays a crucial role inmaintaining the health of the organization during a time of majorchange. Strong strategy becomes critical when an organization is influx, and high engagement is key. Transitions at the Topprovides expert insight, clear guidance, and a solid plan for asmoother transition.

This Harvard Business Review collection features the best in leadership transitions from celebrated author and advisor Michael D. Watkins. Watkins, who has worked for decades guiding senior leaders into new roles to help them and their organizations succeed, is the author of the international bestseller The First 90 Days. With more than 400,000 copies sold worldwide and published in more than 25 languages, the book has become the standard reference for leaders in transition. In addition to the full digital edition (ebook) of The First 90 Days, this collection includes digital editions of Watkins’ other popular works: Your Next Move, which guides professionals through the most common career transitions; Shaping the Game, on how to lead effective negotiations; and his 2012 Harvard Business Review article, “How Managers Become Leaders.” Watkins, whose ideas have guided some of the world’s best leaders through successful transitions, is the chairman of leadership development consultancy Genesis Advisers. Drawing on the perfect combination of research and hands-on experience, he has spent the last two decades working with leaders—both corporate and public—as they transition to new roles, negotiate the future of their organizations, and craft their legacy as leaders. He was previously a professor at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, Harvard Business School, INSEAD in France, and IMD in Switzerland.

As nonprofit organizations mature and grow, their staffs and programs expand, their operations and dynamics become more complex, and the climate they operate in changes and presents new challenges. If they are to move to a new level of effectiveness, they must periodically adjust their leadership, management, structure, governance, and operating style to fit their changed circumstances. Author Susan Gross calls these adjustments ""turning points."" The author's forty years of work with nonprofit organizations has shown that turning points are most likely to arise at seven predictable times in a group's life. Recognizing these turning points and taking action can ease the adjustments necessary as your organization pivots in a new direction. The seven turning points are: 1) When a loose, family style of operating leads to disorganization and a lack of professionalism or accountability; 2) When the management needs of an organization outstrip its executive director's management skills; 3) When a founding volunteer board hires its first executive director but finds it hard to delegate and adjust to a less involved role; 4) When opportunistic, unplanned growth results in an absence of focus and priorities and spreads an organization too thin; 5) When strong central direction becomes micromanagement, top-down control, and over-dependency on the leader 6) When decentralization goes too far, splitting the organization into autonomous units that have little or no connection, coherence, or coordination; and 7) When a longtime, cherished executive director must prepare to step down. This lively text includes charts, illustrations, and an engaging graphic design to help readers assess the state of their organizations and decide what changes to make.