(February 25, 2025 Newsletter)
I recently had an interesting revelation among a group that I coach – everyone is in the midst of a CEO transition.
While it wasn’t the reason that we had brought this particular group together, it turns out it was “in the water” for all of them, impacting the pace and direction of their work, along with the mood across each organization.
It lined up with a recent email I got from a former client updating me that her manager had recently left and her future at the company suddenly felt uncertain.
Why it matters
It can be jarring to have transition happen around you.
Maybe you were hoping for a promotion that is now going to on hold. Maybe you’re hoping it opens up opportunities for you. Maybe you’re concerned about morale.
The main question is where do you put your energy at a time like this?
Staying steady in 3 steps
Get clarity. When an announcement with big implications comes out, everyone naturally asks themselves the same question – “What does this mean for me?” If you were given instructions about what you can (or should) say to your team, that’s great, but if not, make a list of questions and do your best to get answers to as many as possible. Don’t be shy about asking if you think the answers are important.
Ask “What’s needed of me?” In the immediate, make yourself available for anyone in your org who needs to process. If they ask questions to which you don’t have answers, it’s ok to be honest and offer what you can – a timeframe, a best guess (responsibly!), or compassion. As time passes, what’s needed of you might evolve, so keep this question on a post-it near you so it stays top of mind.
Separate your needs from your team’s. If you’re anxious about the transition, recognize and separate that from your support of others. If you were in the process of trying to make some shifts happen, there are two likely scenarios that will emerge: making the case why right now is exactly the time to make that shift quickly (let’s say you were angling for a promotion – taking on added responsibility might be exactly what’s needed!); or accepting that the timeline just slowed down until the replacement is chosen and onboarded.
Final thought: In periods of uncertainty, when re-alignment is going to happen but you don’t know what it is yet (or when), anchoring yourself in your core values is more important than ever. Ask yourself:
What’s important to you and why during this period of transition?
How will you know that you’re making the right choices?
What’s in and out of your control at this point?
The Coaching Corner
Wrapping up quickly when you’re in a rush
Even if you only have 2 minutes left in a meeting, don’t skip the step of closing it up. It’s better to pause whatever is happening and say “I want to make sure we have a few minutes to wrap up” than end with “Ok we’ll keep going next time” with no conclusion. If you’re in a rush, try one of these:
What’s the one most important step you’re taking from our call?
What’s the most important thing for us to follow up on next time?
Where are we picking up next time?
Recommendations
Two fantastic episodes of Rethinking from the last few weeks:
“Cancelling cancel culture with Loretta Ross” – apropos last week’s newsletter on whether people can change, I jotted down this quote from the episode: “You don’t have the magic power to make other people change but you have the power to offer the love and support to give them the space to grow.”
“Decoding cross-cultural communication with Erin Meyer” – I’ve written here a few times about the amazing book The Culture Map and apparently she has a new book out now that I haven’t read yet, but she talks about in this episode so I’ll put it on the queue for now.
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