Transitions present us with opportunity not just uncertainty. It’s how we manage ourselves that counts.

As we move from one critical situation to another or one career/life phase to the next, gaps open up which allow a deep dive into the how, what, where, when and who of the presenting challenge. Ironically there can be more time during these periods to read journals, review articles, research topics of interest, attend conferences or just to find time ‘to be.’ In the words of my favourite espionage fiction writer Mick Herron, ‘time grows elastic at moments of stress,’ a phenomenon which many of us will recognise. The things that get pushed to the bottom of the to do pile in the everyday scramble of busy lives, become more focussed, pertinent, and even more enjoyable, when we use them to attend to our real needs in periods of critical transition: the human ‘doing’ transforms into the human ‘being’.

We all have our systems of how we prepare for change, keep up to date and expand our knowledge, skills, and experience.  What I observe in myself and others, however, is that we are less good at creating true ‘head space’ for the big decisions which support transitions. We are far less mindful of cultivating the real, in depth thinking and feeling, which permits safe and positive entry into new professional and personal territory.

To do this, both intellectual and emotional space, is important. Immersing ourselves in the present context (dilemma, transition, or challenge) to live with the uncertainty, and embrace the turbulence, even if living through and with that turbulence brings discomfort, is how we can progress positively.  It’s the personal or professional equivalent of switching on the fasten your seat belt signs, acknowledging it going to be bumpy, but not needing to grab the hand of passenger next to you, or take diazepam to soften your sensory input!

Creating space for good decision making in what can feel like chaos, where there are no quick solutions, is part of our developing personal and leadership skills set. The ability to identity what is truly uncertain and difficult and without immediate solution, compared to what we can define confidently as a given, is harder than it appears. During the process of transition, however, both of these steps in correct sequence are what makes a seemingly insoluble problem more manageable.

To achieve this space, recognising situational need as well as deploying our own self-management and awareness, we need to create for ourselves a niche to inhabit. In this niche we can support ourselves to persist in the unresolved conflict and uncertainty of the situation, without being deconstructed by the process of change itself. It’s what some would define as resilience.

Here, we can take time to understand and adjust, not just intellectually but emotionally and physically; perhaps even to recognise an understanding at an ill-defined, deep visceral level, more akin to intuition. This takes time.  Additionally, often it needs the lens of someone independent of our experiences, to help widen our perspective and navigate our blind spots. Small incremental degrees of perspective which can deliver a vision for transformative change.

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom”.
Victor Frankl