Over the next month or so, I am going to be focusing on the concept of ‘Business Transitions’.
There are six such Transitions, and they are all worth understanding so you can identify whether your business is calling for a Transition of its own.
There are six such Transitions, and they are all worth understanding so you can identify whether your business is calling for a Transition of its own.
A Pivot
A new direction entirely
An Elevation
New ambition, desire for greater sophistication
A Contraction
A necessary downsizing
An Expansion
Rapid growth or scaling
A Merger
Two entities becoming one
A Renewal
A plateaued business seeking a brighter future
When I work with clients, being able to name their transition is very helpful because it shows them the big picture – the long arc of their businesses’ change process, which allows them to orient themselves toward this journey and to lead it better.
A Pivot requires swift action and decisiveness, but an Elevation requires something completely different when it comes to leadership: willingness to stretch, curiosity, bravery, sitting in the grey areas, creativity, etc.
A Pivot requires swift action and decisiveness, but an Elevation requires something completely different when it comes to leadership: willingness to stretch, curiosity, bravery, sitting in the grey areas, creativity, etc.
It is unlikely that your business is not going through a Transition of some kind, and your choice is whether or not to pay attention to these Transitions.
Those who do pay attention to them are generally highly attuned to their business, are organisationally orientated as a leader (i.e. they recognise that their organisation is a living, dynamic thing that needs leading and shaping) and are attracted to the performance upside that being organisationally aware offers.
Those who don’t pay attention to Transitions are generally gritty and scientific by nature and more attracted to the immediate challenges that a business presents, rather than the more nuanced leadership approaches that are now available.
Here’s the thing about Transitions that’s worth paying attention to: these moments of change offer a ‘fork-in-the-road’ opportunity to rewrite the future ‘story’ of your business that doesn’t come around very often. An opportunity to rewrite the rules, reset your standards, jack up your ambitions and put yourself and your business on a more rewarding path.
Those who do pay attention to them are generally highly attuned to their business, are organisationally orientated as a leader (i.e. they recognise that their organisation is a living, dynamic thing that needs leading and shaping) and are attracted to the performance upside that being organisationally aware offers.
Those who don’t pay attention to Transitions are generally gritty and scientific by nature and more attracted to the immediate challenges that a business presents, rather than the more nuanced leadership approaches that are now available.
Here’s the thing about Transitions that’s worth paying attention to: these moments of change offer a ‘fork-in-the-road’ opportunity to rewrite the future ‘story’ of your business that doesn’t come around very often. An opportunity to rewrite the rules, reset your standards, jack up your ambitions and put yourself and your business on a more rewarding path.
This is the true value of a Transition: not merely to change, but to change for the better.
Navigating a Transition is truly an art form: one of those fairly rare business processes that rely on creativity, imagination, vision and subtlety.
If your business requires a form of Transition – an expansion, a contraction, an elevation, a renewal, or a pivot – you’d be well advised to get up the learning curve of what a Transition is and how a Transition is best led.
If your business requires a form of Transition – an expansion, a contraction, an elevation, a renewal, or a pivot – you’d be well advised to get up the learning curve of what a Transition is and how a Transition is best led.