It is an understatement to say that COVID-19 has changed the world we live and work in – from the health threat to the changes in buying behaviour to the acceptance of working from home. The changes in our society are significant and will be long lasting.

As big as these changes are, it does not necessary follow that we will make the necessary adjustments to transition through them.

A change is an event that occurs regardless of the person’s willingness, whereas a transition is a choice and a psychological process (Bridges 2003).

All leaders and business owners are currently going through a significant change, but are you and your leaders consciously / proactively pushing forward with the transition or are they being dragged along by the changes kicking and screaming? Are they themselves, making the necessary adjustments, cognitively and behaviourally, that are required to transition through the crisis or are they waiting for things to go back to the way they were, hoping they don’t get ‘caught out’ in the interim?

COVID-19 has forced all leaders and business owners into a transition, not dissimilar to a role transition where a leader moves into a new position in the same, or a new, organisation. One of the main failure points we see with role transitions is where the leader undertakes their new role (makes the change) but stays stuck in their old mode of thinking and behaviour (does not make the transition). The leader now holds a more senior position but is still operating at their previous level, unable to ‘let go’ of what is no longer working and adopt the new skill requirements to be successful at their new level.

Under COVID-19, the leaders that will perform most effectively both during and after the crisis will be the ones who respond to the challenges, are able to ‘let go’ of what worked for them before but no longer does, and transition effectively through the stages they experience.

Bridges (2003) suggested that a transition contains three phases: an ending, a neutral zone and a new beginning.

• The ending is indicative of the leader discarding old beliefs, assumptions and behaviours in acceptance of the new situation.
• The neutral zone involves the leader replacing the old beliefs and behaviours with new ones. This is the most challenging of the three stages due to high expectations, anxiety, uncertainty and a lack of definitive outcomes.
• Once the leader has grasped the new skills and outlook, they enter the third stage, a new beginning.

In a role transition this three-phase process generally happens once. As a result of COVID-19, we can expect to see leaders undergo several transitions. They are in the middle of the first transition – the initial move to remote working and other aspects of our current state. They will then move through another transition back to working in central locations and then onto the ‘new normal’ which may take months to become clear.

In each stage there will be significant change thrust upon them. To succeed they will need to make the adjustments and adopt new skills / perspectives to effectively transition. Or they will find themselves stuck, less effective and underperforming.

COVID-19 has plunged leaders at all levels and across all organisations, into a forced transition – from what was normal to the current interim stage and then to what will be the new normal. In the same way as undertaking a new role is a transition, moving from the old business world into the COVID-19 business world is a transition. Leaders will likely face another transition, as and when, we come out of this crisis.

There are 6 key challenges leaders face in a role transition:

1. Cognitive challenges. The ability to let go of what worked for them before in order to be successful in a new role, requires leaders-in-transition to change their cognitive models. Leaders can struggle to make these cognitive shifts as they are challenged by long held beliefs, assumptions and values.
2. Psychological challenges. Leaders-in-transition commonly experience anxiety, stress, uncertainty, loneliness, isolation and self-doubt. Leaders-in-transition need to increase their level of self-awareness, emotional intelligence and emotional control to manage the psychological challenges they will face.
3. Interpersonal skills. As leadership roles increase in seniority, so do the requirements of strong interpersonal skills. Senior leaders need to be able to influence others, communicate and ‘sell’ their vision, establish trust and build support among multiple stakeholders.
4. Behavioural Challenges. For many leaders to be successful in a new role, new patterns of behaviour must be developed. Some of the behaviours that served them well in the past will not drive desired outcomes in the new role.
5. Relational Challenges. Leaders-in-transition need to collaborate and align with different people in order to be successful in a new role. They tend to spend more of their time aligning and linking with people in a new role, building new partnerships, appreciating opposing views, dropping old biases and fostering discourse.
6. Role Perspective Challenges. Leaders-in-transition need to understand their new role within the context of the organisation and its culture from a systemic perspective.
   

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For leaders, and for those who are supporting leaders, this framework offers an excellent starting point for a discussion into the challenges currently faced. It will prompt for the changes required in the short and long term. It could also act as a starting point in designing practical development programs that will help leaders navigate this extraordinarily challenging time to hopefully emerge on the other side, less battered and bruised, and well positioned for the recovery.