We have been informed by this view of adult life during our many years of practice, writing, model building and research. This broad developmental perspective and approach has guided our work and understanding of the coaching paradigm and the change process. Over time we developed a model for under standing and normalizing the ongoing cycle of change that occurs at an increasingly rapid pace in our lives today. This model provides us with a normative and development framework for conceptualizing where an individual or system might be at any point in life’s journey.
THE CYCLE OF RENEWAL
Change creates the crucible for development, and change can be triggered by internal or external forces and events and circumstances in our lives. It may be a promotion, a firing, a major shift in roles with new demands at hand. It may be a performance review that requires some adjustments, a promotion that requires a move to another continent, a first career position or the final capstone, a death or a challenging illness at home. All of these changes catch us off guard and the bigger the surprise, the greater the opportunity and invitation for our own development. We’ve built a model we term “The Cycle of Renewal” to provide a framework for viewing a cyclical and normative cycle of ongoing change that intersects with the human systems at play at any point in the adult journey. Unlike the older linear models tied to specific ages and stages, we view development throughout the adult years as continuous and growthful. This same cyclical change process occurs in the individual and larger systems – so it’s equally applicable to individuals, teams and organizations.
A brief walk through the cycle begins in the quadrant labeled “Out of Sync” – familiar territory to all of us. We find ourselves here when we have a vague sense of ennui and as we move further down the arc, our sense of discontent grows in intensity: It might be the team that has accomplished a big goal and the carrot is gone, the glory is over; the leader into a position that suits her pocketbook and status but not her heart, skills and dreams; or the 55 year old who thought the JOb was secure and lived accordingly only to find it all go up in smoke overnight. In all of these situations we feel discouraged. There is a sense of hopelessness – big or small, a feeling of helplessness, and a languishing in that doldrums place with no wind to help move us in one direction or another.
We have only a handful of choices when we find ourselves in this place. Of course, we can dig in our heels, get angry, and refuse to take action. Non-action typically results in more of the same – and eventually even this stance is impossible to maintain. In order to move out of this quadrant we need to make some changes – either small adjustments (a mini-transition) or deeper changes that result in real developmental shifts of the transformative kind. We tend to make the decision about whether to make a small adjustment and keep moving ahead or take the longer road based on how big the change is with which we are faced. Big endings and beginnings offer (and just as often, force) us to make some major changes in our lives or larger systems.
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