Leadership Grief

Leadership transitions are usually described by what is gained: greater authority, wider influence, and new opportunities.

Less is said about what may be lost.

You wanted the opportunity to lead and had worked hard for it. You still missed the ease of certain relationships, the satisfaction of doing the work directly, and the professional identity you already understood.

Former peers may have became direct reports. Decisions, budgets, conflict, and responsibility for other people’s work replaced parts of the job you had valued.

The role was not wrong. The loss was still real.

Leadership grief gives language to the quieter losses that can accompany wanted growth.

Naming it does not remove the work of learning to lead. Delegation, boundaries, accountability, and allowing others to carry responsibility still matter.

It helps us distinguish what needs to be learned from what deserves to be acknowledged as loss. It also creates room to consider how something valued from an earlier role might take a new form in the work ahead.

What has felt like a leadership weakness that may, in part, be an unnamed loss?

Click here to continue exploring Leadership Grief through our complementary webinar, facilitated workshop, and Leadership Grief Trail Guide tool.