What It Takes to Lead Endings, Not Just Change
- May 1
- 4 min read
Carla Madeleine is an attorney, executive leader, and advisor who guides executives in integrating unexamined inner aspects so their leadership becomes examined rather than reactive. Her work bridges authority, authenticity, and inner transformation, particularly during moments of personal and organizational transition.
Most organizational change efforts focus on what comes next. Far fewer entities make space for what is ending. In transitions, there is often a visible shift: titles change, roles are redefined, and new direction is set. But beneath that visible shift is something less acknowledged: something has ended.
When working with organizations undergoing change, what I often observe is not a lack of strategy or a vision forward, but a lack of space acknowledging what is being left behind. And when leaders do not hold space for that completion to be processed, the transition is impacted in ways leaders often do not anticipate or understand.
I see this play out not only in the context of succession. It shows up in restructures, culture shifts, and moments of change where the focus quickly turns to what comes after. But before people can fully step into the new, there is often something that needs to be seen, named, and, yes, even grieved. And we do not talk about that in an organizational setting enough.
What is actually ending
In leadership transitions, what is ending is rarely just a person leaving a role.
It can include identity, relationships, ways of working, and unspoken agreements that have shaped how people relate to one another. For the outgoing leader, it may be a chapter ending of meaning and responsibility. For the incoming leader, it may be stepping into something that carries history they did not create. For the team, it may be a shift in stability, expectations, and connection.
When these layers are not acknowledged, the transition is treated as a structural change rather than a human one, which often leaves emotions unresolved that can show up organizationally in team cohesion, productivity or quality, or trust (or lack thereof) in leadership, among other ways.
What often goes unspoken
In these moments, a range of emotions are present (even if rarely voiced openly or collectively).
One such sentiment is grief. Regardless of whether a transition is expected or without contention, it arises as people recognize the end of something meaningful. Another emotion is guilt, which can surface in different ways: for leaving, for staying, for feeling ready for change, or even for feeling relief. There can be tension between honoring what has been and making space for what is emerging.
Without intentional space held by leadership for such moments, these experiences tend to remain beneath the surface. Yet what is unspoken does not disappear; it simply finds other ways to express itself.
When endings do not get acknowledged
When there is no space to acknowledge what is ending, the effects are often subtle but can become significant.
What appears as misalignment may be an unprocessed transition. What is labeled as resistance may be a response to change that has moved faster than people could integrate. Trust can become strained, not because of a single decision, but because something important was never fully seen or honored.
The incoming leader may find themselves navigating dynamics that feel unclear or unexpectedly heavy. The outgoing leader may remain present in ways that are not fully resolved. And the team has to continue forward while still holding pieces of what has not been completed.
What it requires to lead endings
Leading through change is not only about setting direction: it also involves holding the moment of transition itself.
This can look like naming what is ending, even when it feels uncomfortable. As leaders, we are programmed to push past that discomfort and rally the organization into the new era without processing. Leadership should fight that knee-jerk reaction and deliberately create space for reflection, rather than moving immediately to action. While allowing for or inviting a range of emotions, including those that are mixed or difficult to articulate, may feel threatening to a leader’s status or ability to hold this process, or even distracting or derailing, the opposite is true.
As leaders, the most stabilizing thing we can offer our teams in moments like these is space to collectively and individually honor what has been. This can actually support a more grounded and aligned step into what comes next.
These practices do not slow down change; they allow it to take root in a more sustainable way.
Closing reflection
Before moving fully into the next iteration of your team or organization, it can be useful to pause and ask:
What is ending here that has not yet been named?
What might people be carrying that has not had space to be expressed?
What would it look like to acknowledge this moment more fully?
In times of transition, how leaders hold what is ending shapes how people are able to step into what comes next.
Read more from Carla Madeleine Kupe
Carla Madeleine Kupe, Executive Leadership Advisor
Carla Madeleine is an attorney, executive leader, and trusted advisor who works with leaders navigating power, responsibility, and transition. With a background in law, executive leadership, and organizational change, she helps individuals identify and integrate unexamined inner patterns that quietly shape decision-making, authority, and trust, particularly during periods of uncertainty, contraction, and reimagination. Carla writes at the intersection of leadership, inner work, and change, offering grounded insight for those shaping the future.
