Good Bye : Leading change better by attending to endings

Business Book Awards 2026 Shortlisted in Leadership category

Nobody likes to talk about endings. Heres why we need to.

Leaders spend a lot of time planning new initiatives. But what about the endings that go along with them? Most leaders are not taught how to manage themselves, let alone their teams and organization, through the messy, multifaceted discomfort of an ending. Making a team member redundant, merging two teams, cutting funding to a failed project: in all these situations we tend to focus on the new beginning, and rush past the ending that needs our care and attention. Dealing with endings well takes maturity and emotional intelligence. Leaders need to understand and process their own feelings before they can lead others through transition.

Why does this matter? Because poorly managed endings leave a scar on everyone involved. Discretionary energy and motivation are not so forthcoming. Change programmes dont get traction, resistance and cynicism take root. Change fails.

Leading Executive Coaches Alison Lucas and Lizzie Bentley Bowers provide this missing piece of the change leadership puzzle: a way of leading yourself and others through change in a respectful, emotionally agile way. Because better endings mean better beginnings.

Good Bye highlights a crucial yet often overlooked moment in leadership and organizational life, offering valuable tools and actionable guidance. It will undoubtedly benefit leaders seeking to handle moments of parting with clarity and care. - Kirsty Devine, Head of US HR, Financial Times

I am adding this title to my recommended reading list! - Professor David Clutterbuck

Leading Executive Coaches Alison Lucas, of Randolph Partnership Ltd, and Lizzie Bentley Bowers, of The Causeway Coaching Ltd, are professionally accredited coaches and facilitators, working at board and senior level across all sectors to equip leaders to thrive in a complex and uncertain world.