Fundamentals of Level Three Leadership

126. Change Is Like Dying Little Deaths

Concept

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (EKR) pioneered the study of near-death experiences. Her book, On Death and Dying, became a classic.²² In it, she outlined a series of steps or phases through which she had observed the dying to progress.

These phases were:

1. Denial. The person refuses to believe the impending diagnosis.

2. Anger. When forced to accept the diagnosis, anger sets in.

3. Bargaining. When the anger subsides, she said, people try to change the diagnosis by promising to do this or that if only they could live longer.

4. Depression. When it becomes clear that the diagnosis is not going to change, the emotional state turns to depression, a sad acknowledgment of the looming reality.

5. Acceptance ...