The Parental Leave Playbook

Chapter FiveTouchpoint 2 Assess

A THOROUGH ASSESSMENT of your transition is one of your most important tools in preparing for leave. It reminds you to stop and reflect on how this change will affect you and those around you at work and at home. Taking your time in the assessment phase will pay huge dividends throughout your leave and beyond.

Although it can be tempting to focus your efforts on the things that seem urgent, this touchpoint is situated in second place to prompt you to resist the instinct to jump straight into planning (which is the third touchpoint and comes after this one). You are going to create a stronger plan and better harness the opportunities of this transition if you take the time you need to consider the big picture. Understanding yourself, your guiding values, and your goals, as well as what you have working for you and against you during this transition, are key to any successful leave plan.

When you become a parent, you are not just experiencing a change, you are undergoing a fundamental life transition. William Bridges, a prominent transition theorist, researcher, and organizational consultant, explained the difference between change and transition this way: “Transition is not just a nice way to say change. It is the inner process through which people come to terms with a change, as they let go of how things used to be and reorient themselves to the way that things are now.”¹

Change happens rapidly and can be entirely passive; transition happens ...