ABSTRACT

The "transition anxiety" may lead the leader simply to identify what he or she is familiar with and to turn for support to people who are reassuring but not necessarily competent or legitimate–they may simply choose to flatter the leader, out of anxiety. A psychological splitting may even take place between feelings and the intellect. Splitting is an unconscious mental process that comes particularly to the fore in highly complex situations–and transition is one example of these. The fact that new leaders need to get their bearings usually leads them to search for familiar aspects in the new system, which they can relate to their past experience–aspects such procedures, policies, types of people or domains of competence that can provide feeling of security. Nevertheless, the response of leaders to the kind of situation can vary and the risks entailed by splitting will depend on the context and on the way the leader experiences his or her transition.