Starting over: What teams really need in times of change

I was 15 when the doctor told me that my knee could no longer cope with artistic gymnastics. I had done gymnastics for nine years, since I was six. And then it was over, from one day to the next.

When I tell this story at leadership conferences, many people expect a dramatic low point at this stage. There wasn't one. And that is exactly one of the most important points for me when it comes to change.

Change feels different from what you expect

To be honest, the end was "actually okay" for me. I had already lost some of my enjoyment of gymnastics. But what I then missed was something other than I had expected: the team. The regular contact with everyone, the training sessions together. I had always experienced gymnastics as a team sport.

I believe it's often similar in companies. Leaders prepare for resistance to the new strategy, the new process or the new structure. But what occupies employees most is sometimes not the thing itself at all, but what is lost along the way: a well-functioning team, familiar routines, people you enjoyed working with.

If you only talk about content during change, you miss this part. And you also miss the fact that some people are inwardly further along than you think.

Not a new beginning from zero

There was no break for me. That same year, 2020, I came into contact with athletics for the first time through the UBS Kids Cup. My talent was spotted there, and I switched.

The first training session was sobering. I was told I ran like a ballerina – with pointed toes, typical of gymnasts. General training was unfamiliar too. Nine years of experience, and yet in many ways I felt like a beginner.

And yet I didn't start from zero. I brought with me the habit of training regularly and always asking for feedback. Other things I had to learn completely from scratch, above all running itself. Two years later, I competed at the European U18 Championships in the 400 m. In total, I won eight medals at Swiss Championships.

For me, this distinction is the core of any change: what do I take with me, and what do I have to retrain? If you mix the two up, you make one of two mistakes. Either you cling to things that no longer fit. Or, along with the old process, you also throw away people's experience.

What teams need in times of change

From my own fresh start and from my work in a large company, I see four things above all that carry teams through change:

• An honest stocktake. Employees shouldn't hear "everything was wrong", but "this is what we're building on". That is usually true, too.
• Clarity about what needs to be learnt anew. Not as a reproach, but as a training plan. In sport, it is normal to relearn technique. In the office, this is often seen as a weakness.
• Visible progress. In athletics, you measure in seconds. In a transformation, this measurability is often missing, and that is exactly when energy drops. Small, visible milestones help.
• Not forgetting the team. When structures change, relationships are lost. That needs deliberate time and space.

What also strikes me is what is not on the list. After the end of my gymnastics career, there was no special person and no special event that turned everything around. It was simply the next step, and then the one after that. Change doesn't always need a grand gesture. Often it needs a clear next step.

The second fresh start: from elite sport to the office

After my time in athletics came the next switch: I joined a large insurer as a Management Associate. Today I work in teams where most others are over 50, and I present to the executive board.

This means I also know change from the perspective of the person who is new. You bring something with you, but you don't fully understand the rules yet. From sport, I knew pressure, routines and feedback. What was new was how much in a company runs through communication and stakeholder management. A good idea alone is not enough; you have to bring along the people it affects.

In every transformation, people move into new roles. What they bring with them is often overlooked. What they need is rarely asked.

Three questions for your team

If you are leading a change right now, try these three questions at your next team meeting:

• What stays? Which skills and experience carry forward?
• What do we retrain? Where do we need to relearn, and who helps with that?
• How do we notice progress? Which small milestone can we reach in the next few weeks?

The questions are simple. But they shift the conversation away from "everything is changing" towards "this is what we're building on".

These questions are at the heart of my keynote "Starting over after the end", which I give at leadership conferences, management events and kick-offs. If a change is coming up or already under way in your organisation, feel free to tell me what is changing and who will be in the audience. Then I'll tell you honestly whether and how the keynote fits.