Navigating the Unknown
A companion for leaders and teams crossing the territory between what was and what is not yet known
For whom
For leaders who find themselves at a threshold. Something has shifted. The role that fit no longer fits. The direction that was clear has lost its clarity. The strategy that worked has run its course.
For executive teams in the middle of a transition that cannot be solved by another offsite. A merger. A succession. A fundamental reorientation of what the organization is for.
For young leaders sensing that their path forward asks them to leave behind what brought them here.
This work is not for those who want a roadmap. It is for those willing to walk into territory without one, accompanied by someone who has crossed similar terrain.
What this is
There is a phase in every transition that gets little attention in leadership literature. The phase between letting go and arriving. The space where the old form has dissolved and the new one has not yet emerged.
Indigenous traditions have names for this. The Latin word is liminal, the threshold. Anthropologists describe it as the in-between, the time when a person or community is neither what they were nor what they will become.
Modern organizations rarely make room for this phase. We rush to fill it with action plans, communication strategies, change frameworks. We treat the unknown as a problem to be solved as quickly as possible.
But the unknown is not a problem. It is a passage. And what happens in the passage shapes everything that comes after.
I work with leaders and teams who recognize they are in such a passage. Not to speed them through it, but to help them be in it well. To listen to what wants to emerge rather than impose what should come next. To find ground beneath their feet when the familiar ground has shifted.
This is the work I was prepared for by my own journeys. Three months of complete silence after leaving McKinsey, not knowing what would come next. Ocean crossings where the only certainty was the next watch. Weeks among indigenous peoples in the Amazon, learning a different way of being with not-knowing. And decades of guiding others through their own thresholds, including the Vision Quests on the wilderness islands of Åland.
What I bring is not a method. It is a practiced capacity to be present with what has not yet taken form. To hold space for what wants to emerge through you, through your team, through your organization.
How this works
Every passage is different. So is every form this work takes.
For an individual leader, this may be a series of conversations over months. Sometimes in my home in the Netherlands, sometimes walking together, sometimes in nature where the noise of strategy falls away.
For an executive team, this may be a series of gatherings. Half a day, a full day, sometimes a few days together away from the office. We slow down enough for the real questions to surface. We make room for what cannot be said in regular meetings.
For young leaders, this may include Vision Quest as a deeper threshold experience. Time alone in wilderness to meet what is asking to be heard.
The shape of our work is found in our first conversation. There is no template I bring, no package I sell. Only attention to what your particular passage asks for, and a willingness to walk it with you.
Investment is discussed openly in our first conversation, shaped by what the work asks of both of us.
Questions leaders ask
How is this different from change management?
Change management focuses on moving an organization from one defined state to another. Navigating the Unknown is for moments when the new state is not yet known. The work is to be in the unknown well, so that what wants to emerge can be heard, rather than rushing to a predetermined outcome.
Do we need to know what we are looking for?
No. In fact, knowing too clearly what you are looking for often prevents you from seeing what is actually there. What you need is the willingness to listen and the patience to wait. I bring the steadiness while you find your own way through.
Is this only for big transitions?
Not necessarily. Sometimes a quiet inner shift is as significant as a major external one. The size of the transition matters less than the willingness to be present with it.
Can a team do this work together?
Yes. In fact, teams in transition often benefit more than individuals, because the passage is shared. The challenge is creating enough safety and depth for the real conversations to happen. That is part of what I bring.
What if we get stuck?
Getting stuck is part of the process. The unknown is not linear. There will be moments of clarity and moments of fog. My work is to help you stay with the fog when it comes, until the next opening appears.
A first conversation
If you sense that you, your team, or your organization is in a passage that needs different attention than the usual frameworks offer, the way to begin is simple. Send a short message. Tell me a little about where you are and what is moving. We will find a time to meet.