The Yellow Brick Road of Transformation By Robert L. Pruitt
- Pru
- Aug 3, 2025
- 2 min read
“Change is not a task—it’s a threshold. And every threshold reveals what’s no longer needed and what’s eternally true.”
Most organizations don’t suffer from a lack of ideas.
They suffer from an inability to move through change without burning out or breaking down.
That’s because transformation isn’t linear—it’s energetic, emotional, and deeply human.
We like to manage change with project plans and process maps. But real change? It asks something deeper of us: presence, patience, and the courage to walk through the unknown.
🌀 Phase 1: Departure – The Disruption of “What Was”
Change begins when the truth can no longer be ignored.
In this first phase, there’s often discomfort, confusion, or quiet dissonance.
It’s not always dramatic. Sometimes, it’s a subtle knowing: this no longer fits.
Leadership Invitation:
Name what’s ending.
Hold space for grief.
Normalize disorientation.
🌒 Phase 2: Initiation – The In-Between Unknown
This is the space between no longer and not yet.
Here, resistance and vulnerability are natural. But so is potential.
Leadership Invitation:
Allow ambiguity.
Nurture emerging insights.
Resist the urge to rush through.
“In the void, possibility is born—but only if we stop trying to control it.”
🌕 Phase 3: Return – The Emergence of the New Way
True transformation doesn’t return us to who we were. It reveals who we are.
The return is not just about celebration—it’s about integration. Aligning new truths with how we lead, build, and relate.
Leadership Invitation:
Ground new awareness into values, structure, and culture.
Celebrate who your people became, not just what they achieved.
⁉️So Why Do Most Change Efforts Fail?
Because we try to skip the sacred.
We overlook the invisible.
We push for results without honoring the energy it takes to evolve.
Most efforts fail because:
The emotional phase is skipped
We prioritize doing over being
We announce the return before we’ve even mourned the departure
🚶🏾♂️Walking the Yellow Brick Road
Transformation isn’t a corporate buzzword.
It’s a sacred path back to alignment.
3 Energetic Practices for Leaders:
Name the Invisible Shift – Start with what’s felt, not just what’s measured.
Hold the Middle – Stay with the unknown. Let emergence do its work.
Celebrate the Becoming – Reflect on who you’ve become, not just what you’ve built.
🧖🏽♂️ Final Thought
The Yellow Brick Road wasn’t just a way to get to Oz. It was a way back to self—walked step by step, in curiosity and courage.
In today’s workplace, that same path remains.
It’s sacred. It’s necessary. And it’s ready to be walked with intention.
📄 Read the full position paper here:
🎧 Looking for a softer way to reflect?
Try this 4-minute Whisperer story to deepen your leadership from the inside out:
#LeadershipFromCenter #MetaphysicalLeadership #ChangeManagement #OrganizationalTransformation #TheWhisperer #LetLifeSurpriseYou #WholenessWorks
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