Between corporate layoffs, office closures, promotions, rebrands and internal transformation, we experience endings every day. Despite this, very little attention is paid to processing these endings.
For too long, work and leadership advice has focused on beginnings – how to make a great first impression, nail a new job, or start projects on the right foot. But what about endings – how can we successfully lead through messy transitions like redundancies, retirement or mergers?
Poorly managed endings can leave scars on both leaders and employees, which kill motivation, trigger resistance and lead to change initiatives failing.
The book is incredibly timely – with UK businesses cutting jobs at the fastest pace in 4 years*, mass layoffs at Amazon and Meta and record numbers of CEO resignations and departures in 2025.
Written by Alison Lucas and Lizzie Bentley Bowers – top leadership coaches who work with senior leaders and the C-suite to equip them to thrive in a complex and uncertain world.
In their new book Good Bye, top leadership coaches Alison Lucas and Lizzie Bentley Bowers argue that, by not giving space to the messy and uncomfortable feelings that come with an ending, we are unable to properly let go – often leaving both leaders and employees with scars that negatively impact our workplaces and careers.
Good Bye reveals how leaders can manage endings with care, respect and emotional agility. This is key to creating better beginnings – to the success of new jobs, change initiatives, mergers and company culture.
Distilled from two decades of working with leaders in transition, and born out of practice, this highly practical book guides readers in navigating the four steps of endings – Reality, Emotion, Accomplishment and Ritual – offering a powerful framework for working through past, present, and future endings.
Packed full of exercises, stories, and reflection prompts designed to help leaders (and their teams) process endings, recognise what’s been achieved, and create meaningful closure, Good Bye equips leaders to lead with emotional intelligence and transform endings into opportunities.
Readers will learn how to:
Lead with compassion through change, disruption and transition.
Support themselves and others through endings with grace.
Navigate the discomfort of notice periods as both a leader and employee.
Process and heal the scars left by endings such as redundancy.
Remove the invisible weight of past transitions, and untangle the emotional knots from past endings.
Good Bye is the missing piece of the change leadership puzzle: a powerful roadmap to leading through change with compassion, clarity and care.
Exclusive interviews and articles available:
Alison Lucas and Lizzie Bentley Bowers are available for interviews, expert comment or guest features around navigating change and endings in leadership and life, including:
Begin with the end in mind: Why endings are the missing piece of the leadership puzzle
Why you’re so much better at beginning projects than finishing them
Leaders: Here’s how to navigate employee notice periods, gracefully
The art and science of offboarding a client or colleague
How to say Good Bye to 2025 and start 2026 right
Supporting affected colleagues through a corporate restructure – expert tips
Parental leave remains taboo – here’s how HR can ensure their people feel supported
Good Bye by Alison Lucas and Lizzie Bentley Bowers is out now, published by Practical Inspiration Publishing and priced at £14.99 (Paperback) and £7.99 (eBook).
