Liminal Space: The Hidden Catalyst for Leadership Transformation

By David Cicerchi, Certified Leadership Maturity Coach

Today, I want to talk with you about something most people experience—but few know how to work with intentionally: liminal space.

But first, some context.

We’re living in a world marked by intensifying complexity, volatility, and uncertainty—economically, ecologically, politically, and socially. In the U.S., we’re seeing major shifts in how companies operate, what people value, and how global forces affect local stability.Just take a moment to consider what’s in the headlines:

• Economic contraction and unpredictable job growth

• New AI-driven disruptions and organizational restructurings

• Escalating climate-related disruptions and geopolitical tension

• Cultural fragmentation and trust in leadership rapidly eroding

In a context like this, your sense of self—your leadership identity, your confidence in your worldview—can be quietly or dramatically challenged. And when that happens, something very important comes online.

The Choice We All Face in Times of Change

When confronted with deep uncertainty or disorienting change, the ego—the part of us that defines who we are and how we function—doesn’t tend to respond with calm openness.

Instead, we’re faced with two very different paths:

1. Collapse into artificial comfort zones

   
   

   We try to reassert control. Go back to what we know. Seek structure, answers, and certainty—fast.

2. Lean into liminal space

   
   

   We open to the unknown. We allow discomfort to shape us. We listen, question, and wait for something new to emerge.

   
   

   We evolve.

What Is a Liminal Space?

Rick and Amy Simmons of the telos institute wrote a book called Unleashed: Harnessing the Power of Liminal Space, which provides a step-by-step manual for proactively curating liminality for our own breakthroughs and transformations. It has since become woven into their flagship leadership development program, The Vertical Frontier.

The word “liminal” comes from the Latin limen, meaning threshold. Liminal space is that in-between zone—when one identity, structure, or story is dissolving, but the next one hasn’t yet arrived.

It’s the space between what was and what will be. And it’s often triggered by moments like:

• A job loss or role transition

• A crisis of meaning or motivation

• A team restructure or cultural shift

• A change in technology, values, or leadership style

• A global event that disrupts business as usual

  
  

There’s no manual. No best practice to lean on. No “business as usual” is good enough. You’re standing at the threshold of something new… but you can’t yet see what it is.

A Leadership Example: When the Old Ways No Longer Work

Imagine you’re a mid- to senior-level leader in a manufacturing or logistics company.

Over the past three years, your world has been hit by wave after wave of supply chain disruptions—first COVID-related, then geopolitical instability, followed by raw material shortages. Costs have skyrocketed. Talent is hard to retain. People are burning out. The systems you once trusted no longer work the way they used to.

At one point, you knew what to do. You had a rhythm, a strategy, a reliable playbook.

But now—Nothing is certain. Your best people are leaving. Your own motivation is slipping.

And you begin to ask:

• “What are we even doing this for?”

• “Do I still believe in our mission?”

• “How do I lead when I’m not sure I have the answers?”

Welcome to liminal space.

The temptation is to double down. Tighten control. Revert to the old tactics. Push harder on what used to work.

But something in you knows—those answers won’t carry you forward.

So you pause. You listen. You stop trying to solve and start trying to sense.

You allow the deeper questions to rise:

• “What really matters now?”

• “How might we evolve—not just our processes, but our culture?”

• “What would it look like to lead from a deeper place of alignment and purpose?”

  
  

As you stay with the discomfort, something begins to shift. You stop trying to be the hero and start thinking like a catalyst. You start facilitating collaboration across silos, not just managing up. You advocate for a deeper inquiry inside your team—not just about targets, but about values.

Eventually, a new clarity begins to emerge. Maybe you lead a change in how your company measures success. Maybe you step into a new cross-functional role. Maybe you realize it’s time to leave and start something that aligns with who you’ve become.

Whatever the outcome—you’re not going back to who you were before.

You’ve moved through the crucible of liminal space.

What was once a crisis becomes a creative inflection point. Your sense of self evolves. And in the process, you’ve become a more integrated, mature, and visionary leader.

This is the power of allowing liminal space to transform you, instead of rushing to escape it.

How the Brain Changes in Liminal Space

In neuroscience, we refer to something called the default mode network—a pattern of brain connectivity that governs our habitual ways of thinking, perceiving, and making meaning. It’s how we “snap back” into our familiar identity every morning when we wake up.

But liminal space disrupts this. It breaks the loop due to new external stimuli that challenge the status quo.

And if we allow it—if we don’t rush to escape—we give our brain a chance to reorganize itself into a more complex configuration. New neural connections form. New possibilities arise. A new story begins to emerge.

This is the neurobiological underpinning of transformation.

Theory U: A Map for the Liminal Journey

MIT professor Otto Scharmer captured this process beautifully in his framework called Theory U. It’s a map for navigating liminal space:

1. Observe – Suspend judgment. Begin to notice with fresh eyes.

2. Let go – Release your grip on what no longer serves.

3. Presencing – Rest at the bottom of the U, in stillness, accessing your deepest source. Be fully present.

4. Let come – Begin to hear new insights, directions, longings. Allows visions of possibility to emerge.

5. Act – Prototype, experiment, build the new story step by step.

6. Embody – The new identity takes shape. You become someone new.

Transformation is not a flip of a switch. It’s a descent, a surrender, a re-formation. And it can’t be rushed.

How Liminality Drives Vertical Development

Vertical development—my core work as a Leadership Maturity Coach—is the process of growing into new ways of seeing, making meaning, and leading.

And each stage of development is separated by—you guessed it—liminal space.

For example:

• From Conformist (“I follow the rules”) → to Expert (“I master my domain”)

• From Expert → to Achiever (“I set goals and create impact”)

• From Achiever → to Catalyst (“I design systems and foster wholeness”)

Each leap requires letting go of the old story—and being willing to not know what comes next.

Liminality isn’t just a phase. It an essential step in the crucible of transformation.

What Makes a Catalyst?

By the time a leader reaches the Catalyst stage of development, they’ve been through multiple liminal spaces. They’ve learned how to tolerate ambiguity, complexity, and paradox.

They begin to:

• See inner human dynamics (values, emotions, relationships) as central to outer success

• Orient toward longer timelines and sustainability

• Hold “both/and” thinking instead of either/or

• Create space for team reflection, resilience, and transformation

  
  

The Catalyst is the leader who no longer drives toward quarterly wins alone—but asks: How are we evolving as a system? Are we building something that will last—and matter?

Your Invitation

We are all encountering liminal spaces—some personal, some professional, many shared.

But the real question is:

How do you respond when you're in a liminal space?

Do you cling to the known, rush to restore old routines, or control your environment to feel safe again?

Or…Do you pause, listen, reflect, and allow something new to emerge?

If you’re ready to explore the possibility that this uncertain moment is actually your invitation to grow, I’d love to walk with you.

Through leadership maturity coaching, vertical development programs, or complete partner offerings like telos’ Vertical Frontiers leadership program, I help leaders like you move through liminality into clarity, integrity, and transformation.

Schedule a conversation with me. Let’s find the meaning hidden in your uncertainty—and shape your next evolution.

In a world that’s shifting fast, the most powerful leadership move you can make may be to stop… and enter the unknown on purpose.

🌀 Let’s Talk – Schedule a Discovery Call

Below is the original video that inspired this blog post (assisted by ChatGPT):

Useful Resources:

• Telos Institute: Liminal Space defined as “a period of discontinuity that creates an openness to change.”

• “Tapping Into Our Liminal Space” by Rick Simmons: exploring how transition into leadership roles is often a liminal moment. the telos institute

• Otto Scharmer’s Theory U: a framework for leading from the emerging future

• Announcing My Partnership with the telos institute: my blog post introducing the Vertical Frontier leadership program, the Leadership Agility model and my work with telos.