CHOOSE: The Power of Choice in Workplace Transitions
- carolmastrofini
- Sep 9
- 4 min read
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in April 2025. We’re reposting it now to continue our ACTIV framework series on navigating workplace transitions with clarity and purpose.
Workplace transitions can shake your foundation. Starting a new role or facing an organizational change is a workplace transition that can feel overwhelming. The world moves quickly, and it’s easy to get swept up in reaction. You begin checking boxes, making safe moves, and doing what’s expected.
Workplace Transitions: Moving Beyond Reaction to Choice
But real transformation doesn’t come from reacting. It comes from choosing.
🔹What if, instead of rushing into the next thing, you paused long enough to explore what you truly want?
🔹What if, instead of a checklist of next steps, you gave yourself the gift of meaningful direction—rooted in clarity, values, and desire?
That’s the heart of CHOOSE, the second phase of the ACTIV coaching process. We build on the clarity uncovered in ACCESS. We begin to translate that self-awareness into action—not through tasks, but through intention.
It’s not about doing more, it’s about becoming more. We uncover the motivations that align your life and career with who you are meant to be.
ACTIV: A Framework for Navigating Workplace Transitions
The ACTIV model supports individuals, leaders, and organizations through change with clarity and purpose. It includes five phases:
ACCESS – Reconnect with your values, motivations, and deeper goals to uncover what truly matters.
CHOOSE – Make intentional decisions that reflect who you are and where you want to go in your workplace transition.
TAILOR – Shape the coaching process to your evolving needs, strengths, and preferences.
IMPLEMENT – Take action with clarity and confidence, putting your chosen path into motion.
VALIDATE – Reflect on progress, celebrate wins, and refine the plan to stay aligned with your goals.
Every ACTIV phase builds on the last. But it all begins with ACCESS—where reflection turns into direction.
✨ Real Choice Begins with Self-Leadership
Simon Sinek once said, “Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge.” But what if the person in your charge is you?
In times of transition, leadership begins within. Choosing means stepping back from the noise and pressure and asking yourself: “What do I truly want?” It means not just navigating a change but actively designing your next chapter.
🚀 A Real-Life Shift: Choosing a Path No One Else Could See
Consider Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx. Long before becoming a self-made billionaire, she was selling fax machines door-to-door. One day, frustrated by the discomfort of traditional pantyhose, she cut the feet off a pair to wear under white pants and a lightbulb went off!
But what sets Blakely apart isn’t just her creativity, it’s the way she chose her path at every step.
When industry experts advised her to take venture capital to scale quickly, she said no. She wanted to maintain full control of her company’s vision and values, a decision that ran counter to business norms. “I didn’t want anybody to tell me no,” she told Glamour in a 2012 interview. “If I had taken outside money, I would have had to listen to someone else’s idea of what my product or brand should be.”
Years later, Forbes named Blakely the youngest self-made female billionaire, not just because of the product, but because of how she built it. She built Spanx with conviction, ownership, and values-driven decisions that aligned with her personal and professional vision.
Blakely’s story is a powerful reminder: meaningful success doesn’t come from doing what others expect but from choosing what aligns with you.
That’s what the CHOOSE phase is all about.
Coaching Beyond the Checklist
Many people enter coaching during workplace transitions expecting to build a to-do list. But real coaching dives deeper.
We ask the questions that often get overlooked in the rush to be “productive”:
✅What have you been too busy or too afraid to name?
✅What would your life look like if it aligned with your deepest values?
✅What does success feel like—not just look like?
Goals still matter—but not as tasks to complete. We use them as guiding lights. As touchstones for the life you want to live, not just the career you want to build.
Coaching is about helping you uncover what truly motivates you. Coaching is about those deeper desires that lead to fulfillment and wholeness. The ones we often can’t reach on our own.
Intentional Choices That Align
When we work together in coaching, we explore choice holistically. It’s not just about aligning your next step with your goals but ensuring your decisions reflect:
✔️Your core values
✔️Your long-term aspirations
✔️Your real-life responsibilities and well-being
When your decisions reflect these priorities, workplace transitions become opportunities for growth instead of sources of stress.
We help you sort through competing priorities and pressures so your decisions come from a place of empowerment, not fear or reaction.
When choice is aligned, it brings peace—even in uncertainty.
Final Thoughts: This Is What Real Coaching Looks Like
Coaching isn’t about handing you a plan, it’s about walking beside you while you find your path. The work we do in the CHOOSE phase is about helping you find your purpose and navigate workplace transitions with intention and clarity.
Are you ready to walk your path with purpose?
📞 Let’s begin by scheduling a free 15-minute consultation and see where this path could lead.
📌 What’s Next?
Once you’ve made the choice, the next step is to TAILOR the journey. In the next post, we’ll explore how to TAILOR your path so it’s not just aligned—but truly your own.
Stay tuned.
