Leading Between Then & Now: The Leadership Threshold

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If you do not know to which port you are sailing, no wind is favorable.”
SENECA

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I display it in my office to this day.

January invites leaders to ask a similar question, not just where we’re going, but how we choose to cross into what’s next.

Standing at the Doorway
January is named for Janus, the ancient Roman god often depicted with two faces:  One looking backward, the other forward.  Janus did not preside over a single domain or outcome.  He governed thresholds: Beginnings and endings, past and future, here and there. In short, doorways.
 
The Romans understood something many modern leaders forget:  How you cross from one season to another matters.
 
Leadership, after all, is rarely about standing comfortably in certainty.  It’s far more often about guiding people through the in-between—when what was no longer fits, and what’s next isn’t fully clear.
 
Janus reminds us that the most effective leadership requires both memory and imagination.

A Lesson from the Driver's Seat
When we drive, we don’t fixate on the horizon miles away or at the address to which we're headed on our GPS.  Nor do we stare endlessly into the rearview mirror.  We'd crash if we did.  We focus primarily on what’s right in front of us and alongside us, occasionally glancing back to learn, adjust, and stay oriented.
 
Leaders who spend too much time looking backward risk nostalgia, paralysis, and possibly a crash, of sorts.

Leaders who stare too far ahead for too long risk abstraction and loosing people with disconnection.
 
Effective leadership happens in the present moment, informed by the past and guided by the future—but grounded in the now.
 
Janus would make a terrible driver if he tried to use both faces at once.  His wisdom isn’t about simultaneity, it’s about balance.

Meaning Looks Back.  Purpose  Looks Forward
This is where meaning and purpose enter the conversation.
 
Meaning is drawn from the past.  
It’s shaped by experiences, values, relationships, and moments when something mattered deeply.
 
Purpose grows out of that meaning, but it lives in the present and points toward the future. Purpose answers the question:  Given what has mattered, how will I choose to lead now?
 
The doorway—the Janus space—is where meaning becomes purpose.
 
And leaders who skip that space often struggle to inspire others.

A Personal Threshold
The first time I intentionally led a team through meaning and purpose work was in 1994, in the Texas Hill Country.  I had recently been elected the first and founding president of the Southwest Texas Critical Incident Stress Management Team—a group of volunteers serving first responders across the San Antonio area.
 
No one was paid.  Incentives were nonexistent.  What was present was a shared desire to help others in moments of profound suffering and trauma.
 
I knew that if this team was going to work, we needed something deeper than good intentions.  So, I worked with them to schedule a two-day retreat at the Omega Retreat Center in Boerne, Texas.  Together—fire personnel, EMTs, psychotherapists, and volunteers who barely knew one another—we slowed down.  We listened.  We discovered who we were and what we stood for.
 
Out of that space emerged a shared team mission, vision, and values.
 
Years later, when I left the region, the team presented me with a piece of etched glass bearing that mission—words that still remind me that meaning, once named, has staying power.
 
That experience shaped the work I’ve done ever since.

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Why This Matters Now
Today’s leaders are navigating constant change, fatigue, and pressure to “move fast.”  But speed without meaning leads to burnout.  Vision without reflection leads to drift.
 
The most effective leaders I work with—from the frontline to C-suite—know when to pause at the doorway.  They know how to help their teams: 

• Learn from the past without living in it 
  
• Plan for the future without escaping into it 
  
• Lead fully in the present with clarity and purpose 

This is the work of purpose-driven leadership. 

And it’s the work I love partnering with leaders to do.
 
If January has you standing between what was and what’s next, you’re exactly where Janus would want you:  At the threshold.
 
The question is not whether you’ll move forward.

It’s how you’ll lead others through the doorway.

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Have an amazing journey today!

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Alan Mikolaj is an author, seasoned coach, and leadership development consultant with over 20 years of experience.  He is passionate about helping leaders transform their leadership, their teams, and their organizations.  He has an impactful, professional approach driven by a passion for meaning and purpose, a growth mindset, and a commitment to excellence and service in order to drive change and results.

Alan holds his Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology and Associate Certified Coach credential with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and maintains their ethics and standards of behavior, including the standards regarding confidentiality.  You can learn more about them on the ICF website.

Transformational change starts with a conversation!
Schedule your free, one-hour session by clicking here: Discovery Conversation with Alan
Or call or email: Contact Page

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