Transition Expertise and Identity

Christopher Connolly is Director of SyCon and Transition Expertise. He pioneered applied sport psychology by working with Olympic gold medal winners, professional sports people, and international athletes on both sides of the Atlantic. He has also worked with musicians and conservatories throughout Europe. He is the author of five books on human performance and is widely recognized in business and sport for the application of his expertise in team development and elite performance.

Using a cross-disciplinary approach, this book explains how expert performers in sport, music, and business make successful career transitions to senior levels in their field. In-depth interviews illustrate the stories of their lives, bring theory alive, and illuminate the roles of motivation, identity, self concept, and cognitive abilities.

Preface: is there such a thing as transition expertise?; Introduction; 1. Introduction: career transitions in expert performers; Part I. Transitions: 2. Career stage transitions: a work life cycle review; 3. The expert transition cycle: the process of change in a transition; 4. Intelligence, cognition, and expertise: as they inform transition expertise; Part II. Transition Expertise: 5. Cognitive flexibility: mental adaptation and evolution; 6. Generative intelligence: the intelligence of change; 7. Personal intelligences: awareness of self and others in transitions; 8. Contextual intelligence: utilizing the environment in transitions; Part III. Motivation: 9. Motivation: the intrinsic organization of choice; 10. Purpose: motivation informing meaning; Part IV. The Project of the Self: 11. Identity: its adaption during the expert transition cycle; 12. Self concept: its evolution during career stage transitions; Conclusion; 13. Conclusion: findings and future opportunities; Appendices; Appendix 1: methodology; Appendix 2: Non-transitions.