“Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.”
– Henry Ward Beecher
All around us these days we have seen some extraordinary things—hospitals being built in two days, manufacturing plants pivoting from one product to another in less than a week, “plan B” operations being set in motion in days, rather than months or years. Moreover, if you had asked most of these organizations just three months ago about the probability of these feats being undertaken and executed so quickly, they may have laughed at you.
What has led to these outcomes? In common parlance, these acts could be attributed to a “can-do attitude”. We all remember our parents telling us ‘you can do it!’. Well, along the way, our sense of confidence to act has taken a detour led by fear, anxiety and doubt. And so, as we all seek to emerge stronger from the pandemic, shifting our perspective from a crisis mindset driven by anxiety, to a growth (or can-do) mindset driven by opportunity, will open up possibilities and restore confidence.
In organizations, this starts with leaders, most importantly the CEO. In this first part of our series for emerging stronger, we have 4 tips for not letting our anxiety get the best of us:
- Stop Trying to be Perfect: Translation- be human. Recognize you are not perfect and cannot be a perfect leader during this pandemic. You don’t have perfect information, skills or tools. Thinking you have to have all the answers is fraught with peril in other ways as well. It reinforces our anxiety and doubt, resulting in fatigue, burnout and inaction. As we move toward a growth mindset, we need to embrace our imperfections.
The antidote to being ‘pandemic perfect’ is to reveal your humanity and know that others are there to step up and support you. Admitting you do not have all the answers and seeking help from others is the way your authentic leadership will emerge. And, this mindset will lead to growth as ‘none of us is as smart as all of us.’ A client of ours recently shuttled its ‘perfect’ innovation process for a scrappy group of employees who came up with winning ideas for emerging stronger in a matter of weeks. Bottom line: Don’t let perfection get in the way of action.
- Show Compassion to Others: Many leaders that we work with have done a great job of being compassionate to others in their organizations—helping their employees with housing payment support and childcare needs. Folks are working hard out there, with fewer tools and many for reduced pay. People are operating with concerns about losing their jobs, their homes, and the food on their table. LOTS OF FOLKS. Your employees may say they are fine but avoid underestimating the collective stress that they (and the nation) are under.
Recognize this for yourself as well. Often our ability to show compassion to others starts with showing self-compassion (see number 1 above!). Showing genuine compassion to others will give people the confidence to be vulnerable and ask for help when they need it. Those employees will be there for you when you are there for them. Bottom line: When we say our greatest strength is our people, we need to act like it.
- Live your Values and Purpose: Your organization’s heart and soul will live or die now. It is understandable that you are concerned about having your business thrive; however, do not let stress lead you to conclude these core foundational elements are not important now. They are more important than ever. People and organizations are interconnected during this pandemic and so people and purpose are paramount. It is “GO” time with respect to your purpose and your values, lest they will morph into tag lines and slogans. Leaning into your purpose and values will also open up possibilities that you may not have paid attention to before. Bottom line: Your Purpose and Values are the goal posts for solutions—don’t abandon them.
- Slow Down. One take away that we have heard consistently from our clients is that they have really slowed down and they do not want to revert to the frenetic pace they were keeping pre-COVID-19. And yet, organizations are accomplishing so much in such abbreviated time periods. We believe the difference is that leaders are staying focused on the vital few. For the great teams out there, they have consolidated, rallied and executed. You have the opportunity to move forward in a way that is both agile and intentional. Bottom line: Sometimes you have to slow down to speed up.
In the next part of our series, we will focus on using our creativity and curiosity to lead our business. In the interim, reach out to us with your best ideas of how to stay in a growth mindset at info@trinitasadvisors.com