We recognize that these are hard times. At VIM Executive Coaching we frequently hear from executives who fear as though everything is falling apart in their lives, how nothing will ever quite be the same and how afraid they are for the future. While we empathize, we also realize that what many executives fear is much more a matter of scarcity than the present or future.
Don’t Forget the Toilet Paper!
As an indicator of troubling times, toilet paper is hardly a sophisticated image on which to base talk about scarcity and leadership, but it is nevertheless apropos to the present day. In our hearts and psyches, most of us understand that in America there are no true shortages of bathroom tissue, hand sanitizer, disinfectant or milk, for that matter.
Less than a month ago, bathroom tissue could be found in embarrassing over-abundance. Pick your brand, favorite pattern, color or package size, it was there. Then, as fears about spiking COVID cases once again mounted, shelves were laid bare of certain essentials including what is euphemistically called “TP.”
Grocery managers were/are put into the difficult position of limiting customers to a certain quantity of essentials lest shortages occur. The situation has a strong parallel to leadership, fear and certainly authenticity.
Executive leaders are similarly often driven by fears of scarcity rather than the scarcity itself. Fears of scarcity over future funding, commodity items such as raw materials and commodities, a change in the business climate, politics, the regulatory environment and pandemic itself, are all causes for concern. However, to be crippled in the present by fears of scarcity in the future, can be catastrophic.
Mindfulness and Planning
The mindful executive leader can clearly plan for the future. The mindful executive can account for all of the fears we mentioned above – and then some. At the same time, by being present in the moment, we deal with the moment.
Scarcity occurs in any organization. The CEO of an accounting firm might fear a scarcity of clients, a hospital might fear a scarcity of insurance reimbursement or a manufacturing firm could fear a lack of raw materials. On a more personal level, executives might fear a once valued employee may no longer be trustworthy, that there may be a scarcity of loyalty in the sales department or a lack of honesty in purchasing.
Planning within the context of mindfulness, that is, viewing a problem in the light of an appropriate response rather than a spur-of-the-moment reaction, is the solution to stopping a fear scarcity. If an executive leader can authentically respond, for example, to fears of a lack of honesty in the purchasing department, it may turn out that people suspected of being “on the take,” may be dissipated – or confirmed. But the dissipation or confirmation will be done in light of clear, rational and even compassionate thinking.
Scarcity often comes down to fears of “what…if?” Any good executive leader cannot dwell on blindly reacting to “what…if?” scenarios that may or may not happen. Far better to rationally plan, to be mindful of contingencies and to not be overly exuberant or focused on failure, but to simply be.
VIM Executive Coaching may not be experts on the most squeezably, soft paper, but we do know that worrying, hoarding or blindly reacting to fears accomplishes nothing. Whether in leadership or in life, nothing beats mindfulness.