As 2020 comes to its conclusion, VIM Executive Coaching would like to ask a simple question with many “riddles.” Are we all agreed to put the year 2020 behind us?
We ask this question because there is no end to news readers, cable television commentators, political leaders and professorial types who are more than happy to dismiss the rather “prickly” year as one would ignore a shadow or the fog of an early morning in summer.
Have We Learned its Lesson?
Here then is the riddle of authenticity and mindfulness. If we used 2020 only as a stepping stone, a bad memory to be forgotten, a “worm-hole” from a miserable to a happy time, what have we learned on our respective journeys?
We can easy move away from our talk of chronology, of the unpleasant bridge between 2019 and 2021, and imagine leaving a poor work situation or dysfunctional team or a miserable co-worker. If our only frame of reference is to “put it behind us,” what will ensure that “each successive year” isn’t as unpleasant as the one we left?
The easy part is to ascribe the poor work situation as a failing company that failed us, or the dysfunctional team that made it impossible to be productive or the miserable co-worker as “toxic.” We can write our own novels, of course, or we can at least admit to ourselves that the ending we wrote was not completely accurate, truthful or honest. Did we have a role in the failure of the workplace? Was any part of the team functional – and that might have been better nurtured? Was our co-worker completely “toxic,” or did we have some culpability in creating a negative relationship? We can’t answer those questions, of course. It is someone else’s ending.
We can write off 2020 if we wish. Certainly, there was a great deal of tragedy, upheaval, lockdown, joblessness and political strife. But if we were unable to glean anything positive or take-away any lessons, what have we gained? Losing an entire year to “behind us,” seems a bit severe.
We might also offer 2020 as a year of great flexibility and innovation; a year of triumph for biotechnology and engineering; a year of ways to spiritually connect; a year affording introspection and mindfulness.
In 2020, with its misery, some organizations thrived. Some exceeded expectations. Some expanded hiring. Some had the best years of their existence. Were they all wrong, or did they seize opportunity and find other paths and ways of doing things? In brief, were they mindful and aware enough to not point fingers but to admit they needed a new vision and mindset for themselves?
Nothing Behind Us
Whether we leave unpleasant work situations without understanding exactly what was unpleasant, or whether we wrote off an entire year because it wasn’t pleasant, we must accept that try as we might, it never quite leaves.
We carry the burden of the past into the future. What unburdens it, is being mindful of what occurred and understanding that we are all flawed and that mistakes may happen, unfortunate conflicts may occur, people fail and sometimes people or situations are unkind. Then, we must reflect on that and make changes.
Who can tell about 2021? We can’t. We can tell you about today. We can project and plan, of course, as every viable organization must project and plan, but we are mindful that what we have is here and now.
So, as we enter 2021 let’s not leave anything behind us, but to acknowledge that we are shaped by adversity as well as the good times, and that we learn from it. It is called knowledge, and it is a most precious gift that should not be forgotten to time.