VIM Executive Coaching wishes you a delightful, warm summer, filled with outdoor swimming pools, BBQ, and lots of baseball.
Huh?
You might be thinking, isn’t it about a week from Christmas? You’re right. We goofed! We suppose we were longing for the “good old days of six months ago.”
For a brief and precious period, especially over the spring and summer, life indeed came back to normalcy.
Our workplaces even welcomed many of us back to offices; we had parties; we met clients face-to-face, and we even talked about in-person seminars, re-opened trade shows, and flights to far-flung places. Now, this, now this Omicron stuff. So, so-long normalcy and the good times, right?
Well, if that is our choice, and if that is the way executive leaders wish to react to the situation rather than respond to it, this year, here and now, will turn into an abject failure. But, on the other hand, if we are mindful and open, 2021, leading into 2022, could be the best year of our lives.
Pollyanna Doesn’t Live Here.
We are well aware of the realities of a fast-spreading, morphing, challenging virus. While VIM Executive Coaching is hardly a virology research center, by virtue of our executive coaching across the nation, we must constantly keep up with several news sources. Our executive coaching clients are naturally concerned about lock-downs and shut-downs, whether in the Denver Area, New York City, or the Bay Area. While we are not Pollyanna’s, as executive leadership coaches, we would also caution against viewing life through a prism of negativity and despair.
Omicron, Delta, or who knows what-is-next, is a biological organism not a monster for which there are no solutions. As opposed to those darkest times of 2020, we have vaccines – and their boosters, huge antibody research efforts, video-conferencing capabilities, and a mindful attitude if we choose to take it.
While this virus has undergone its many changes, so have we. There is nothing it can “give us” that we cannot counter and overcome. Therefore, it is up to our organizations and us to respond, be authentic in our response, and be mindful not to react to it, but to respond to it.
We are reminded of a Tai Chi master than we knew, a slight man of perhaps 140 pounds, who we saw in a match against a big, bruising wrestler easily topping 225 pounds. The master was calm, and there was, surprisingly, a slight smile to his face. The wrestler charged in, and in a few moves, found himself on his back. The master helped him back up.
We want executive leaders to have the same spirit as 2021 leads uncertainly into 2022. We should neither anticipate an angry attack nor shy away from it but to fully accept it for what it is. If we can lightly smile with the knowledge that we have done everything to prepare, there is no need for fear.
We have every tool to defeat the virus, including mindfulness, authenticity, and compassion. We are able to develop greater response and less knee-jerk reaction.
However, we have no tools to defeat pessimism, undue reaction, or anger. And, with this comes a stern warning. There is a sharp line between caution, responsibility, responsible behavior, and freneticism, fixation, and baseless or ill-informed reaction. We are surrounded by 24/7 news cycles, internet myth, and all-too-often, anger and dissent.
We encourage everyone to breathe, reflect and respond. No matter what 2022 brings, far better for the executive leader to be present in the moment, than led down a path intended to disrupt and create fear.
Think of this year as the Tai Chi master; wary but unafraid, steadied but resilient.