How many times have we all heard, “Things were much better them?” VIM Executive Coaching has heard it hundreds of times. In fact, we knew of one retired executive who started nearly every piece of his corporate reflections with, “Back in 1974, we had lots of teamwork and great ideas.”
We are free to long for the good old days. It won’t do much good and frankly if we were to board a time machine and race back 48 years, we would quickly discover that things weren’t so hot back then either. At the very least, we would be reminded of many workplaces filled with misogyny, racism, anti-Semitism, and homophobia, not to smoking and two or three Martini lunches.
So why do we experience some executives whose fallback position is always, well, to fallback?
Resilience is a Strange Concept
“Resilience” is a popular term as of late. It is a management phrase that comes out of the entire change management discussion. There is nothing new about either concept, despite a million blogs, podcasts, e-books and motivational speeches.
Resilience, in fact, is one of the rock-core concepts of ancient martial arts, Yoga, philosophy and meditation practices. Resilience of mind and body asks our spirit and body to be flexible in the moment, and to see what is, not what we would like it to be.
This brings me back around to 1974 or 2004 or whatever year an executive leader is longing for in spirit and action. Longing for, referring to, or even fixating on another and place might be an interesting moment for nostalgia buffs and concert goers (“Remember that concert in ’03?”), however on a regular basis, it is the opposite of resilience. In fact, it is counterproductive to a healthy executive leadership mindset.
Resilience is a strange concept to those who are stuck at some point to which they can no longer return. If resilience directs a “practitioner” to think of themselves as being a Willow tree bending with the wind, then being stuck in the past is what happens to a rickety old tree in the middle of a Category 5 hurricane.
Resilience is borne out of mindfulness and being-in-the moment. A constant longing for the “good old days,” is quite the opposite reaction.
So, now what?
“If I don’t have the good old days, what do I have?”
The question has been asked of us, in various forms, over quite some time. There are those who so cling to the past, and the old ways, they cannot imagine taking a different route. It is a sad state of affairs – but understandable. We have all known of organizations that, instead of changing or adapting (being resilient, if you like), ride it down all the way to the end. It is the image of the ancient old tree that eventually snaps in the wind.
So, now what? Now, no matter where you are, be mindful and flexible. Mindfulness laughs at longing for a past that was honestly, never as good as we imagine. Honestly. Mindfulness brings out our most authentic selves. The mindful person is a person who lives for now – and not then.
The mindful executive leader leads for now; for 2022 problems and 2022 solutions. We can all long for the old days but let us share a secret with you: the mindful executive leader of the past, was flexible enough to imagine that the past was as fleeting and fantastical as the future.
Don’t cling to the past nor should we constantly hope to “get past” whatever we are dealing with now. Be alive and responsive in the moment. Be mindful of the moment. It is what we have, and it is exactly where we should be.