VIM Executive Coaching has heard a lot of “introductory lines” over time; innocent ice-breakers before plunging into important issues. However, the following was memorable:
“Well…even the damn cat ran away last night.”
In bringing up the issue of the cat, the executive leader was adding an exclamation to the woes of a week where the division was finally acquired, executives and middle management were told their jobs were probably going to be made redundant, and any remaining would be required to work in-person – and in a new location 800-miles away.
We just bought our house
We failed to mention that the executive leader had recently purchased a new home and while the children were in the same district, they would undoubtedly be separated from their friends.
We didn’t minimize any of the stated problems, down to the cat and the new schools. However, our focus as executive coaches is concentrated on the work aspect of the leader’s life. “Change” is never easy, nor is coming to terms with (probably) saying farewell to a stable employment situation that was enjoyed for 9-years of service.
The executive leader had an exemplary career however, it didn’t seem to make much of a difference. Change in this case most assuredly would come with a demotion at least “in grade,” and all of the other variations in policies and procedures that a new position would entail.
“So where do I go from here? How do I deal with everything career-wise at my stage of the game.”
It was – and remains – a classic example of the need and the cultivation of mindfulness. Nothing in our lives is permanent. We grow up hearing it, nevertheless we place the “impermanence part” on the back-burner until it hits us square in the face and then panic sets in and washes away the theoretical game plan.
Not a new concept
Mindfulness, the ability to be and to respond in the moment, is almost as ancient as time itself. The Far East refined the mindfulness meditation part and while the ancients could not have possibly predicted 2023, and everything from AI to Blockchain to COVID or any other social change and stressor, it did provide a pathway for being authentic in the moments of change and of anticipating response to that change.
Impermanence and fully embracing it, helps executive leaders to realize that getting complacent is never a wise strategy. Our executive leader was not unaware, as she put it, that the leadership group had been mulling the sale of the division. There were rumors a-plenty that layoffs and even a physical move could occur. However, the executive who sat before us chose to ignore the possibilities and instead listen to those whose mindfulness technique consisted of “they wouldn’t dare move us from this community.”
Mindfulness training and awareness would have clearly made the executive cognizant of the fact that there needed to be a plan, and options and more than that to breathe-in, in the moment, that what is thought to permanent is an illusion. Many an executive leader who thought their perfect employment situation would be forever stable, have been brought down by situations entirely not their fault.
While VIM Executive Coaching isn’t saying that executive leaders should ever live in constant fear that something will go wrong, to not be mindful of impermanence is an equal mistake. Be aware and in the moment and every moment; be mindful and train yourself to accept change and live in the time when the change occurs. All aspects of your life are potentially impermanent but your authentic self will guide you if you allow it to be.
And before we forget, our executive did report that the cat returned about 8 hours later as though nothing happened.