How to Lead Effectively During Times of Perma-crisis

The greatest opportunity you have in leading others is helping them transform and become better as humans.

You can't change them. But you can position them for change.

First...

I remember where I was when the Challenger Space Shuttle event happened. I was watching it in class.

I remember where I was when OJ was on the run. I had just gotten off work and gone to a friend's house where it was on TV.

I remember where I was when 9/11 happened. I was completing my master’s degree and it seemed like the whole campus was in one room watching the tv.

Crises mark us with their severity in time and space. I remember when.

And now that it feels like it's been one long perma-crisis for a long time. So long that I can't remember when I started. Sometime in 2016...

The perma-crisis means you can fall into 2 extremes as a leader. Either extreme will keep you from being an empowering agent of change for the humans you lead. Both extremes will mean you might get the job done but the people you lead will become worse for it.

I'm an optimistic leader who's focused on the mission. And there are 2 extremes I can't fall into as I lead our organization.

I can't ignore the issues that are coming up. They affect the lives of those I lead.

I can't lose focus on the mission. If we tackled every issue, we'd never get any work done.

3 words help me continually read and lead the room. 

3 words help me listen and change. 

3 words help me discern and serve. 

3 words help protect me from the worst of my insecurities and unleash the best of our abilities as a team. 

3 words help me to seize the moment of crisis and help us all become better as humans. We can transform through the travesty.

DIVERSITY

I am careful to not seek, message, or require uniformity of thought. Sadly, most organizations are drifting towards a true lack of diversity in thought where people are required to believe what the majority believes.

Not all our coaches or our leadership team would agree and vote the same on issues. Not all would agree with me.

And I love that!

Social issues aren't a distraction. They are an opportunity to empathetically listen, learn, and change if need be or learn to hold beliefs compassionately. What might be a space you need to evaluate could be an issue of life, death, and love for someone else.

What do we do after we encourage free thought?

UNITY

As an organization, we don't need uniformity in thought, but we need unity in action. We may not all agree on a current strategy or social issue but if we truly value diversity we can listen. If we truly value teamwork we can commit to working in unity beyond the discussion.

We give space for conversation and processing. We give time and energy to getting understanding and getting better. And we focus on rowing in the same direction on our teams even when we disagree.

How do we make peace with the paradox of diversity and unity?

VALUES

As we listen and learn, as we take action, and as we evaluate that action we get to upgrade. 

We change. We improve. 

We learn how to be better at being human and better at leading. We learn the ideas, practices, and systems we need to progress. We learn the ideas, practices and systems we need to preserve. This is how you upgrade your intuition and hold your center.

It takes humility on everyone's part to see a human you disagree with as a person who holds inherent worth and is deserving of love because they are human.

It takes courage to lead through all this as a leader.

44-year-old me believes things 22-year-old me would have thought are crazy and heretical.

We get ideologically frozen on both sides as we live and lead with fear.

Insecure leaders require conformity of thought over diversity.

Insecure leaders fail to ask for and hold accountable for unified action in a gracious way.

Insecure leaders rigidly hold ideas that need upgrading or are driven by the winds of change with no rudder.

You've got enough going on as you seek to accomplish your mission.

We'll be your guide to help you become the leader who can help humans transform brilliantly no matter what's going on.

Here are 4 actions you could take:

1. Get coaching from me or one of our coaches. (I coach the founder/CEO because that's where I can make the greatest impact. What would it be like to have me in your corner?)

2. Get me or one of our coaches presenting to your team. The presentation will be engaging and entertaining while it shows how to move from being insecure to secure as a leader.

3. Engage our core process called Figure That Shift Out. We've codified the markers of human transformation. We have a measurement tool to help you accelerate awareness. IF you need team members to complete this we've got a special opportunity they could join next month.

Reach out to us at connect@sightshift.com with any questions on these opportunities.

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