Are you feeling more settled, yet simultaneously wondering if you should be doing more these days?
For many leaders, things feel more settled than they have in months. Yet, we are still in a global pandemic, the rules and norms are continually changing, and, for most of us, there are still challenges.
At an organizational level, bringing people back to work safely may be top of mind. But we now seem to be past the daily onslaught of choices, decisions and actions that characterized the early days of the crisis.
Some of the leaders I work with have noticed that on one hand, while they feel more settled, on the other hand they are also wondering if they are doing enough. They have become used to navigating the daily challenges of a crisis and it now feels strange to have less to respond to.
These are valid concerns. Our society is progressing towards another ‘new normal’ that is less restrictive, but still quite different from the way things used to be. Yet we are still in the middle of a pandemic. Before we race into navigating the next phase, maybe now is a good time to pause and reflect on lessons learned from the last several months?
Realizing What You Can Take From This
Back in April I wrote a post, “Who Do You Want to Be on The Other Side of This?”, which explored that this pandemic was not only a crisis, but also an opportunity. This virus has paused and greatly slowed down the entire world. And in that pause, there is has been more time for reflection, more space to step out of our busy lives that blurs days into weeks, and weeks into months.
Back then, the questions looked like:
· What if you were able to leverage this disruption as an opportunity for change?
· What if you made a choice to use this strange time and space, to get really clear on what is essential and what is not?
· What if you created one new habit? What would it be?
· What if you were to let go of some non-essential time wasters?
When I pause the leaders and CPAs I work with today, and ask them what they have learned in the past few months, here’s some of what they say:
· “Man, if I can get through this, I can get through pretty much anything.”
Realization: “I am a lot more confident in my abilities than before.”
· “Our people were far more onboard with the decisions and choices we made and the requirements we asked of them than we expected.
Realization: “Our people are great, and we are a stronger team than I realized.”
· “We had the opportunity to look around and layoff anyone who wasn’t a good fit or was really struggling with performance.”
Realization: “The team we have is the team I would want. I don’t see their idiosyncrasies as such a big deal now.”
· “In many ways, it was the whole organization who pulled together to get through this. We needed everyone’s contribution.”
Realization: “Organizationally, we now know we can get through whatever new challenges may lie ahead.”
· “When it is all said and done, it became very clear what was important, what was out of alignment, and what is already lined up.”
Realization: “I am more aligned with my values than I was before this.”
How About You?
If you take a moment to pause and reflect, what are have you learned through all of this?
· What strengths do you now see in yourself that you clearly, unarguably have?
· What insights do you have about how you handle difficult times? Both for better and for worse?
· What insights do you have about the people you work with?
· What insights do you have about how you are, or were, living your life?
· Who else would benefit if you posed these reflective questions to them?
· How do you want to share and celebrate the good you take from this?
· What learning do you want to retain moving forward?
You’ve already done the tough part – you just navigated the early phases of a global pandemic! No small achievement. Taking a moment to pause and reflect ensures you make the most of it.
Conclusion
The COVID-19 crisis is still with us, manifesting in a multitude of ways. It still isn’t easy and who knows what the future will bring.
But we have all just managed through the first few months of something very big. Bigger than we could have imagined. And for many of us, we managed through it perhaps better than we could have imagined. That is worthy of pausing, noticing and celebrating!
The same goes for the learning that this unasked-for experience has provided us. Now that you and your team know what you are capable of, you carry the new strength, confidence and learning that you have gained with you, as you face new challenges.
Thanks for taking a few minutes to read this post. Please share your thoughts and comments on what you have learned. Our shared experiences provide new perspectives and understanding and we all learn from each other.
And if you would like to get the most out of these learnings - I recommend discussing them with a coach like me! It really is a great conversation to build on. To learn more about how I coach and train CPAs to be more resilient, focused and connected to the people in their lives, please schedule a FREE consultation with me HERE and visit www.mindfulwisdom.ca.