Is this a temporary setback or a permanent shift?
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Hey Reader, One of the biggest challenges leaders face right now is how to make critical decisions when they can’t tell if the challenges they’re dealing with are temporary setbacks or permanent shifts. Elections flip everything upside down. Funds are ripped away and investments and grants are canceled. Social progress we thought was on an upward trajectory is sliding back downhill. The pace of technological innovation is dizzying, but it’s nearly impossible to tell what is essential, useful, just noise, or actively harmful. These forces are of course affecting organizations in ways many us probably hadn't anticipated a year or even a few months ago. Sometimes, we can only react. So what should the reaction be? And when we try to be proactive, how can we make the right decisions about our organizations when tomorrow could bring something we never even imagined? Leaders I’ve spoken to recently have used words like spinning, chaotic, frazzled, worn down, confused, and overwhelmed to describe themselves and their teams. Even when the organization’s work seems to be going well, the pressure from the outside world to not just keep up but do more is immense. The typical leadership playbook during times like these calls for speed, but just because the sheet music tells you the tempo, doesn’t mean you have to follow it the same way everyone else does. You’re the conductor. You interpret the score. The first movement of Vivaldi’s Winter, one of my favorite pieces, is supposed to be played Allegro non molto – fast, but not too fast. In the Four Seasons, like many Baroque pieces, the concertmaster serves as the conductor. “Fast, but not too fast” is open to each lead violinist’s interpretation, as you’ll see in the differences between these two concertmasters here and here. As a leader, how do you interpret the “playbook” of how to lead? During times of uncertainty or when challenges and crises strike, it might feel natural to speed up, especially if you see everyone else doing it. My guidance is usually the opposite: Pause. Pause and get curious about where an opportunity might lie within the challenge you’re facing. I'm not saying simply look for the silver lining or stay positive. But a situation that feels as if it could only be a crisis might reveal paths you hadn’t considered before, if you know how to look and what questions to ask. What opens up when you go at your own pace and notice? Maybe the traditional playbooks don’t apply. Maybe they never did. Next week, I’m joining my friends at Forest & Trees for a virtual panel called “Blip or New Normal? Leadership Decisions in Uncertain Times.” We’ll explore how leaders are making critical decisions when traditional playbooks don’t apply and when it’s unclear whether current challenges are temporary setbacks or permanent shifts we need to adapt to. Rather than a scripted Q&A, we’ll be having a genuine conversation between the panelists, the kind of exchange we’d have over coffee when no one is watching! If you’re a leader of mission-driven organizations who is tired of making critical decisions in isolation and uncertainty, join us! You can register here. And if you have any topics you’d like me to bring to the discussion, just reply here and let me know. Happy change-making, Caitlin Caitlin Harper |