Now More Than Ever
I will start this post by first saying that nothing going on in my world, or that of 99% of the leaders I’m speaking with, compares in any way to the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine and the human suffering and toll being taken there.
Like many I know, I am at a loss for how to contribute beyond the ideas we shared last week and those we are fielding every day from our community. Leaders are housing displaced colleagues, donating to Airbnb so those ripped from their homes have shelter, and taking many other actions. One pointed out that ADP Payroll offers ways to ensure that money makes it to those in need through payroll services.
So, we are using our ingenuity and our means, yet still we feel helpless. Do we support a no-fly zone and risk nuclear annihilation by a desperate maniac? Or do we do our best to get necessary equipment into Ukraine so they can defend themselves better? How do we process the bombing of a maternity and children’s hospital and believe anybody could do that? How do we stand by knowing worse could happen if we don’t provide aircover, but so could nuclear war? It is awful and ugly, by all standards. It’s a no-win situation.
And with all this going on, I’m hearing from so many leaders that they are simply tired. I wrote last year that we used to get to worry about financial performance, growth, or customer and team happiness. We’d focus on raising capital, or examine how much cash we had in the bank. We’d hold a board meeting or two. Overall, our lives as leaders were pretty routine.
And then so much turned upside down. I remember SO SO vividly at an Outsell CEO Community dinner in London, about seven years ago, two leaders I respect positing the following over dessert and coffee:
“What if the post-WWII / post-Cold-War era was the anomaly, and crisis, havoc, and world disorder are the natural order of things? What if that period was the abnormal one, and we’re actually returning to normal?”
I can remember where they sat, the dinner we’d had, and their perspective coming from the UK and the Netherlands. I have never forgotten that moment. And since then, it’s gotten weirder and weirder.
We could blame social media. We could blame US policy. We could blame economic disparities, the widening gulf between haves and have-nots. We could blame the emergence of despotic leaders and an emboldened China and Russia.
Look at all that’s happened:
- George Floyd’s murder and the mandate for DE&I and police reforms
- Climate change and the mandate for sustainable practices
- The Great Resignation and the mandate to hire, retain, and keep our teams intact
- A pandemic and the mandate to reorganize our businesses and teams — and then do it again and again and again
- Inflation, rising fuel prices, and the mandate to let people work where they wish — because making people commute right now is a tone-deaf move
- Security and the mandate to check our networks, lock down our data, and have a plan for ransom attacks to boot
- A disastrous exit from Afghanistan and the mandate to be a better global citizen
And now a war in Ukraine.
Any one of these is a disaster; all of them in the last 24 months would be unimaginable — except that it actually happened!. For many leaders, it feels like bobbing around in an ocean, wondering what wave is going to come crashing next and from which direction. It’s exhausting.
And then we’re hard on ourselves, feeling guilty about feeling exhausted, because it’s nowhere near the horror others are experiencing right now.
So I will go out on a limb and simply say that it is okay to unplug for a couple of hours, go read a book, or go out for a meal. I remember when my Mom was dying of cancer, I was exhausted from the vigil of being by her side watching her die in slow motion. And one day, in the midst of the fog of her illness, my boyfriend picked me up from work and took me on a picnic. For a moment, I felt like a traitor — I should be with her, I should relieve my Dad, I should…
And then I let the chatter in my mind take a rest, and I simply enjoyed a couple of hours of sunshine with the man I loved. I realized that I needed that short break more than ever, so I could be a better daughter when I returned to my Mom’s bedside and do what I could to help my Dad.
Sometimes it is essential to do what we can to nourish ourselves, even for a moment, so we can help those in need as best we can. So please go ahead and do something for yourself. Get that massage. If you feel like you’re spending too much, donate to a cause instead, and then do something smaller that gives you respite and rest.
Now more than ever, it is essential to take a little break when we can to replenish, fill the tank, and then get back out there. So we can do the good work we all need to do to help our teams manage through a litany of crises or help others across the globe when it feels like there’s so little we can do and so much to be done.
Take care of yourselves, leaders. Our industry needs you, and more than that, our world needs you too. Take the strong stands, then take a small break. Nurture and care for yourselves as best you can. And while you are at it, please pray that this war comes to an end and that my colleagues at that dinner table were wrong.