With credit to Bob Dylan for a great lyric, these times certainly are changing. In the last 100 days or so, we have all experienced tremendous change, change in the way we work (and in a lot of cases this change meant a loss of work) and change in the way we live. As our economy slowly begins to open up, many want to return to “normal”. But, normal isn’t there. Normal has changed, because we have changed.
We have all been impacted. The change of the first four months of 2020 has been unlike anything any of us have ever experienced. There have been a multitude of lessons. There has been opportunity for growth personally, professionally. There are many lessons on the river ahead.
Remember your first 100 days as a leader in a new role, or a new company? We’ve all walked in with our 100-day plan. It’s critical to a leader’s success. Presidents are measured on their first 100 days. We’ve been given a great opportunity. The world hit pause. Perhaps it was more like a CTRL-ALT-Delete reboot. Your next 100 days as a leader will define you for the next decade or more. Leading through the crucible of the previous 100 days will be nothing compared to the next 100 days.
One of the great ironies of the last 100 days is that we have connected with each other on a deeper personal level through the use of video conferencing than we ever have in an office. We have had a window directly into each other’s homes. We have had scenes from our personal lives play out live for everyone to see. How will you maintain that level of vulnerability, that level of intimacy, that level of connection?
You may be anxious to get back into the office. To feel that normal. You may thrive on the buzz of the office, the phones ringing, the conversation, the clacking of keyboards. But what of your team? Are they anxious to get back into the office, or just anxious. There will be some who embrace the return to the office. There will be some who are uncertain, perhaps even afraid. There will be some who have thrived in the work-from-home world of the last 100 days.
New leaders have emerged. Have you seen them? Have you felt them guiding their co-workers and teams through these rough waters? Will you help them continue to grow as leaders?
Are you ready to meet them all where they are? As individuals? As people?
The office will not have the same vibe. Not for a long time…if ever. Are you prepared? Do you have your first 100 days plan ready?
It was a cold, gray January day. The wind picked up the dusting of snow from the ground and flung it into their faces, stinging like needles. Tears froze to wind burned cheeks. The casket was slowly lowered into the frozen ground. A lone bugler played taps. Slowly, one by one, the people who had gathered, made their way down the 26 steps, down the long hill, and out of the cemetery until a lone figure remained. He stood motionless. His gaze locked on the hole before him. Tears stained his ruddy cheeks. His long coat flapped in the wind. His lips moved as if talking. Was he saying goodbye? Was he saying a prayer? Was he saying words of forgiveness to his now dead friend?
A couple years ago I wrote a short eBook titled “
roosevelt speaking and you will find hundreds of pictures but you would be very hard pressed to find any of him standing still behind a lectern. You will see him teeth bared, leaning forward, fist pounding in hand, or arms spread wide. Some of these were very much thought out, others were as natural to him as speaking itself. The audience was captivated, he was talking with them (not TO them), he was their voice. Roosevelt once declared “I’m am not public opinion, I am the public”, a bold statement certainly, but at the height of his presidency he was absolutely correct.
