Looking Ahead – Undeniably Optimistic

If there is one question that has my mind running circles lately it’s, “How do you feel about the year ahead?” (I don’t imagine I have to explain why.) The short answer – I feel very good about it. The long circular thought process goes something like this:  

I feel good about it. After all, with a new year comes the opportunity for a fresh start. We have come through 2020 learning some important lessons about ourselves, our business model, and our community. And yes, it feels good to be leaving behind a year of disruption and uncertainty, knowing that in many ways these served to accelerate innovation and ingenuity. There is also an ambiguous sense of relief, a lifting of a weight I was not aware I’d been carrying, and an earned sense of pride in having passed a big test, without a studied degree in crises response management or socio-economic upheaval.

No sooner have I affirmed these soft-serve reflections; the piercing memories come back. How many times have I thought it cannot possibly get harder, more inconceivable? And then, it does. How many more times must I dig in, tapping the last reserve of newly learned competencies, searching for the capacity to think, create, empathize, while staying of strong mind and body – for my team, the chamber community, and for me and my family?

Like you, I am not willing to give up in the middle of a good “fight.” So, where do you go when “the going” is toughest? Do you isolate in a place of peaceful quiet to recharge with introspection? Do you reach out to connect, laugh, and share experiences with your tribe, your cabinet of trusted confidantes? Maybe you dig in with fervor and focus to pursue a goal yet unmet and worthy of persevering. I imagine most of us do all of these to a lesser or greater degree. But let’s face it, it is not easy.

I came across a Harvard Business Review article addressing the challenges of leading when “the whole world is tired.” It offered well-researched insights and interviews with high impact leaders. Buried somewhere in the middle of the article were three words that turned the wheels for me:

Temporary. Local. Changeable.

The excerpt for context: “Compared to the adrenaline-fueled response (to the pandemic) in the spring and the false dawn about the recovery over the summer, the second wave (of the pandemic) requires a new understanding of personal resilience – people with a high degree of resilience tend to prevail because they interpret setbacks as temporary, local, and changeable.”

Three powerful words, simple and empowering. Fuel for the kind of psychological stamina we will need to remain focused on and in actionable pursuit of the endless opportunities that lie ahead.

The article is worth your time. * My takeaway is this: We can and will choose to act within our local circle of influence over changeable conditions however temporarily terrible or fantastical they may be.

Yes, I am undeniably optimistic about our future. I hope you are with us. Our business community, our Chamber, and you, are worth it!

* How to Lead When Your Team Is Exhausted — and You Are, Too, HBR by Merete Wedell-Wedellsborg