When the Pandemic hit, I immediately started writing a series of blogs about what I had learned when leading through challenging times. I started several, and posted a few. I pride myself in my ability to respond to challenges, and I was eager to share in a systematic way what I had learned.
And then I posted nothing. For weeks, then months: no postings. Trying to regroup, I half-heartedly posted a Call to Action asking others to share their leadership stones, but I didn’t share the blog with others. I started a few blogs about living small and managing virtual collaboration, but did not finish them. I occasionally shared my learnings with people in the organization where I was working, but there was little interest in continuing the conversation.
Without a specific leadership role within which to act, I had few opportunities to continue developing stones, building my wall. I was living small, not only in my life, but inside my own mind.
I found myself complaining a lot… about national leadership, leadership in our membership organizations, my own place of employment. I will admit—none of it was particularly productive. I felt sidelined and sad—minimally productive and unmotivated.
And then, I had the opportunity to connected with a small group of leaders from across the country. We began Zooming regularly, talking about issues of concern, gathering our thoughts about how things might improve. A few individuals offered to organize our thoughts into a letter of sorts—one that articulated the opportunity that these challenging times afforded and the specific things we thought should happen. Together we wrote, edited, and rewrote, until we had a product ready to share.
The specifics about this exercise are not important to this blog. What is important is how it felt to go through the process of collaborating, strategizing, regrouping, and coming up with a product. And it reminded me again of how important gathering our pearls of wisdom and applying them to current circumstances is.
There were so many things about this group that spoke to me. We had all held leadership positions within our professional lives and had been active in membership organizations. We served on boards, held offices. Some of us had worked for the same organizations or in different positions during the same time periods. Our collective experience was rich and worth continuing to explore.
I have relearned the importance of collaboration during this time where we are seldom in the same room together. It is critical to reach out and connect both within and outside of one’s current circumstances. And I have found that connecting with those with whom I would not typically cross paths has been particularly effective.
Here’s the leadership stone: Without connections, we become stuck in our own heads. It’s lonely there. Move past the smallness of your mind and reach out to others. Use the time to reconnect, share, and expand your mind. Work on a project together. Invite others to join. Today’s virtual environment affords us endless opportunities to connect. Choose what works for you.