The past couple of weeks have indeed been a rollercoaster, the things that have buoyed some of us during this extended period of lockdown seem to have lost their impact. As we round out 12 weeks of stay at home restrictions here in Melbourne, there are signs of movement with some students heading back to school, a few extra hours allowed outdoors and a larger areas in which people can move around, however with a clear change to the routines and patterns we are used to. Non - essential businesses continue to remain closed, with many still working from home, or creatively trying to keep their businesses going, or indeed not working at all.
As we expand our outlook beyond our current and local context in Melbourne, we witness other nations and communities facing the reality of the pandemic so differently with both encouraging and devastating impact on their physical, mental, social and economic health.
For many of us our surge capacity is depleted. As described by Ann Masten PhD, Psychologist and Professor of Child Development at the University of Minnesota , Surge Capacity is a collection of adaptive systems, both mental and physical, that we draw on for short term survival in acutely stressful situations such as natural disasters. When our surge capacity is depleted it needs to be renewed.
Accessing our surge capacity is useful for short term responses, like floods and fires, where the emergency response happens over a short period of time even if the recovery is long. However, that is not enough for these times. For most of us this pandemic is unprecedented in terms of the profound impact it is having on our everyday lives. Unlike a natural disaster where you can see the danger and the damage, the impacts we are experiencing are often invisible and ongoing.
Many of us, especially those of us in extended lockdown or restricted living arrangements, are experiencing a slow erosion of the lifestyle we are used to. The everyday practices and rituals that help us feel connected such as: going to school; casual chats in our workplaces; social gatherings with friends and family; practicing team sports or connecting with our faith groups, alongside the sense of accomplishment we get from solving problems and getting stuff done are either diminished, experiencing radical shifts or in many cases totally missing.
These significant changes can leave us with a sense of helplessness and hopelessness, and will likely have lasting consequences if we don’t attend to them.
Equilibrium
We are essentially sitting in the middle of both an immediate and unfolding longer-term crisis with ongoing consequences. We can’t afford to wait to the other end of this new paradigm, we must take stock, recharge and realign as we work our way through it, balancing our attention and efforts between our current circumstances and the future horizon and intentionally building and maintaining resilience for the short and long term.
A perspective on a way forward
Whilst we may be aware of our depleted state, the way we go about attending to our wellbeing and the wellbeing of others requires a holistic and intentional adaptation at individual, collective and systemic levels.
Personal Resilience: “Put your oxygen mask on first before assisting others”
We have all heard this expression, which in a nutshell represents the importance of taking care of ourselves, getting to know ourselves and learning to lead ourselves as pre-requirements for effectively taking care, understanding and leading others.
Role modelling is one of the most powerful tools to impact behavioural and mindset change. People in our sphere of influence are more likely to do what they see us doing than what we ask them to do. As you role model self-awareness and self-care, taking intentional time to check in how this current reality is impacting and triggering you, identifying strategies and practices that assist you to set boundaries, replenish and adapt, you will more likely ‘keep your cool’ and choose your words and actions more consciously when things get heated.
Valuable practices…
Deep breathing: “When you breathe deeply, the air coming in through your nose fully fills your lungs, and the lower belly rises. It can heighten performance and concentration while also being a powerful stress reliever.” Health Line
Meditation: “Meditation is one of the best tools we have to counter the brain’s negativity bias, release accumulated stress, foster positive experiences and intentions, and enjoy the peace of present moment awareness. A large body of research has established that having a regular meditation practice produces tangible benefits for mental and physical health.” Deepak Chopra
Gratitude: “Another simple practice is to share a sense of gratitude. Like getting enough sleep, exercising, and eating well to counter stress and fatigue, gratitude has been shown to improve mental health, renew energy and hope, and encourage self-improvement.” McKinsey & Company.
Team Resilience: “We are all in the same boat and experiencing the journey differently”
Leading with empathy, compassion, curiosity and openness increases our ability to appreciate people’s reality beyond what is observable through our limited ‘computer screen’ perspective.
As we lead through the current levels of uncertainty and disruption, we must appreciate that people can respond very differently to similar challenges. The ability to understand, relate and to some degree respond to each other’s different needs and styles is a critical contributor to team resilience.
For instance, some of us will find comfort in facts, data and plans when navigating uncertainty and disruption, others will prioritise time with people and relationships to cope, whilst others try to cope by getting things done. Whilst most of us, on a good day, can plan, engage and get things done, under pressure we tend to resort to only one of these dimensions. Knowing how each of us responds to pressure can help teams more consciously work with, rather than against, team members’ styles.
Returning to the notion of Equilibrium we spoke of before, finding a balance between putting ourselves in others shoes to better understand and help others AND respecting our own needs and healthy boundaries is a challenging but important skill to practice these days.
Making space for vulnerability…
“The definition of vulnerability is uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. But vulnerability is not weakness; it's our most accurate measure of courage. When the barrier is our belief about vulnerability, the question becomes: 'Are we willing to show up and be seen when we can't control the outcome?' When the barrier to vulnerability is about safety, the question becomes: 'Are we willing to create courageous spaces so we can be fully seen?”
Brené Brown, Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone
Encouraging our team members to share their struggles and experiences can contribute to a stronger sense of connection and belonging.
However due to pre-existing team dynamics and individuals styles, this will come easier for some more than others. Thus, it is so important that leaders pave the way and role model vulnerability. While you don’t need to share every detail of your ups and downs, sharing parts of your own struggle opens the door for team members to do the same.
Organisational Resilience: “First things first – reorienting ourselves towards what matters most”
Having journeyed for so long in the crisis response state, we now need to reset and redefine what matters most at this stage and what will sustain us for the long term. This includes acknowledging the different levels of depletion we all feel and revisiting the expectations we have of ourselves, others and business outcomes and outputs.
Providing a strong sense of Purpose can help people navigate high levels of uncertainty and change, as it serves as both grounding and mobilising force. Purpose can reorient and remind us of the meaning and highest value behind our efforts and act as a tool for prioritising, decision making and aligning our actions and energies. To continue to deliver on our Purpose, we need to ensure a focus on individual and collective wellbeing – balancing a job well done and a life well lived.
In our increased state of remote working, the old adage of What get’s measured get’s done is amplified and highlights the need and opportunity to reorient our performance metrics and reporting. Are we focusing, measuring and reporting on the right things for this time? What do we need to let go of, reprioritise, or even add to our metrics and reporting? For example setting goals and regular reporting about individual wellbeing and team connection sends a strong message about the importance of the focus on individual and team resilience in ensuring ongoing performance and sustainability.
Resetting questions…
In high-stress situations, teams often get stuck. LifeLabs Learning asked 100+ execs to share their go to ‘resetting questions’ that move people out of fight-flight-freeze mode. Here is a sample of their top questions…
1. What’s the problem we are trying to solve? Let’s re-state it.
2. What do we want to accomplish in the next hour? This week? This month?
3. What’s an experiment we can try?
4. How are our skills most useful to the current environment?
5. What can we de-prioritise for now?
6. What are the things we can control?
7. What short-term solution can help set us up for long-term success?
8. What is a different way of going about this problem/conversation?
9. What is the MIT (Most Important Thing) for us to talk about?
10. How is everybody doing on a scale from 1-10?
LifeLabs Learning
These are times that require us to more deeply connect, understand and take care of ourselves and others and to make space for vulnerable and purposeful conversations. In doing so, trust in ourselves and each other will RISE. And when trust rises so does creativity, experimentation, engagement and people’s ability to reimagine new ways forward.
“Persistence and resilience only come from being given the chance to work through difficult times” Gever Tulley
Margot Thomas & Monique Longhurst
Images: Marco Carrillo and Sean Stratton
