Leadership Masterclass

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Governor Cuomo just delivered a masterclass on crisis leadership in his briefing on the state of work in New York State. 

His briefing was clear - detailing facts when they are facts and his own opinion when it was his opinion. He kept to the script of what he planned to say. He focu

He focused on care - presenting facts and plans he highlighted and spoke with compassion and care for those affected.

He was calm - he answered questions and presented real solutions using common sense in his communication.

He was confident of his team - when asked a question he had no answer to, his response was, we should look into that. He looked around at his team and they had an answer to the question which he did not know an answer to (nor did he know they had a plan for it either). After a clear response from his team, he responded with support of their answer, humor in the midst of it and did not steal the show from the one who spoke.

Throughout these briefings he has clearly stated that he is not running for any political office other than the one he currently holds - governor of New York. He has made these statements consistently to be clear that his decisions and comments are not to gain political currency for a future presidential run.

From the outside watching in, in my opinion, he is leading brilliantly.

The World is on Tilt

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I remember the old time pinball machines. They had this mechanism that stopped the game if you lifted the machine up to stop the ball rolling in a direction. It was appropriately called "tilt".

The world is on tilt right now.

I'm not sure who is lifting it up, but it has certainly stopped.

And as with any human effort, there are good things and bad things. Bad things abound in greed, anger, scams, the loss of human rights and poor leadership. Good things abound in love, care, comfort, sacrifice for others and crisis leadership.

Every day we are faced with the choice: to perpetuate the bad or the good.

Honestly, it's always that way, it's just that now - the stakes for our decisions are much higher.

So, choose well my friends and readers.

Choose good.
Choose love.
Choose care.
Choose sacrifice.
Choose wise leadership.

Choose to turn off the tv, and close the social media apps.
Choose to breathe, stretch and breathe again.

We will get through this, and we will be able to grieve together at our losses, laugh together at our survival, grow together as a human race once again.

But maybe, we will stop racing and start being again. Maybe, we will hold onto the tilt just a little longer, and discover a brave new world of unity and togetherness again.

It will soon be time to try that quarter again and get the ball rolling.

Handwashing Like a Pro

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Most of us wash our hands by washing the same areas over and over for 20 seconds (are people still doing that?) We are left with dry skin that slowly gets raw. 

But the video in the link below titled Wash Hands Like a Pro shows why it takes 20 seconds to wash your hands properly. Consider it a public service announcement. And for the inevitable question, no, the video is not suggesting using ink to wash your hands. It's using ink to show coverage!

Wash Hands Like a Pro

Crisis Leadership

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I am busy reading Crisis Leadership by Gene Klann. He lists core skills for leaders to use before, during and after a crisis based on years in the military.

At the same time, we are all getting to see our leaders, in all spheres, attempt to do what he writes about in his book. Unsurprisingly, there is a spectrum from miserable failures to confident successes.

Klann talks about three core leadership skills:

• Communication
• Clarity around vision and values
• Care for people

How would you rate your leader on those core skills? 

What could they do to improve?

How could you let them know to help them?

Processing Your Lockdown: The Stages of Grief

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We are all grieving some sort of loss. 

From loss of freedom of movement for some, to loss of life for others.

And we are all going through stages of grief in some way.

For those who don't know them, the five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. They are not necessarily sequential, but most people experience all of them as they process grief.

Most felt denial in the last week: "this is crazy", "it's surreal", "I can't believe it" and a myriad other responses all show denial.

Last night, I think I moved into anger. I felt anger at our political leaders (on too many levels and for too many things). But the flashpoint for me was listening to a report on the second failed attempt in congress. 

Both sides of the aisle attempted to include their own programs (unrelated to the current crisis) in earmarks and appropriations. It made me angry, that in a time where people are scared, losing their jobs, getting sick, dying (and a prospect that it will only get worse), politics was alive and well.

It made me mad (along with a host of other things).

For me I process anger by sharing it with trusted friends and physical exercise.

My friends weren't available, the gym is closed...so out I went on a run, alone and not very far, but enough to bleed off my anger and find perspective.

Others deal with anger by journaling, sleeping, withdrawing, prayer, solitude and silence (those last two are a little tough if you are stuck in a house with lots of others.

How do you process anger during this crisis time?

Refuel: you need it

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In the gospel of Mark, chapter 2, Jesus's disciples are accused of working on the Sabbath. In the day, the Sabbath was a holy 24 hour period where no work was to be done. In fact, religious leaders had spent a great deal of time determining what was work what wasn't. They saw Jesus disciples doing minimal work on the Sabbath and had an issue with it. Jesus response was that Sabbath was made for us, not the other way around. We don't live to an inflexible schedule, but we do live by a guiding principle: we need rest. We need to refuel. That was Jesus point, not that we can work indefinitely, but that rest as a principle is in our control. 

In this current crisis, as we work from home, the lines between work and home blur. Like me, you might find yourself with no private time, constantly bombarded with needs and requests (from news coverage, child needs, work needs, home needs, personal needs). The idea of resting and refueling, especially emotionally, might be a wish far too fanciful to get. But we need rest (physical, emotional, spiritual, mental). We need to refuel. 

So, let's put that principal of rest being in our control to work:

Here's a few suggestions on how to do that. Please suggest your own in comments!

Physical

• Exercise
• Sleep
• Walk
• Control your breathing
• Hug those in your home for over 10 seconds

Emotional

• Have a video chat with someone you love
• Journal your emotions
• Connect with a counselor, pastor, coach or mentor
• Do something that fills your emotional tank (reading, playing, painting, crafts, etc)
• Listen to your favorite music

Spiritual

• Pray
• Download the Bible App and read through a plan
• Read a devotional, spiritual memoir or blog
• Find a way to spend 10-15 minutes in silence and solitude (noise-canceling headphones help)

Mental

• Turn off the news
• Shut down social media
• Read something fictional
• Start a class (Masterclass has many options)

There are many options, and you probably know some better than I listed here. Remember, you control how and when you find rest, so exercise your control. Refuel: you need it.

The Best In Us

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I am overwhelmed...

...not with fatigue, or fear or stress.

I am overwhelmed with gratitude.

In the space of these last few days I saw the best in us. I just finished watching the Mayor of Boston's live address (March 17, 2020). It was incredible and hopeful. It was presidential. It was human.

In these days of crisis, I have seen individuals offer help, civic, medical and community resources work hard, companies provide support, politicians work together and remove red tape, industries band together. In an apocalyptic scenario, we are not collapsing. We are rising. We are banding together. We are leading well. We are being...human...the best in us...working together to find hope, find solutions, express love.

I am amazed by the community I am in, those near and far, those on our street and across the globe, at how we are working together in this time.

My prayer...

"Lord, may the best in us continue to outgrow the crisis we face, the limits we endure and the pain we suffer as You work to bring a cure. Lord, release this curse from us, but leave it's blessing...a united humanity working in love."