How do you keep yourself grounded, focused and centered while laying off 10, 20 or 100s of employees who have families and mortgages? You were hired to be a leader and manager with a surgeon’s laser-focus of diagnosing and treating the business’s ills and opportunities for health and growth – yet, let’s be real, you are a HUMAN being and these kinds of activities can take their emotional toll – no matter how analytical you are or how much you live by the numbers. ..Not to mention the water we are all swimming in these days further exacerbates the toll – the fear and anxiety frenzy feeds on the latest news on the local or global economy.

Going back to the basics is essential during these times – you can’t give away what you don’t have. How do you lead and manage others during these turbulent, uncertain times when you aren’t sure when the next wave will hit? If you want others to quickly refocus and re-energize during and after these kind of activities – it starts with you leading and embodying the way. People’s antennae become extra sensitive in this times so you can’t fake it. So how do you stay grounded and clear? 

It starts with taking control of what you can – your person and your reactions. At the core you must consistently engage in two fundamental activities on a daily basis: Express and process your emotions NOT your thoughts – Venues for this can be talking with a colleague, coach, spouse or friend, or writing in a journal, or even talking into a tape recorder on the way home from work. The second activitiy is cultivating your creative energies and recharging – weather it is doodling on the memo pad, singing in the shower, meditating or playing the bass guitar at night. The goal here is experimentation and having fun. Reflection and downtime – even if they are only 10 minutes a day - are bare essentials. The key is consistency and continuity. Your mind and nervous system can only process so much without it coming out somewhere negatively in your mood or at it’s extreme in your health.

Copyright 2009 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC www.sagelead.com

I am breaking the last (?) taboo of “the corporate world” – to talk about energy, spirit – those intangibles that we all know exist – that really move us, give us meaning, and make a difference in how we are, how we feel, how we think and how we behave. Every leader and organization wants people’s passion and commitment. Who wouldn’t? But guess what? We are messy, complex, contradictory HUMAN beings and sometimes the road to desire – achieving what we want – is a rocky one. Can we have real commitment without people’s emotions, spirit, energy? Emotion is energy in motion. You don’t have this, you are stuck. This is the stuff we need to move, shape and create our world. Sometimes we have to walk through the mud – vent, disagree, etc. – before we get to the clarity and true agreement. This is sustainable growth – working with what is really going on, on all levels.
“Growth” is an interesting word. Growth can be hard work and painful – it doesn’t always feel good. But sometimes we need a kick in the butt to get out of our comfort zone. Boy was my “growth spurt” uncomfortable for me! It felt like a spurt on steroids. I had to be almost hit over the head to get a perspective on what I could and couldn’t control. But growth can also be fun, joyous and energizing. It’s all of life. To get the results you’re after with yourself, your team or your business, you can’t do this just in your head, you also need to be fully present – in your body and engage your emotions. …and to invite and give permission for others to do this.
When you show up for work on Monday morning, guess what? You bring all of you – head, heart and body. And at the end of the day, amidst bosses, colleagues, spouses, kids, friends – you are your starting and ending point. You can only change you.
But you, you can change!
So, hang on and come on an adventure with me! Let’s blow open the doors of our assumptions and mental models of who we are and how our life or our world should be – to get to what all of it is and can be!

Copyright 2009 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC www.sagelead.com