During the last couple of weeks, it has seemed like we are living in the lines of a Nina Simone song: ‘It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me.’ However, unlike the song which concludes ‘I’m feeling good’, each day in the last couple of weeks have challenged us to feel and experience all sorts of emotions – feelings that are far from ‘feeling good’.
It is as if the whole world and humanity is part of a social experiment which is pushing us from one extreme to another with unnatural force. One second, we are sad; another angry; then afraid and grateful – all in one minute.
Before these difficult times we may have argued about stages of change that each person has to go through while experiencing a personal or organisational change; now we are all on this curve and are together in a huge transformational boat which requires us to demonstrate a mindset that will help us to steer the boat towards land.
We still do not know the ‘hidden agenda’ of this experiment and what each of us should learn from it, but on a daily basis it challenges our ability to stay sane in these chaotic times, to find certainty in uncertainty, to see joy in sadness, and to find hope in despair.
It has become clear to me that we all are on this transition journey and that we should learn how to find a balance in a pendulum, full of paradoxes.
PARADOX Nr. 1: Horror vs Beauty
The small, invisible enemy called COVID-19 challenges us to manoeuvre with mixed feelings and emotions. One moment we are afraid that we or our loved ones will catch the enemy and there will be a lot of suffering and potential loss. We all have parents or grandparents or we know someone who is chronically ill, and we do not have any power or control to stop the enemy from meeting them; we can only show them our compassion and love by avoiding them. The only weapon that we have is to stay spiritually connected but physically apart.
In another moment, we are anxious, scared, and uncertain about what might happen to us when this health crisis is over. What will happen to our jobs, organisations, societies, and humanity? What will be the new reality? Because our brain is a prediction machine and we do not know much about the new reality or what the new order will be, we either quickly start creating all sorts of scenarios in order to keep our brains busy or start developing theories of conspiracy and manipulation. Another defence mechanism is also to deny the crisis and to believe that the old reality will continue after the health crisis stops.
In the next moment, we are devastated because so many people, so many families around the globe, suffer, and we hear so many tragic stories and cries for help as a result of meeting the enemy directly. Furthermore, we can only observe and hear the cries for help of those whose lives (the homeless people, families that live in poverty, elderly people, healthcare workers) have been indirectly affected by the enemy; these cries create spirals of despair and mental turmoil within ourselves.
Another paradox here is that at the same time, we see so much beauty in human solidarity, in observing how different heroes (healthcare workers, pharmacists, shop assistants, police officers, firefighters, drivers, reporters) are at the forefront of the battle to protect us, ready to sacrifice their health and the health of their families to protect humanity from this aggressive enemy.
We constantly shift from being concerned about ourselves to being devastated about what is happening to humanity – one moment we view the world from an egocentric lens, another from the lens of global solidarity and, at the same time, experience horror, sadness, frustration, anger, anxiety, lack of control, beauty, joy, and hope.
PARADOX Nr. 2: Safety vs Purpose
Besides being faced with emotional contradictions, we also have to juggle between safety and purpose. In addition to figuring out when, where, and how to protect ourselves while grocery shopping, many people, organisations, and societies are currently in survival mode. An invitation to reconnect with themselves sounds like another paradox to these restless minds.
This paradox reveals one thing. It reveals that there are two groups, each has its own perspective. For example, more high-skilled individuals can work from home and use this time for reconnecting with themselves, whereas the second group (low-skilled workers) can hardly work from home – they are mainly concerned about their survival.
Furthermore, during the last couple of weeks we have been bombarded by numerous free webinars to attend; children are schooled at home (via online platforms). Again, the access to online educational resources is not universal. According to World Economic Forum (2020): “The closures could disproportionately affect children from poor and low-income families, many of whom receive their weekday breakfast and lunch and, in some cases, dinner on campus”. The majority of these children do not have access to online educational materials.
We should be aware of the ‘place’ where each person comes from and not judge, rather offer our support to find opportunities in chaos, to find certainty in uncertainty and to find equality in inequality.
PARADOX Nr. 3: Profit vs People
Another paradox related to safety vs purpose is connected to profit vs people. Currently, there is a huge awareness and solidarity towards people who need our protection. Compassion and generational solidarity are remarkable (at least in the majority of countries around the world).
We hope that the pendulum does not shift to another side too quickly. Instead of being afraid that the pendulum shifts to another extreme where we would be faced by one of either/or questions connected to profit vs people, we could use the time in between to reinvent ourselves (and our organisations) to address the needs and challenges of the new reality. It is on us to start thinking ‘how could we do things differently’; ‘how could we contribute and address the needs and challenges of the new reality’? The ‘old way’ is behind us. We have a choice to find a ‘new way’.
Our role is to navigate both parts of our brains in order to simultaneously address our desperate need for safety and stability, on the one hand, and to find purpose and opportunities, on the other.
PARADOX Nr. 4: Poor vs Exemplary Leadership
Each crisis brings the best and the worst out of humans. We have recently observed, heard, or read many inspiring stories about some of the multinationals, SMEs, associations, and individuals who have been helping and supporting those who are protecting us and the vulnerable (kids who do not have regular meals, elderly and chronically ill people who are powerless to address their despair and other) by offering their support, services, donations and compassion in these difficult times. There is so much beauty in such a big disaster. We have seen so many cases of exemplary leadership, offered also by people that we never heard about before.
At the same time, we hear from media many stories about unethical leadership. We can hear about leadership behaviours that create more panic, instability, and despair rather than offering compassion, safety, and stability.
One thing is clear: in these difficult times, leadership, integrity, and ethical values are being tested and at the same time needed more than ever. Now is the time for system leadership that addresses the turmoil in our minds, hearts, and souls.
We might know many leaders, but alone they will neither be able to address the challenges of this crisis, nor the crisis which waits for us after the health crisis stops. We will be faced with a financial crisis, where we will need system leadership (leaders coming from different sectors of our society, both nationally and internationally) that will create strategic partnerships and address the challenges and needs of the new reality in a collective way.
What this crisis teaches us is that we are interconnected more than we realised. It has taught us about the power of the domino effect and that each of us will have to pay more attention to systems awareness, develop systems thinking, and system leadership competences in the near future – and the near future is around the corner.
PARADOX Nr. 5: Fixed vs Growth Mindset
What does all of this mean for you? Regardless of the generation you belong to, we all are together in this huge challenge. We should join forces, stick together, and consider how to find a balance between the paradoxes faced by us as individuals, organisations, societies, and – last but not least – humanity.
Before these difficult times we may have argued about that the growth mindset is needed to make a leap at an individual, organisational. or societal level; now we are all together in a huge transformational boat which requires us to demonstrate this mindset that will help us to steer the boat towards land.
The growth mindset will allow us to be afraid, but at the same time seek opportunities and new learnings. It will help us to find a balance a between safety and purpose, and see the connectedness in our isolation. Regardless of the difficult times we are in, we still have a choice.
We can be frustrated, angry, and scared of the forceful shifts created by the paradox pendulum or find a balance between these contradictions, accept the crisis, learn something out of it and prepare ourselves and support others who are in survival mode for the new reality. This choice and this mindset will sooner or later become our competitive advantage.
I will end my reflection on the paradoxical world and call for system leadership with one of my favourite quotes written by Viktor E. Frankl (from the book: Man's Search for Meaning):
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
Stay safe and healthy!
#staysafe #stayhealthy #stayathome #reinvent #findopportunities #contribute2humanity #addresstheparadoxes #systemleadership
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