As this new year begins, we are struggling as leaders. We are worn to the core by this endless pandemic, economic uncertainty, and significant challenges in the recruitment and retention of staff. We see many risks around every corner and minimal rewards. We wonder what is the right path to take in 2022.
When I grasp the depth of these challenges, I am reminded of a term used by John Paul Lederach, namely that we are past our “known cartography.” We are wandering through this landscape and there are no familiar landmarks to guide us. Even worse, there are no maps that explain what to do next after nearly two years of COVID. In simple terms, we feel lost and the future is murky at best.
This morning, I also am reminded of a quote by the Irish poet, David White: “Our language is not large enough for the territory in which we have entered.” In the midst of this unknown cartography, we struggle to find the words to describe what is happening within us and what is happening within our organizations and our teams. Past terms and metaphors just do not capture what is happening.
For example, some call what we are experiencing as pandemic fatigue. This is a good term, but I feel it no longer captures the depth of how we feel. We could try “pandemic exhaustion” or “pandemic depletion” but after living month after month through this pandemic, it feels more like a convergence of exhaustion, grief, fatigue, and weariness with a touch of hopelessness and depression. Whatever the right word or words are, we know the feeling, and we are tired of it.
When navigating this new year, many leaders are looking for a map. We want to chart our path and then make progress each quarter. To do this kind of navigation, one needs three things. First, a leader needs an accurate map that will provide us with known landmarks and concrete information about the landscape before us. With this kind of information, we can use a form of navigation that involves figuring out where we are, plotting a course, routinely marking the distance we’ve traveled, and maintaining a constant sense of direction.
The difficulty with this form of navigation is that all we have is the map and our perceptions of what is happening around us. A map also assumes the environment is stable and not changing which currently is not the case. In the midst of COVID, we live in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment where many things are influencing others things that are then influencing us. In simple terms, it is hard to navigate a path to the future when the mountains, the trees and the buildings around us are all in constant motion. In short, the current maps do not help us find a fixed position by which we can then chart the path.
Second, we need to clarify strategic intent. While the future is murky and the map is not totally accurate, we can be clear about our intent. For example, we can seek conservative growth within an unstable environment. Or we can deepen our current customer relationships so we do not loose them over the next 12 months. Finally, we can build more internal resilience in systems, people and project management, knowing that there will be more unforeseen events in our near future. Clarity of intent grounds us as we tentatively move into this new year.
Third, we need a compass. When trying to determine where we are on a map, a compass can tell us where north, south, east and west are. With these directions, we can determine not only where we are but what direction to move. Still, unless you can figure out where you are on a map, you can not easily find a sense of direction.
With the above in mind, I wish I could create a leadership GPS system or an organizational GPS system that would calculate accurate and instantaneous latitude and longitude coordinates so that everyone would know where they are and how to proceed. But since this is not an option, I think I will return to the map and compass for navigation even if they are imperfect.
Years ago, I read an article about a teacher who taught her very young students how to not get lost in the woods. She would gather students at the edge of the forest and then walk in about 50 yards. Then, she would stop and the students would look at a rock with lichen. Then, they would move on about 50 yards to a stump with some unique shelf fungus. Next, she would walk another 50 yards and they would look at the bark of a tree. After four or five stops, she would ask the group to find their way out of the forest. Initially, the students would feel lost and not be sure about which way to go.
But, she would calmly ask them what was the last interesting thing they talked about as a group. Then, someone would recall the bark of a tree. So they all walked a short distance back to that tree. Next, it was a short walk to the stump with the shelf fungus. Then, they moved on to the rock with interesting lichen. With each familiar landmark, the group would back track until they came to the place where they had originally started. The teacher called this making a mental map and remembering what they had learned along the way.
Since the day I heard about this, I have loved this idea. This mental mapping into an unknown area is a great concept. By taking short walks and then pausing, the group did not find themselves overwhelmed by the size and scope of the forest.
Right now, I think we need to break the coming 2022 year into small journeys of 60-90 days. Then with clarity of strategic intent, we need to move forward and then pause. While we may not focus on the bark of an interesting tree, we can pause and check on lessons learned and to make sure we are moving cautiously in the right direction given our strategic intent.
Now as to the compass, I think this needs to not be a physical compass as much as a metaphorical compass. This kind of compass is based on our core values as people and organizations. We need to stay true to what we believe. True north values, such as treating everyone we meet with respect and acting with the utmost integrity no matter the time, place or situation, transcend the outer landscape around us. This is the inner landscape of character and integrity.
This coming year, I believe it is with integrity, respect and a clear sense of thoughtful action that we will chart our path and navigate the complexities that are before us. The future is unknown but we can be grounded in disciplined thought and action each step of the way.
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