Has the smoke cleared?
Are the hurricanes gone?
Has the virus stopped spreading?
Could we be on the eve of the “peaceful transition [or continuation] of power?”
As kids playing hide-and-seek, and as Londoners asked after German air raids: “Can we come out now?”
2020 has been the year of primal fear. And the year in which so many of the things we 21st century earth dwellers have always taken for granted . . . could no longer be taken for granted. Here in Oakland, where I teach students across the globe from a computer in my basement, I had to ride my bike to school on Tuesday, because Pacific Gas & Electric turned off the power to our house to keep us safe from winds and fires. Flip the switch and the lights DON’T come on.
For over two months, Laura and Ashton and I been writing about leading through scary times. We’ve invited you back to basics: I wrote: Rest and Pausing. Ashton wrote: Focus on your central value. Laura wrote last week: Nourish yourself, literally and figuratively.
Today a simple suggestion:
Be Jim Collins’ “Level 5 Leader,” who is characterized by “personal humility and fierce resolve.”
It’s humbling to be one of 150 million voters. It’s humbling to realize that even the pollsters are guessing! It won’t be Armageddon if Trump wins, not the Apocalypse if Biden wins.
But what it will be – and what it is whenever you are opening this – is another day to:
- Act healthy – for you and those around you!
- Conserve energy – and fight for this battered planet!
- V – O – T – E – plus!
I will be doing a lot of 3-3-6 breathing – and repeating it 3 times: 3 counts in. 3 counts hold. 6 counts exhale. You might, as well, to maintain your humility and bolster your fierce resolve, to
Lead with your best self!