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Last week I was a guest on the Student Affairs Now podcast talking about the importance of storytelling in higher education. You can listen here. Also, welcome if you are new subscribers who heard the episode!
How are the plans and resolutions you made at the New Year going? Not as planned? I’m not surprised to hear that. This year may be less normal than others, and that’s why I like making strategies instead of plans. I tend to attach to outcomes, so I do not do well when something doesn’t go as planned.
Strategies are road maps without directions, like this image of a Google Maps plan that didn’t quite fully load because I wasn’t in good cell service. I knew the destination and what I planned to do when I get there and even along the way, but I didn’t know all the specifics of how I’d get there. We can’t plan out all the details.
One thing is certain, and that is uncertainty. But remember, uncertainty is not always a negative force. It can open doors to new possibilities and growth (even when it doesn’t feel like it). Focusing on these aspects makes us feel more empowered and more in charge.
When faced with uncertainty, we have a choice: We can react with courage and consider possibilities, or we can react with fear and consider all that could go wrong.
I choose the former, but I’m not always successful at it. Also, I’m not suggesting you ignore what could go wrong. It’s helpful to prepare for worst-case scenarios.
Pause for a moment right now. Take pen and paper, or type in the comments or reply to this: What is your relationship with uncertainty? What is your default when things don’t go as planned? Having an awareness of this is really helpful.
Uncertainty is untidy; it’s chaotic. So, let’s talk about communicating in chaos. I suspect many of us are in this position right now.
Leadership is lonely, and leading in chaos is even lonelier. It helps to know you aren’t alone. Most of my client conversations right now are about communicating in a measured, thoughtful, and strategic way and how to do it.
In their book, The Upside of Uncertainty, Nathan Furr and Susannah Harmon Furr note that uncertainty is the pathway to possibility.
To navigate, we have to :
- Reframe: Shift our perspective and focus on what’s possible.
- Prime: Prepare with projects that matter.
- Do: Unlock the rewarding possibilities.
- Sustain: Find comfort to keep going or pivot when things don’t go as planned.
It’s a great framework to get us started. I’ll reframe it to fit the unknowns we face today.
We don’t know where funding mechanisms are headed or what impact broadly stated (and sweeping) executive orders have on our business. As we worry about the people we serve and the people we don’t even know who are threatened, our anxiety increases.
Listen, I’m beating around the bush here because I’m trying to model what measured and balanced communication can look like. But let’s be real – we’re going to need our energy and sanity. So, let’s review some of the productive conversations around communication amidst the chaos that I’ve been having with my clients.
Here are those four steps reframed with my lens on it:
- Reframe: Focus on what we control. We all know this. It’s just your friendly reminder.
- Prime: Work with the facts in hand. Stay away from assumptions and blame. Don’t be like other leaders. We get to do this our way.
- Do: Start writing/recording your message. If it’s helpful, have a therapeutic vomit of all the stuff on your mind. Go off. Yell, scream. Get that shit out of your head and onto paper or mp4. Then edit to what’s actually going to unlock possibility.
- Sustain: Find comfort? Find comfort with people making change, speaking up, fighting the good fight. Don’t feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. You are not alone. Align with the people where you can contribute and make a difference. Have faith that others are working on the other things you simply don’t have the bandwidth for.
It is helpful to think about what I expect (and abhor) in a leader and let that inform how I show up in the world. When something unsettling, even terrifying happens to cause uncertainty and chaos, what do you need to hear or see in your leader?
How can you model that for your team and stakeholders today?
Take care out there.
SOME WAYS I MAY BE ABLE TO HELP YOU AND YOUR TEAM:
LEAD YOUR WAY: This mentoring/coaching program is designed to help you step into your leadership and show up as your best self so you can communicate to connect and amplify your impact.
COMMUNICATE TO CONNECT: In my storytelling workshops, I teach leaders of all capabilities how to engage authentically with their teams, community, and stakeholders to create meaningful connections that build trust, increase team engagement and lead to better fundraising and revenue generation. See a video showcasing my work here.
Did you have something else in mind? Let’s talk and see how I might be able to help. Contact me and we’ll schedule a chat.
Stay in touch.
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