Burnout, Resilience & Agility

Burnout, Resilience & Agility

While it was somewhat cathartic for SmarterWisdom to look in the rearview mirror at 2020 in our January Words of Wisdom post, as leadership consultants we are more typically focused on helping people look forward and plan for what is to come. There are, of course, many unknowns ahead; and, after a year of living and working in a world-wide lockdown, perhaps these unknowns are even more complex? My own recent doom-scrolling confirms many experts’ concerns about job loss (already showing up significantly with women and BIPOC communities) burnout and mental health issues—the latter affecting all ages, from young school-aged children through the middle-aged. It is not a rosy outlook at all, but as I look at the work of Jeffrey Hull, Jacinta Jiménez and Angela Duckworth, among others, I feel hope and see some preventative solutions that we might try, as leaders and colleagues.

Burning Platforms: Urgency, Change & Outcomes

What are the lessons to be gleaned from the sudden shift to work from home? My biggest takeaway, by far, has been the level of flexibility humans can exhibit when they have to. The work from home arrangement into which so many have been thrown during the pandemic, required flexibility from both organizations and their employees at all levels. The shift to home-based work by massive numbers of employees was a head spinning change accomplished in a snap. And, by all reports to date, it is largely a story of success.

The speed with which the workers and organizations adapted to a new normal has been nothing short of astounding. Not that long ago virtually all workers were paid to perform their jobs on site. Additionally, until relatively recently, many not only had to show up, they were also required to punch a timeclock when arriving and departing to prove that they were at their jobs at the agreed upon times. Of course, these employees weren’t proving that they were working, just that they were at the worksite. But still, punching the clock was what was required if an employee wanted to get a paycheck.

How to Get Things Right

The sub-title of Atul Gawande’s book, The Checklist Manifesto (Metropolitan Books, 2009) is How to Get Things Right. Atul Gawande is a surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. He practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Samuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. He is a brilliant man, a superb speaker and an expansive thinker. “How to Get Things Right” is a bold sub-title for anyone, for a surgeon it is certainly a comforting sub-title—and for those of us right now leading and working during a pandemic, getting things right seems all but impossible, but of course extremely important as a goal.

Career success, Crisis managementJane MouldingMarch 3, 2021Covid-19, Flexibility, Time-of-change

Doing Good Work

Both the author Daniel Goleman and Harvard psychologist, Howard Gardner have written a good deal about “good work.” Expressing not only the need for basic competence and effectiveness at what you do, but also the alignment to mission and ethical values. (New York Times, 2008) Without these characteristics, Goleman argues “it does not make the cut for good work.” I want to develop and deepen the definition of “good work” even further by considering additional models for mutual partnerships. I have always found ways to love my work; and I have always worked with colleagues who do too. I know that this is a luxury. Finding the time to reflect about how you find joy in your work brings you to a level of wisdom and self-awareness that cannot fail to propel you forward and influence those around you to engage in good work together. In short, it can make work truly worthwhile—for you personally and, perhaps, for the greater good.

Career success, Leadership, Team-buildingJane MouldingFebruary 10, 2021workingfromhome, Pandemic, Flexibility

2020 In the Rearview Mirror: Top Takeaways for the Year Ahead

As SmarterWisdom Consulting celebrates its first birthday—during the entire month of January—we have been reminiscing about what we learned during twelve extraordinary months. The good news is that exceptional experiences--and 2020 was, if nothing else, an exceptional year—can lead to great learning! As we speed away into the new year, we want to build on these insights that have inspired us.

Harnessing the Wired World

In his book, A Sense of the Mysterious, (Vintage Books, 2006) physicist and author Alan Lightman includes an essay called: “Unwillingly Trapped by the Wired World.” Lightman’s piece and a New York Times (2010) article called "Growing up Digital. Wired for Distraction," by Matt Richtel caught my attention and prompted some of my initial deeper thinking about our connection to the wired world. While both of these pieces struck me as helpful to the high school students and their parents with whom I was working at the time, and, as I think more broadly about the world of work in my current leadership consulting role with SmarterWisdom, I see the need for us all to harness our use--and overuse--of technology. Ensuring that we have time for the reflection and learning that helps us access our inner wisdom is even more crucial at this moment. As we all cope with the myriad demands and changing landscape of our lives during Covid, finding a way out of our involuntary entrapment, and thus ensuring our continued potential to dream and imagine, is vital to leading a fulfilled life.

KINDLY LISTEN UP

In reflecting on our observations of our clients over the past six months, we have noted a range of responses to the unusual situation in which we have all been living and working. Without question, each organization’s workforce has expressed an evolving set of emotions; what workers were feeling in the earliest stages of the pandemic has been largely replaced multiple times over as the duration of the crisis has lengthened. Keeping a finger on the pulse of employee needs and emotions has been one of our strongest recommendations to our clients; knowing where their workforce is “at” is a critical component of keeping employees engaged and productive. It also underscores the reality that what got workers engaged in February 2020 cannot be assumed to have the same effect in October of the same year.

Perfect Partnership

In his excellent book WISDOM@ WORK (Doubleday, 2018), author Chip Conley lays out a road map for organizations to create lasting benefit for success by tapping into the wisdom of the ages. By creating partnerships and teams of both younger, frequently more tech-savvy professionals, and also older more work-wise individuals, he argues that we will build stronger and more agile places of work—and ensure a healthy teacher/student relationship that flips from one group to the other. He also tells his own story about his journey to become a “modern elder.”

Conley’s basic premise, which aligns beautifully with SmarterWisdom’s philosophy, is that people who have been on this earth for a while have amassed work and life experiences that are invaluable. He also makes a strong argument for “rewirement,” positing that open-minded, growth-oriented professionals have plenty of time and space for learning more. He acknowledges, as we all do, that younger people have grown up in a time where uses of technology, social media and other modern tools have become part of their lives—the intersection of the generations, then, provides an enriched source of learning and creative possibilities for organizations.

Embracing Uncertainty: Careers in Chaotic Times, Part II

Face it: in a non-linear world, it makes sense to expect uncertainty. While no one can predict how that uncertainty will manifest itself (Fuel oil crisis? Toilet paper shortage? Lockdown?) what we can know is that, in our globally interdependent world, we can’t anticipate exactly what will be coming at us in the future. What we do know, however, is that there absolutely will be curveballs that will not only change the way our world operates, but also what jobs and opportunities will be available to us in the marketplace.

Leadership, Team-building, High performanceMarcie Schorr HirschNovember 11, 2020workingfromhome, Pandemic, Flexibility

Should I stay or Should I go?

Opportunities for professional growth are abundant these days; how many invitations are you seeing in your in-box daily: webinars, seminars, Zoom meetings, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, an endless array. How to be a good leader in the age of a pandemic? How to build a more diverse and inclusive team? How to apply Marie Kondo to schools? It’s endless. Perhaps the most important question is: How do you decide whether or not 45 minutes on a video presentation is worth your while?

SmarterWisdom has certainly wasted some time tuning in to a few failures. One of us finds something that looks good, and as part of our partnership and commitment to constant learning, we both tune in. Ten minutes in, one of us texts the other: What do you think? Sometimes we hang in there and sometimes we don’t, determining that our time will be better spent elsewhere. We usually agree on the decision to jump ship. So, what kinds of calibration and measurements are we using to determine that we are no longer in?

Unleash the Power of Your Team

Obviously most working teams or committees are composed of extroverts and introverts—I would argue you need that combination to make problem-solving and the generation of ideas successful. In typical meetings, extroverts will often find it easier to contribute, to speak up, and process their thinking out loud; this approach is not in the wheelhouse of more introverted team members. With more on-line video meetings as part of the normal workday, there is significant pressure and need for leaders to step forward and manage team interactions, in order to ensure that each member is fully functioning in the interest of the success of the organization. Deliberately employing explicit structures and guidelines, that employees become used to over time, will set the stage for better productivity and involvement.

Career success, Leadership, Team-buildingJane MouldingSeptember 30, 2020workingfromhome, Pandemic, Flexibility

Generational Genius

Cross-fertilization of ideas consistently happens in good working relationships; openness to new thoughts from all sources tends to set effective leaders apart. For all of us, our arenas of work and ideas have necessarily expanded rapidly during the recent pandemic experience—there are so many external influences that we are responding to, and again good leaders see all of this as opportunity and pivot as quickly as they can from a reactive to an active, look-ahead stance. Internal influences are equally very present in our lives—they always have been of course, but right now might be the time to take advantage of what already exists internally. Opening up our thinking as widely as possible will enable us to take advantage of our strengths in different and imaginative ways. This is a time to be ready for completely new ways of doing things, using a growth mindset. For example, within your organization right now, there are likely five generations of people (the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Gen.X, millennials, and Gen Z.). That might be an untapped wealth of wisdom! Wisdom that we would do well to take advantage of.

Career success, High performanceJane MouldingSeptember 9, 2020Covid-19, Flexibility, Time-of-change

The Danger of Living on an Island

Does your organization claim to be “world class?” If the answer is yes, we have two important words to share: Be careful.

One of our clients was a newly appointed school leader who described joining an institution that considered itself world-class in every way. She reported being struck positively---at least initially---by the consistency of the culture of pride she encountered. Unfortunately, as she got to know the institution better, her initial response turned into uneasiness.

In addition to the omnipresent “we are world class,” mantra, our client described a pattern of institutional insularity: for example, administrators rarely belonged to professional associations, or attended meetings with their peers outside of the institution. Instead, they turned to each other for advice and, especially, for affirmation on any initiatives they considered launching. This in-culture review limited useful critical feedback. Of course, that made sense: without any kind of outside measurement and enveloped in a self-congratulatory ethos, new ideas nearly always got not only a thumbs up, but frequently a gold star or two.

Our client faced a difficult dilemma. On the one hand, she was hired with the understanding that she would both nurture and strengthen the reputation of the organization. On the other hand, she knew that unless she encouraged the enterprise to grow and change, its true positioning in the real world would diminish

Tip of The Iceberg: Crisis Leadership for the Long Haul

Nobody said leadership was easy. And it is certainly not a surprise that leadership during a crisis is even more difficult. The leaders currently dealing with the unseen iceberg of Covid 19 can testify to the fact that they could not have envisioned what this leadership journey would be like.

But, like a roller coaster, when your car is on the track and moving, there is no turning back. If you signed on as a leader in neutral---or even good---times, this turn of events is now part and parcel of the job. Today’s leaders tell us that they always knew that crisis leadership would be very different from leadership under normal circumstances. What has caught some by surprise, however, is the number of different types of leadership required. They are noting the shifting emphases and styles needed to lead effectively as the situation evolves. From the identification of a state of crisis, through the various stages that follow, leading people will demand different behaviors: the delicate art of leadership must encompass the ability to look beyond the immediate to offer a vision of inspiration and hope, while at the same time, responding effectively to the very present changes in emotions and needs of the people who look to their leader for support and empathy. This is particularly true in slowly unfolding crises such as this pandemic.

Leadership, Team-building, Crisis managementMarcie Schorr HirschJuly 29, 2020

Soccer, Community and Purpose

We know that Millennials and Gen Z populations tend to seek work that has community-oriented meaning and opportunity. They also enjoy finding places to “serve” or feel useful in on-line communities that keep us connected outside of the workplace—something that has certainly increased during our stay-at-home confinement during the pandemic. Many of these recent generations to join the workforce want a “blended” existence where what they care about can be more easily integrated into their working day and where they are not solely defined by their work. This development of an integrated life, with purpose and a set of values we choose to live by, ideally adds to the hope and optimism that as humans we most naturally seek.

Recently we have all been experiencing deep levels of isolation and loneliness. And while we have made efforts to understand solitude, and even benefit from it, our inability to access friends and family easily has taken its toll. At the same time, we have learned a lot about communities that matter, such as essential workers and health and care workers. I believe we all hope that when the time reverts back to more normal interactions, we will strengthen those community bonds that we have so sorely missed in recent months.

Jane MouldingJuly 8, 2020

Virtual Background: New Tools of The Trade

Elizabeth is a principal with a health economics consulting firm based primarily in the northeastern part of the United States. Her current work involves leadership and project management, drawing on quantitative and qualitative research, and managing clients. When she was hired by her current employer two years ago, it was made clear that her primary base of work would be her home. During the recent months of lockdown and work-from-home, Elizabeth’s level of comfort and success, while WFH, have made me think about, not only what mindset and skillset it takes to make this shift, but also other lifestyle improvements that the shift enables.

Career success, Leadership, Team-buildingJane MouldingJune 24, 2020workingfromhome, Pandemic, Flexibility

Riding the Bull: Careers in Chaotic Times

Uncertainty makes many people anxious. Because of that, most of us go out of our way to create a sense of predictability in key areas of our lives. That is certainly the case with employment: most individuals strive to have a decent bead on their future direction.

Of course, not everyone shares the same across-the-board roster of expectations about earning a living. Some individuals view work primarily as a means of making money to meet their economic needs. They may see what they do as “a job,” and look outside of work to provide fulfillment in other dimensions of their lives. But a significant portion of today’s population expects work to provide a great deal more than a living: yes, they are seeking remuneration, but they are also looking for additional elements such as fulfillment, status, the opportunity to be creative, make a social contribution, travel, engage with stimulating people and problems and more.

How Will You Measure Your Life?

I have just finished reading this inspirational little book by the late Clayton Christensen. In 2010 Christensen gave a speech to HBS’s graduating class where he used his research and thinking about business to lay out guidelines for meaning and happiness in our personal and family lives. The book: How Will You Measure Your Life? builds on his original talk and, in collaboration with James Allworth and Karen Dillon, presents a series of parallels between struggles and successes in business and ways we might use these known outcomes to teach us ways to live.

Jane MouldingMay 13, 2020

Bold ambition, super smart: It All Adds Up

Maryam Mirzakhani was born in Iran in 1977. She won gold medals in 1994 and 1995 in the high school International Mathematical Olympiads, gaining a perfect score in 1995. She earned her B.Sc in Tehran and five years later a PhD from Harvard University for her dissertation Simple Geodesics on Hyperbolic Surfaces and Volume of the Moduli Space of Curves. After doing further research and teaching at Princeton University Mirzakhani became a professor of mathematics at Stanford University in 2008. Sadly, Mirzakhani died in the summer of 2017 of breast cancer at the age of 40.

Jane MouldingApril 22, 2020

Priming for Re-Entry

For so many of us who have currently made the shift to WFH from WAO I expect we are missing some aspects of our daily work, and also beginning to realize what we have gained. According to a recent GALLUP study (April 3, 2020) 3 out of 5 people would now prefer to continue working from home, whereas 41% would like to return to work. [US Workers Discovering Affinity for Remote Work, Megan Brenan.] These numbers made me wonder what it was about this arrangement that led new work-at-homers to express this preference.

Team-building, LeadershipJane MouldingApril 20, 2020Covid-19, Flexibility