Leading with attention
JMJ Managing Consultant Camille Ford shares how learning to overcome the many challenges of lockdown helped her become a better coach to her clients and a better mother/teacher to her kids.
While I’ve been productive and efficient at work, and my kids won’t fail fourth and eighth grade, I am exhausted! What I initially believed was a temporary fix for a pandemic has turned into an indeterminate amount of uncertainty. For how long will this go on? Remote schooling is turning into remote summer camp. What!? Camp is for getting away not staying home. What has been missing for me over the last 60 days from this now normal way of working is attention and its alternative expressions:
Care
Care for people and for what they are personally going through as well as putting time towards my own self-care. These last months revealed my attention has been split between my clients, my organization JMJ and my family. Nowhere in my calendar or my daily routine have I done anything for myself. What attention have you put towards your own self-care over the last several months?
Graciousness
Fear of the future and change manifest reactive behaviors and concerns. These are valid feelings to have, but they don’t change anything, nor do they make you an endearing human being to others. Attend to what you can control and act on them and what you cannot control (social media) and choose. Be gracious with yourself and those around you.
Reflection
Take stock of the last couple of months and acknowledge all the good things that have taken place during these times. I am thankful my clients seek me out as a trusted partner to continue to build their high performing team culture remotely. I am grateful that I can spend mealtimes at home with my family and I find joy in walking my dog every day. What’s happened to you over the last couple of months that is your silver lining?
Kindness
We may not know exactly what the next 60 days will look like, but we do get to choose how we show up both mentally and physically. How we perceive our situation and what is possible, gives way to different ways of viewing the situation and new actions. Be kind to yourself and appreciate no one has this figured out.
This journey can be an extraordinary one of your making. There isn’t a precedence for these times so I really can’t screw it up. What can you attend to with intention and be adaptive along the way?
JMJ works with clients around the world, transforming cultures to unlock human performance. Contact us today to learn how we can collaborate to help you transform your leadership approaches, creating an environment for people to adapt, grow and flourish.