'THESE TICKETS ARE NOT TRANSFERABLE!' I'm sure I'm not the only one that remembers certain lines from certain movies for no real reason. Something about the voice inflexion of the character, the timing of the line, and the images of the scene, combined with something from our own personal past make certain lines stick like glue to our memories. 'THESE TICKETS ARE NOT TRANSFERABLE!' is one of those lines for me. It's from The Polar Express and I won't psychoanalyze myself on why, but that line is stuck in my brain.
Language, symbols, and cultures are complicated things. They exist across the entire course of human history in every corner of the globe. What makes them so complicated is that they are NOT TRANSFERABLE. A hand gesture can mean peace in one corner of the world and war in another. A hug is viewed as warmth on one continent and viewed as threatening on another. The Chinese language (Mandarin) is a great example. It is incredibly complicated when compared to English (which is very complicated in its own right) and much of the Chinese language and its symbols do not transfer well to English. So, we do the best we can when we are forced to cross these language barriers.
The Chinese symbol for crises is one of these hard-to-transfer complications. The best we can pull it over into the English language is 'a dangerous opportunity'. While that's not exactly what is meant in the Chinese language, it is how a leader can view crises. It is dangerous. Crises is defined as a time of intense danger.
But, there is opportunity hiding inside of crises. I developed a mantra during the pandemic. 'Whatever is done well now, will return 10-fold after the pandemic.' I sense it applies well to all crises situations. A principled, intentional effort to lead others for the sake and well being of others doesn't fail. I also know that crises accelerates things. Combine principled, others-centered leadership and crises, and you have a dangerous opportunity for some very important things.
Here are the opportunities that a leader has in the midst of the intense danger of a crises
CREATIVITY OF RESTRICTION - New York Times best-selling author, Daniel Coyle, has written quite a bit about how individual and group excellence happens. He notes regularly that it happens when we feel restricted. Restriction actually unleashes creativity. Crises is very restrictive and can force creativity out of us. Think about a small child left alone in a room with no toys and only a cardboard box. How long does it take for the child to venture off into an imaginary world with the cardboard box? The restrictive nature of not having toys forces the child to get creative and it is far more engaging than the latest tech toy. Crises can be that for a leader.
INNOVATION OF NEW THINGS - Innovation is really hard. It is not just a new way of doing old things. It is a new way of doing new things. Crises has a way of forcing us to ask questions and consider options we would never consider. When a leader leans into these questions and options, they topple over into innovation. New ideas, programs, products, and methods are discovered. Priorities are flipped upside down and people find out what is really important and what were just sacred cows. The key to innovation is not being afraid to entertain the unreasonable questions and unthinkable options. Crises makes them reasonable and thinkable. The only thing unreasonable and unthinkable is not considering dangerous opportunities to innovate during crises.
WISDOM OF UNFAIR - Wisdom is a tough concept to wrap our minds around. There are a lot of ways to define it. One of my preferred perspectives on wisdom is tough life experience that you grow to understand and value. Tough life experiences (crises) can make people bitter and jaded. They refuse to look back on it and ponder their involvement in it. They only see a situation that was unfair and forced change on them they never wanted. No wisdom is gained during that tough life experience. Crises gives us a difficult and dangerous opportunity to gain wisdom, but if you want to blame God, government, or social media for how messy it is, I doubt that you'll gain any wisdom from the crises. And that is a waste of a crises.
COMMITMENT OF COMMITMENT - Crises strains our commitments. Commitments to spouses, to jobs, to missions, to churches, to political parties, and even to who we thought we were. One of my favorite quotes to young student-athletes that are about to begin a practice late in the season that I know they don't want to be at is, 'commitment isn't commitment until you don't want to be committed; and then it becomes commitment.' If more people would talk themselves through that tongue twister when they came face to face with their own desire to no longer be committed, I think we'd have a lot more committed people. Crises is an opportunity to double-down on commitment because it is going to make you want to NOT be committed.
PASSION OF TEARS - A great way to uncover your own passion is to think about things that move you to tears. Hall of Fame coach, Jim Valvano, said that you should aspire to laugh, think, and cry every day. The opportunity that educators have to change the lives of students moves me to tears. Crises has a way to separating what you are really interested in from what you are passionate about. This is a good thing because you can lets some things go and focus even more intently on what you are passionate about. Crises has a way of accelerating the 'let go' and the 'focus on' on your passion.
I don't wish for anyone to have endure crises. But, when it arrives a leader ought not miss the opportunity that is available inside of the dangerous situation.
Keep on, keepin' on, everyone!
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read about it more here.
Comments
Post a Comment