“She was unstoppable. Not because she did not have failures or doubts.
But because she continued on despite them.”

― Beau Taplin, “Unstoppable.”

This pandemic presents a preponderance of opportunities for teachable moments.

When we encounter something new, one of two things happens. We either embrace it or we do not. The younger we are the more new things we encounter. As we age, we find fewer and fewer opportunities to bump into situations with which we have little experience. Or we may choose to slow down our willingness to try new things and walk the path more familiar. To do what is easier, what takes less energy, or that which has outcomes we can more readily predict. By this time in life, we have developed skills and preferences which work for us and which we believe define us. To our minds and our comfort level, we are what we can comfortably do.

It is in new situations or environments, however, where our learning light turns on, where we must stretch out of the comfortable and jump into new behaviors. For some, this is hard, threatening, and/or scary. For others, it is when they feel the most awake, alive, and energized.

I readily admit that I fall into the second category. I light up when I am learning. I love to stretch. I also love to help others to learn, stretch, and grown.

I am finding that the individuals with whom I am interacting during this time of social distancing are sharing stories of how the situation is prompting them to take action on things that were always calling for attention but not being addresses.  They also find themselves being launched into completely new ways of working that will advance the organization by light years. This new collective experience is ripe with teachable moments — opportunities to learn and to help others to learn new ways to cope, adapt, and become more relevant.

This morning, during a coaching call, my client shared with me many new things that will be put into place to prepare for continued virtual work, and for when their locations open for customers. New ways of working are being embraced, perfected, and mastered in a matter of days. It is a remarkable transformation that people and organizations have spoken about for years, but which we could only envision happening slowly. The process of transitioning these changes as necessary, temporary response to the pandemic will now become permanent new ways of working. These changes will propel the organization into new human resource approaches that will help attract and retain talent and flex to market changes. For many businesses, the problem of sourcing new space went away, seemingly overnight.

Big shifts are happening without much resistance. Little ways of working together are changing, too.

My client went on to share that she needed to address an issue of someone not observing personal boundaries. Instead of my client going directly to the person who was not being self-aware, she encouraged the individual who had been uncomfortable to speak up for themselves, to discuss it with the other person first. The culture of this organization is nice. It is like a family business and the workforce is tenured. Relationships are very casual and the managerial level lean. There have not been many occasions for people to learn to use their voice and be empowered, to be part of the change. This manager seized the opportunity to encourage someone to take matters into their own hands, respectfully. She encouraged them to assert their voice.

It seems like a simple thing. But in the busyness of day-to-day transactions this coaching didn’t happen. Given the time we have to devote to our relationship and the importance of the need for physical boundaries, a behavior that might have been slow to change happened with a thoughtful response.

This situation, so uncertain and filled with unknowns, causes us to slow down, deliberate, and confer. We are making the change together, mostly enthusiastically, because the need is so pressing.

I wouldn’t wish a crisis of this proportion upon anyone in order to achieve the rapid changes we are experiencing; but I do appreciate all the opportunities it presents and all the little and large changes being driving from the top down, from the bottom up, and from each and every person who chooses to accept responsibility and make each moment matter.

• What teachable moments are you experiencing?

• Are you finding a path towards a new future that may be better?

• Are you helping others to adapt and digest all of this change?

Leslie

“If we do decide to start surrendering to our uncontrollable situation
and letting go of resistance and resentment,
we will have no shortage of opportunities to learn and grow.
Our world, no matter how crazy and unreasonable it gets,
will become our greatest teacher and ally.”

— Pema Chodron, “When Things Fall Apart”