Trends Part Two

“The ability for a group of people to do remarkable things
hinges on how well those people
can pull together as a team.”

— Simon Sinek

So, yesterday, I left you with a bunch of questions about what trends you’ve noticed recently. And asked how they might impact you, your work and your life in general. Today, we pick up where we left off.

I know, those were big questions.

Me, I can’t give up on the core beliefs that have guided me always. I believe that people are basically good, well-intentioned, able to learn — if they want to, and that we are better together when we seek to blend each other’s strengths.

These principles have guided me for 63 years and I have the faith that they will guide me as we traverse a very fractious and challenging time that does not seem to have an endpoint.

You’ve seen what guides me through times like these. What guides you?

Do the big events and movements that affect us socially, economically, emotionally, spiritually, environmentally, physically, and challenge our fundamental values, structures, cultural norms and the futures of our business, communities, family systems, states and collective future of the world pull or push you in a certain direction?

When put under pressure, I have been known to say, “The stress of the situation will either show your character or your cracks.” The hardship and challenge will either pull us together, pull us apart, or put us in a tug of war. We may responds in a primal way with fight or flight — or with the self-control of calm and groundedness. It is a conscious choice.

What in these moments of fraying and fatigue are you able to find as your direction and foundation?

Which of these ends of these spectrums are you witnessing around you?

Isolating and hoarding or …………………………………………………………… Coming together and sharing

Clinging to the way we’ve always been or ……………………………………. Risking and Innovating

Finding strength in rulemaking or ………………………………………………… In common ground and values

Asking for compliance or ………………………………………………………………. Fostering commitment

Getting motion through consequence and punishment or…………….. positive outcomes and rewards

A song of “Every man for himself.” or ……………………………………………… “We go down or up together.”

Finding comfort in a community of everyone is like me or………………….Seeking a diversity of perspective

Where is your voice?

Blaming or ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Taking Responsibility

What is your action?

Using Force or ……………………………………………………………………………………………. Practicing Humility

Where is your leadership?

In telling or………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Asking

Which of these do you need to be?

Right or …………………………………………………………………………….Facilitate our finding our common ground

What is your mindset?

Do you believe we can find a path forward? Is this a time to give up and sit down or stand your ground? Are we hedging that we may not find a way through but are destined to fall apart?

I have very few answers and many more questions.

• Is this just a cycle?

•Is this America’s bottom?

• Do we have to lose ourselves to find the essential and important?

As you might have figured out, I am an observer. I want to make sense of what is happening around me. I would like to try to do this without judgment but with curiosity. I do have strong opinions but would like to invite all voices to the table to explore the possible. I am concerned. I want to be a helper and a leader in the lives of others. I want to use my time with clear intention.

How are you making sense of this time of pandemic shift?

Leslie

“Let’s all pull together and make these United States
the grandest place in this whole country.
I see a vision. A glorious vision.
A united people, marching forward shoulder to shoulder,
giving their all for the common good,
working while I whistle.

— Gracie Allen