It is no surprise that we live in a tumultuous world. Over two years ago COVID-19 changed the world, and ever since then we have been surrounded by a continued deluge of chaos, uncertainty, and complexity.
Consider a few of the world events in the last two years:
- President Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 Presidential election
- Millions of people worldwide died from COVID-19
- Black Lives Matter protests across the United States
- Taliban returns to power in Afghanistan after 20 years
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
As complexity and chaos continues there is an increasing need to have a safe place to wrestle with ideas, emotions, and to have time to process. The relationship looks like this:
It is our responsibility and imperative as leaders to create these places of safety and refuge, from the world. Every individual processes the world differently. It is in these safe places that progress, creativity, and innovation happen. When we create these spaces, we can also bring our authentic purpose driven self to the work we do in our organizations, communities, and families.
Creating this space does not have to be hard. Try starting every meeting you have by having everyone answer the question “what am I feeling?”.
This practice has helped me to connect to my feelings (usually a single word) and connect on a more human level with those I work with. I believe this single practice has led to much of the work I am proud of at Microsoft.
