Hi Friend,
I was recently in a client session with a beleaguered executive who was tongue-tied by the current state of things.
She knew what she needed to communicate—she wanted to invigorate, to inspire, to reassure her teams. But she couldn’t imagine delivering a positive message with any real authenticity, given how rotten things are right now.
Layoffs, “flattening” of org structures, not to mention sand storms, war crimes, and AI gone wild.
She wondered, What could I possibly say to ignite my people?
It’s easy to see how we might get stuck there, replaying news headlines in despair.
A more productive first question might be: How do I make my people feel seen? How might I acknowledge the pain, the uncertainty, the unbelievable effort it is taking to be human right now?
THEN we can ask, How might I speak the words that inspire? How might my words become a staircase to excellence?
THEN we can remind our people that they are powerful in spite of their fear, and that power often reveals itself when things are at their worst.
Your thought experiment this week is to play with this one radical thought:
What if this downturn … this crisis … is calling you to shine as a leader?
Leadership is easy when things are good.
Real leaders are sometimes made in crisis. Let’s not waste this one.
Shine on, my friend.
B
