2020: Winning Ugly Is Still Winning

Well, that certainly escalated quickly!

I think we can safely agree that no one anticipated what a weird and chaotic year would kick off the new decade. This year was not recommended for the faint of heart.

We’re still in the hard stuff and will be for what looks to be quite a bit longer, and we’ve hardly had the kind of distance that allows thoughtful analysis of the big picture. But the calendar says a new year is just around the corner, so damn it, I’m going to reflect. And, like you, carve meaning out of our shared experience of tumult.

I firmly believe that what I have witnessed in the past months is the refiner’s fire that will take many, many leaders and businesses from merely great to truly game changing. I’ve observed some truly remarkable things this year, and it’s all making me very optimistic about the future.

In the words of the great Hunter S. Thompson, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”

Here’s to all us weirdos. Let’s go…

1. We worked our asses off.

Most of my clients worked harder than ever in 2020. Top lines took hits, bottom lines took hits, and many of us tightened belts like it was 2008 all over again. 

But the hard work wasn’t just a grind. It was a reorienting towards what mattered most. It was that elusive “deliberate practice” being driven by the intention to stay in the game, to stay alive, at all costs. One client had to shut down his office—but then figured out how to reopen and hire all the talent back with new perks and tons of flexibility. That’s not pivoting. That’s re-imagining.

This perseverance requires fortitude. I’ve learned fortitude this year, the ability to keep going. I saw it in leaders I work with, too. 

They demonstrated a renewed ability to focus, to get the work done and encourage others to do the same. They found ways to execute in an unfamiliar environment while prioritizing family, health, safety, and humanity.

But, none of it happened without struggle. 2020 created more insomniacs than ever. We still came to work with red eyes and got stuff done. We kept plates spinning at home, at work, with our kids and extended families.

And most of that juggling was pretty awful if we’re honest. In addition to being thrown so totally off course by so many unforeseen circumstances, casual indignities abounded. 

I learned to loathe the word “unprecedented” with a vitriol I couldn’t have imagined a year ago. 

That’s grit, determination, and a work ethic worth celebrating. 

2. We killed some sacred cows that clearly needed killing.

Some leaders and companies discovered that, once the dust settled, working remotely was just as productive as it was in a physical office. Many have decided it’s time to say goodbye to a culture of long commutes and endless in-person meetings, and to rethink business travel and a culture where deals can only get made face to face.  

In this Time article, author Alana Semuels outlines how nothing is off limits anymore: 

“The pandemic is forcing companies to rethink how they structure work, and some are trying ambitious changes to try to fix what is broken. They’re shortening the workweek, doing away with meetings and rethinking the butts-in-seats mentality. They’re adjusting workdays to suit the needs of employees scattered across time zones and faced with childcare responsibilities. Some are even reimagining offices as nonwork retreats for employees who need a break from home.”

Offices as non work retreats for employees who need a break from home??? 

Imagine reading that sentence a year ago! Most of us leaders would have laughed…but today? It makes perfect sense. That’s how much our headspace has expanded. 

It is my hope that leaders take this change as an opportunity to focus (relentlessly) on results – doing things that work and perhaps doing only things that work. We didn’t discover that in-person meetings themselves were not valuable, instead, we figured out that they were only A way to get things done. Not THE way.

2020 demonstrated the force of our habits in a surprising way. Once those habits were shown to be unnecessary, we got rid them and worked until we got the results we needed. That’s what killing sacred cows is all about.

How many of us are going to snap back to the old ways when things go back to normal? My guess is that, mostly, we won’t. I, for one, have zero desire to go back to the increasingly horrible “service” of the airline industry on a regular basis. The list of petty annoyances that no one will welcome back into their lives is quite long.

I believe that we will take this chance to upend the more useless elements of the status quo and improve even further on the changes of this year. I see so many of you primed to emerge better, faster, stronger, leaner, and healthier than ever. 

3. We learned and innovated.

In this article from MarketWatch, writer Sanjana Vig presents an intriguing list of ways our culture changed this year, including spending less, decreasing pollution, paying attention to our mental health, and creating a career backup plan. 

Many of us strengthened our tech skills out of necessity. Who knew how important the mute button on Zoom was or how to share a screen?! One client told me he proudly showed his young grandchildren how to creatively use Zoom - when one year ago he would have embarrassingly shied away from hopping on a video call with them. 

We created new definitions of what’s acceptable and professional. And some of us learned how to integrate work and home life better. 

We hold babies, pet furry friends, drink cocktails with partners/family in the background and wear pajama pants while speaking to CEO’s across the globe (to be fair, they are VERY comfy pajama pants). 

We all rediscovered the ability to learn quickly, apply that new knowledge, iterate, and ultimately win the day. It also seemed like we had some fun doing it: connecting with people in new ways; applying new skills to the challenges of this brave new world we find ourselves in; jumping on new trends that involved self-work and individual skills.

The resilience built by learning and applying new skills at the rate we did in 2020 is going to provide a springboard for leaders to innovate even further. It will also see us all “leading from the front” in ways we hadn’t considered.

4. We grew as leaders.

2020 did a pretty darn good job of keeping us in our “discomfort zones.” Like any journey through unfamiliar territory, where answers aren’t right around the corner, we are forced to adapt or cease to exist. 

There is the heart of the matter: 2020 thrust many, many people and businesses into an existential crisis. I mean that in the most literal sense of the term – it was a crisis that said to a whole bunch of people all at once: Put up or shut up. Play your hand or fold. Adapt, or die. No time for bullshit.

That is a very stark choice to face. Facing it along with millions of other people ratchets up the emotional stakes in ways that are almost unfathomable.

Getting through this year has required each and every one of us to decide very explicitly to not go gentle into that good night. 

Giving up is easy. Painful, but easy. Staying in is hard.

It asks everything of you. It asks you to be deliberate and focused while the world is busy collapsing around you. It asks you to think of the future when uncertainty looms. 

It asks you to… be a leader. Really and truly, not just because your name happens to be on a door.

Last year I launched happily into 2020 with my Word of the Year: Possibility. Clearly I nailed that, just not in the way I was thinking.

This year I’m looking at 2021, and my word of the year is Intention. This comes from what I’ve seen in so many of you this year.

Here’s my challenge to myself (and since you’ve read this far, it’s my challenge to you too):

How can we take the lessons of this extraordinary year and use intention to create the results we desire?

How can we call on those traits that were on display this year--our mighty work ethic, our willingness to kill sacred cows, our ability to change and innovate—to move intentionally into 2021 knowing all we know now? 

Thank you, leaders, for leading the way. For steering us, for trusting us, for leaning on us.

It has been a privilege to witness your transformation.

We learned we all need one another more than we knew, and I’m eager to keep playing with you all in 2021.

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Molly Rudberg, MSC, ACC, is an executive and leadership development coach helping humans and organizations thrive by enhancing their capacity for meaningful, effective action. By elevating clarity, focus and judgement - leaders and organizations become more skillful decision makers, communicators and experience enormous growth in relationships, work and life.

Molly facilitates workshops and speaks to organizations and groups about a variety of topics around communication - including creating intentional, purposeful work. Molly is also co-author of “From the Yoga Mat to the Corner Office: A Mindful Approach to Business Success” (Highpoint Executive Publishing, 2014).