Learning to Lead and Work in Difficult, Disruptive, Uncomfortable Times

This post is one of a series of powerful, eye-opening interviews from Jensen’s ongoing research into Leadership into the Future of Work, as well as from the study by Ultimate Software/Jensen Group: Reimagining HR for the Augmented Era. 

Eliza Pesuit is Executive Director of Global Glimpse. Global Glimpse is a non-profit organization that partners with high performing high schools to provide a two-year leadership, civic engagement, and college preparatory program: a summer immersion experience in the developing world.

Preparing Our Youth for the Future

“Global Glimpse puts young people in an environment where they are very uncomfortable, but they have a tremendous opportunity to grow. 

“I’m concerned that people are not being readied for the future of work in this way. Technology runs more and more of our lives and tech can’t provide those kinds of connections — that make people whole and happy and fulfilled. Tech can help enable them, but it takes courageous leaders, coaches, and individuals to design and stay in those kind of environments. Deeply connecting with people who are different from you builds a stronger web in society. 

“We’re still too segregated by race, by economic situations, background, and by culture. That’s really dangerous.

“Our work is about equipping young people with the ability to step out of their comfort zone, and know that they'll be OK. And with the ability to build relationships with people who are different from them, whether professional or personal, and do that in a way that is respectful and strong. Compassionate and courageous, combined.”

Preparing All of Us for the Future of Work

What can today’s organizations learn from how you prepare youth for the future?

“First and foremost, the way we train our frontline staff and teachers — the ones that actually work with the students — is crucial. This relates to how organizations develop leaders and managers. Because preparing to take any teammate outside of their comfort zone means really understanding them and their struggles. 

“Dealing with a teammate’s discomfort in going through change is difficult. All of our program staff are constantly doing this dance — we teach our kids all this information about globalization, international relations, poverty, business, education… but we also are dealing with them in a really critical development stage, when a lot of what they need is just emotional support and help in navigating the pressures. 

“There are a lot of new circumstances that come up where we, the staff, are out of our comfort zone, so we’re learning as we go along too.

“Empathy. It all comes down to empathy, but in a new digital world. Everyone is so hyperconnected, that we’re all looking for solutions faster — immediately, as fast as anything we can get from being online. But that’s not how the human mind and how the human condition works. 

“Part of what we do is take their phones away for two weeks, and this has never happened to these kids. Teaching them to process and reflect upon their emotions. If we, as a society, don’t do that with Millennials and younger generations, we’re going to be at scary places — at work and across the board in society. 

“So if the future of work is going to be filled with disruptions that will constantly take people far out of their comfort zones, part of a leader’s and organization’s responsibility is to design the spaces and create the support that help and enable people to be uncomfortable, and then work through that discomfort or fear or confusion in ways that make a difference to themselves and the world. If done well, working through discomfort delivers sustainable personal growth that can be leveraged in future times of discomfort.

“In our program, every night we have a nightly meeting that is led by one student, and then they handover that leadership to the next student leader of the day. Each meeting starts with highs and lows of the day, then moves into asking questions and debriefing the learning of the day.

“Then the next leader of the day supports reflection on that leader’s qualities, like that student did really well, and what some of their growth areas could be, as well as sharing appreciation for people who’ve gone above and beyond to support us that day.

“As much as possible, this experience is student-led. We mirror that during our staff development time. There is a staff leader of the day who facilitates the same kind of reflections and appreciations. This design is core to our culture.

“As this applies the future of work: Looking at the whole person, making sure they’re appreciated as a whole person, not just as an employee, will increasingly be critical to how people will grow and thrive during great disruptions. 

“Most crucial is creating a simple framework and process for people to have tough conversations around personal reflection and growth, and a language that makes that safe and easy. Most everybody wants to be ‘challenged,’ but most find it difficult to learn from if they feel too uncomfortable, too frustrated, degraded, or if it’s too painful. So we need to equip managers with the tools and frameworks and training to have those conversations with respect.

“What I’ve learned is that some people are not able to fit in within this kind of environment, and find it difficult to thrive while being uncomfortable. You can’t make them fit. It’s best to cut the cord quickly. Otherwise it becomes wildly toxic for the organization, and everybody is bending over backwards to do somebody else’s work.

“If you say you want to grow, it’s gonna be tough. We all need to be able to say to each other, ‘Yup, we’re in the fire right now and it kind of sucks, but we're going to get out of it together.’

“Each year, we bring the whole staff together for a retreat. We call out the toughest situations that we dealt that past year and then we assign different people to different roles. So I might play the country director in the Dominican Republic, or somebody else might play me. And we relive that scenario and each of us discusses what we could have done differently if we were in that role. This type of roleplay helps each of us understand all the different stakeholders that we’d need to manage or keep happy. In the heat of the moment, we’re all-hands-on-deck working the problem, but then we take time to do reflections about how we can adapt better to disruptive changes.

“What drives people is feeling challenged professionally and feeling that they’re growing, and that they have the support to take on new challenges. Everybody wants to know that they’re doing something that’s good, that’s worthwhile, that’s worth their time and their investment. 

“In selecting our staff, the ability to do self-reflection is one of the most important things necessary for our culture and for their ability to deal with constant disruptions. People who are really motivated to continuously improve themselves do the best in our in our work environment.

“We also seek real courage and scrappiness— the ability to create something from nothing under the most challenging circumstances. That’s actually demonstrated in your track record. We interview for and test how they solve certain kinds of challenges. But the crucial part is humility. The people who have worked out are the ones who are able to balance confidence with being humble and self-reflective.”

What Prepared You for This Role? What Makes You, You? 

“It’s the combination of my mother and father. My dad is first-generation Serbian in the U.S. Big guy, very humble roots, but crazy personality, always out of control. We call him a bear — he’s either a teddy bear or a grizzly bear, and you never know which you’ll get. Keeps you on your toes!

“My mom is the complete opposite. Very well educated, Jewish, from outside Boston. She rebelled pretty hard and became a hippie, and is all about love and community and quiet energy. My mom and dad are just complete opposites in every possible way — from religion to culture to backgrounds.

“My brother and I grew up with an understanding that people from very different backgrounds could work together, and it would be messy. And that’s OK.

“So early on, I liked being in environments where I wasn’t in the majority, with people who were mostly like me. I was always seeking people, friends, and communities who were different from me. And situations that made me uncomfortable, and then working through that discomfort.”

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Jensen Site, Twitter, FB. Bill’s upcoming book, The Day Tomorrow Said No, is a powerful fable about the future of work. A fable specifically designed to revolutionize conversations about the future between leaders, the workforce, educators, and students. Go here to download a FREE copy of the final pre-press draft of the book.