Learning out loud: up against my limits with the triple threat

What can we learn from how we adjusted to a pandemic so we can now turn to addressing economic recession and racial inequality?

What is the change community’s role / responsibility /accountability in the triple threat of pandemic, economic recession, racial inequality?

These are the types of questions that are now being asked of associations / institutions / conferences speakers and panels. They are the types of questions permeating private conversations of leaders and those whose role professionally is to facilitate change.

These questions speak to the challenge of how do we lead change when we are up against our limits:

With the pandemic, some of the limits were (are still)

• Cognitive overwhelm
• Fear of death
• Fear of loved ones dying
• No solution in sight
• Changed relationships

With the economic recession, some of the limits are:

• Fear of personal impact - job / business loss
• Legislative and political frameworks that enable or constrain the economic recovery
• Understanding of entrepreneurial frameworks
• Flexibility in changing career
• Self-efficacy
• Locus of control

With racial inequality, some of the limits are:

• White privilege
• White exceptionalism
• White fragility
• Ignorance & apathy
• Fear of doing the wrong thing
• Fear of saying the wrong thing
• Systemic inequality

The definition of our limit’s changes depending on the person. It is deeply personal. It speaks to identity.

Within the context of the pandemic I was very comfortable offering advice as to what we do as leaders and change agents (eg 'Creating calm while leading change' , my post on the 4 Rs of Post Pandemic change). In context of economic recession, again I have thoughts to offer and have shared in our collaborative 'Only Forward' podcast. Within context of racial inequality, not so much. I am up against my limits.

Leading change in this context means we are ‘crossing the river by feeling the stones*’: some of the stones hurt, some of them are slippery.

Whatever your limits are, here’s what I have learnt so far about how I push up against my limits.

Maintain a bias for action.

• Retain the bias for action, make the action safer with small feedback cycles
• Resist finding the big solution – simply ask what is the next right thing to do?

Couple action with continuous learning.

• The small cycles of feedback provide information that gives us more to learn.
• We get more confident with post-pandemic life as we learn more. Similarly, I gain more confidence in how to lead against racial inequality with more understanding through reading, journalling, and discussion and dialogue with peers and coaches.

Respect the power of pause.

• To push past the limits, you need to pause, to sense, to introspect.
• You can’t learn if you don’t stop to process what you are learning.
•  You need to 'work the clay'.

Apply a good dollop of self-compassion.

When you are up against your limits, you will be facing into shame. Limits are shame-inducing, and amplify self-judgment - the more shame you feel, the more likely you are to be paralyzed. This is the time you need to apply self-compassion to dissipate the toxic impact of shame and self-judgment.

Be courageous and commit.

• When you are up against your limits and you want to move further, you need to be willing to take the hit.
• The pandemic, the recession and racial inequality are hugely intersectional. You can’t pick one of these up, without touching the other topics.
• You will alienate, offend, disappoint and anger people.
• 'Do nothing, say nothing' is not an option.

I’m curious – to what extent are you up against your limits at the moment? What are you learning about how you make progress? Are there lessons that can be shared publicly? I'd love to hear.

If this article resonated you may enjoy Exploratory Leadership - the frontier work.

* Crossing the river by feeling the stones is attributed to Deng Xiaoping, former leader of People's Republic of China.