We Must Lead Ourselves Out of This Crisis

Coauthored by Chris Shipley from our Adaptation Advantage Newsletter

After what might be one of the most heart-breaking weeks in America since 9/11, the essay we planned to present in this edition of The Adaptation Advantage newsletter rang hollow. Yes, we need to find opportunities for business transformation in a world ever-changed by the novel coronavirus. But even more importantly, we need to take this moment to really observe and absorb what is happening across the nation. 

Coincidentally, Chris is giving a talk on June 3 for the Inventures Unbound 2020 virtual conference, presenting ideas about leadership in uncertain times. When she sent the organizers her deck, George Floyd was alive. COVID-19 was responsible for fewer than 100,000 deaths, although that number was looming.  Christian Cooper was peacefully watching birds in Central Park. There were no curfews, the likes of which we’ve not seen since 1968. Our cities were not on fire.

And then, America boiled over.

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Amid demands that we “get back to normal” and the persistent drum beat to “make America great again,” it’s become ever more clear that the old normal was never great for far too many Americans. The old normal distributed privilege unfairly, heaped suspicion where it did not belong, and tilted opportunity to favor those who already had it. Why would anyone want that again?

Consider the real economic costs of being black or brown in America. When we interviewed theoretical neuroscientist Dr. Vivienne Ming for The Adaptation Advantage, she cited her efforts to calculate the cost the structural barriers of disadvantage. Dr. Ming scrubbed data from 122 million Linkedin profiles to identify two similar sounding, yet clearly culturally different, names. “Joe”, presumably white, was far more advantaged than “Jose”, presumably Latino, in securing work as a software developer. Joe didn’t need a a bachelor’s degree to get his job. Jose often needed that degree and more, amounting to as much as a million dollars or more in added educational costs, lost income, and lost opportunity. Advantage Joe.

Racism is the birthmark on America. Too often, we say we don’t see it when it is always just under the pancake makeup of a politics and culture that would rather ignore than acknowledge it. And then, a week like this one comes along. We are too weak to paint it over it, too tired to ignore it, too brave not to name it for what it is.

Absent strong moral leadership, this blot on the face of America overwhelms every other feature that could, in fact, make America great, at last. 

During Chris’s talk on Wednesday, she’ll make the case that in certain times, we can survive weak leadership. And uncertain times can be made manageable with strong leadership. Uncertain times and weak leadership, on the other hand, are a dangerous combination, and we’re seeing the effects of that combination now. 

We are inspired by the impassioned speech given by rapper, actor, songwriter, and activist Killer Mike at the Atlanta Mayor's Press Conference on May 29, 2020. You may not agree with his language but you cannot refute the clarity of his message.

We urgently need compassionate, vulnerable, emphatic, authentic, decisive, moral leadership. We’re not talking about a political changing of the guard. Instead, we are inviting each of us to fill the leadership vacuum – in our businesses, our communities, our churches, our families. If we are to navigate uncertain times, if we are to adapt to meet new opportunities, we can’t afford to wait for others to step forward to lead.

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Chris Shipley and Heather E. McGowan are keynote speakers and co-author's of the Adaptation Advantage: Let Go, Learn Fast to Thrive in the Future of Work, a guide to learning, adaptation, and leadership in Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) times. Sign up for their newsletter here and learn more about the book here.