Bringing hope

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My train into London was delayed … someone had thrown themselves in front of a train near Leagrave. I wondered how hopeless you have to be to end up doing something like that.

The average person in employment in the UK stands in the midst of pressures that often combine to bring stress and strain. I don’t need to remind you about the economic climate, financial uncertainties or the increasing complexity of organisational life. Not to mention the daily pressures of normal life outside work.

All of which are ‘relative’ you might think when compared with the pressures of living in Syria or Sudan at the moment. Nevertheless the facts (or the statistics) tell us that in the UK more people are suffering from depression; marital and family break-ups are on the increase; more graduates are finding fewer jobs; and many of us no longer trust those supposed to be running things (and that’s not just politicians and bankers).

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The silent cry for hope is all around us. And a little hope can go a long way. Perhaps the one thing that any of us who consider ourselves leaders can do that will genuinely have a profound impact, is to offer a little hope. Not just hope as ‘an object hoped for’ like success or achievement, but hope that is ‘the activity of hoping’ which is quintessentially relational and at the heart of being human.

When the vision still seems beyond our grasp, when the strategy for recovery is still in its infancy, when everyone around us seems a bit jaded, bringing a little hope is a game changer. How are you doing at bringing hope I wonder?

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At this point I’m not going to offer you a quick fix or the ten things that will guarantee that you’ll restore hope in your sphere of influence! Instead I want to invite you to think about the people in your life that have brought you hope, and the little things that they did and said that made the difference.

One thing I will mention though, as I think about the person who died under the train today. I wonder what difference it would have made if someone had listened to them? Whether it’s listening to a disaster victim who has just lost everything, or whether it’s listening to a colleague in the office who is stressed out, listening in adversity is one way of bringing a little hope.

 

 

Changing the atmosphere

 

I remember a friend telling me about an experience he had as a student while working on a placement in industry over the summer break. During the first week he and a fellow student noticed how ‘negative’ everyone seemed to be in the department where they were working. So they decided from then on to say only positive, affirming things to and about their new colleagues. He said that by the end of their 6 week placement the atmosphere in the department was tangibly better.

We really can change the atmosphere around us. And I’m not just talking about the perfume or the aftershave we choose to wear! This could be a temporary change – the atmosphere in a particular meeting; or it could be more long term – the atmosphere in a head office or a manufacturing unit.

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When I say ‘atmosphere’ I mean the combined effects of the prevailing attitudes and behaviours. When we welcome someone – to the team, to the organisation or simply to a meeting – we can lift their whole demeanour, and the atmosphere around us both will shift. When we stop to listen to the person that most people pass by, we are doing something intentional that will impact us both for the good.

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As leaders we are capable of, and positioned for, making a real difference in the atmosphere around us. We can lift the mental, emotional and even spiritual atmosphere of the organisation we lead. What is the effect you tend to have on people? How do they leave your office, your meetings, your phone calls? Think for a moment what you could do differently.

Are you known as a leader always under pressure who passes on that pressure to those around you? Or by contrast are you known for always making time for people? Do you have a reputation for keeping tight control - over meetings, decision making or how things are done? Or are you known for giving people freedom to express their views and talent?

Why the focus on 'atmosphere'? Well, it may take years to change a culture, sometimes months to change a behaviour, but it can only take a moment to change an atmosphere.

 

 

A time to step forward … and a time to step back

  

I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s unrealistic to expect to take the lead all the time. Other people may expect perpetual leadership from us, or we may expect it of ourselves, just because our role includes the word ‘leader’ or infers it. However, the fact that we are fallible human beings with natural strengths and weaknesses; prone to fatigue, illness, good days and bad days; courageous moments and moments of fear; should be enough to indicate that leadership is something that we can excel at only some of the time.

 

There are times when as leaders we need to step forward, and other times when we need to step back. Stepping forward and stepping back is part of the ebb and flow of successful leadership that, interestingly, reflects the rhythm of nature.

 

Just as there is a time to cultivate ground, a time to sow and to plant, and a time eventually to harvest; there is also a time to leave the ground fallow. When we seek to plant, plant, plant – even using modern nutrients and fertilizers – there comes a point when the soil is ‘exhausted’. So it is with leadership.

 

The fallow times, the times of stepping back because there is no longer energy to step forward, are part of enabling new cultivation and growth – for us and for those around us. Meanwhile, there are also times when we can step back not through lack of energy, but in order intentionally to create space for others to step forward.

 

Having stepped forward to express our leadership, to then subsequently step back for a while can seem illogical, counterintuitive - even ‘weak’ - and very hard to do! However, stepping back to let someone else lead is as much a step of leadership as deciding to step forward. These times may feel fallow in the sense that we are not leading or not in the foreground, but they can actually shift our leadership to a new level. 

 

What do you see?

 

Consider this:

 

A tree, standing in the midst of a clump of trees. Standing a little taller than the rest, able to catch the gentle breeze in its leaves. Contrast of green, light and dark shades. Interplay of light, shadow and shape making each tree different, each one unique. This tree standing in the midst of a clump of trees, just being what it was made to be. Not trying to be any other kind of tree. Standing a little taller than the rest, able to catch the gentle breeze in its leaves. A tree standing in the midst of a clump of trees.

 

I wrote this some time ago while looking at a clump of trees early one morning, and it set me thinking about the concept of ‘taking a second look’.

 

A first glance at any person, scene or situation provides us with only surface information. Most of us are living our lives at pace, so it’s likely that many of our perceptions, and the decisions based on those perceptions, are formed from ‘first glances’. When we pause for a ‘second look’, something happens. It may emerge as an ‘Aha’ as we acknowledge what we hadn’t seen before, or it could emerge as a ‘Wow’ as we notice something that touches us deeper and informs our understanding.

 

How would our leadership change if we began to take more ‘second looks’ in the world around us? Perhaps we would notice potential in a colleague or member of staff where before we had only seen issues. Perhaps we would begin to see opportunities where we had only seen obstacles, answers where we had only seen questions. Taking a ‘second look’ will help us make space for new thoughts.

 

The simple act of pausing to taking a ‘second look’ begins to shift the focus of our attention from information gathering towards reflection. There will also be occasions when what begins as noticing new things in the world around us, shifts towards being aware of a new thought about ourselves.

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© 2020 GUY ROTHWELL