Last week we looked at self-doubt, being a good dad, and leadership.  We are going to build on that by reflecting on embracing uncertainty AND the faith we have in our people to get through this.  

As I mentioned last week, I want to be a great dad and leader for my family.  This past 1.5 years have introduced a lot of uncertainty.  In fact, it feels like this uncertainty is never ending.  I so desperately want to have more control in this situation.  I want to be able to look at my family and say, “Here is the situation.  Here’s what it means.  Here’s the game plan moving forward.  Run the play and everything will be perfect.”  I want to be able to provide this level of strength and stability, but I can’t.  There are too many variables that keep changing for me to promise any kind of certainty.  The best I’ve been able to muster is, “This is hard.  This is unpredictable.  I believe in you, because you are strong and tough.  This sucks AND you are strong enough to get through it.” 

What does this have to do with anything?  As a parent, I kind of felt like I was weak and failing the family because I couldn’t guarantee a vision of blue skies and good times.  I felt like I might be letting them down, because I wasn’t a bastion of rainbows and positivity.  Eventually, I came to realize that promising those things would be lying.  While I couldn’t promise those outcomes, I could reinforce the strength I see in all of the ladies in my house.   As we look to work, we find ourselves in a similar situation to the one I’m in as a dad.  We are working in an unstable world, and it doesn’t look like we will have stability anytime soon.  As a leader, I want to promise that everything is okay and that everything will be sunshine and clear skies.  I can’t do that though.  It’s not true.  As a leader, it’s not your job to paint overly positive pictures of things.  At the same time, as leaders we can reinforce the strength and tenacity we see in our people.  As leaders we can embrace tough truths while seeing the potential to overcome.  As leaders we can say, “This is hard, AND I believe we will find a way to figure this out.  This is a huge challenge, AND I believe you are the person who will figure out how to move forward.  This sucks, AND I know you have the strength and talents to help us get through.”

The challenge: As a leader are you embracing the uncertainty of the future AND reinforcing the strength of your people to navigate through it?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry