Leaning into the Fight

“I’m better in the third round of the fight,” I recently told a friend. I haven’t actually been in a fight since a pre-teen tussle in the middle of Huguenot Road, but I've seen my share of personal, social and economic adversity over the years. Enough to know that I'm not always at my best early in a fight.

In the case of the Time of Covid, what began seven weeks ago as a fast battle is shaping up to be an unpredictable, but long, slog.

In our work with leaders, we often use a model called Situational Leadership (SL2) that helps diagnose Competence and Commitment around a given task.

I won't say I was an Enthusiastic Beginner (incompetent, but eagerly committed) during Round One of Covid. I had some transferable skills from previous disruptions, and entered the fray with a reasonable amount of confidence that our business (and my family) could navigate this challenge. The morning of March 10, I felt like I was ahead of the Covid curve. By March 12, I found myself, dazed and blinking, as the bell rang for Round Two.

Hello, Disillusioned Learner. During this phase of engagement, I find I benefit from two things -- an opportunity to retreat (and pretend the fight has ended), and some guidance and direction from people who are smarter than me.

In the case of the last several weeks, that has meant a lot of walks with my family, planting a garden, girding myself for infrequent grocery runs, meeting with the Floricane, and talking to the smarter people (and smarter organizations) -- Gelati Celesti, Sperity Ventures, Eventful, the Federal Reserve Bank, Elevation Advertising, The Hodges Partnership, Luck Companies, the Community Foundation serving greater Richmond, Smart Beginnings Virginia Peninsula, and others. To say they stretch my thinking would be an understatement.

The breathing space, and the perspectives and guidance of others, means that by Round Three I am more able to set my stance and find my rhythm. That feels important right now when it appears that Round Three may extend for several months.

And maybe that's the other thing I'm learning from the conversations I'm having -- the organizations that are in the Third Round, mentally and operationally, are not staggering around the ring. They are leaning into what's happening with strategic intention andemotional confidence, and they are prepared to adapt to whatever curves lie ahead.

Taking the time to reach out to others and process what's next, to test your assumptions and map out your organization's strategic scenarios, may be the most important use of time you have right now. (Also, walks, connecting with your team, groceries.)

However you are spending your time, I hope that you are well, and you are as centered as the moment allows.

Leading with Intention and Action in the time of Covid-19

As our team has made our own journey from March into April (and from reaction to intention), we've had literally dozens of opportunities to be in virtual rooms with more than 500 people discussing federal stimulus packages, short-term strategic pivots and long-term planning, leadership, employee engagement, stress, favorite recipes, and more. We're finding that we're paying a lot of attention to the organizations who are in motion. 

The truth is that we're all moving through this experience a little differently. There is no right way to respond to the trifecta impact of a global pandemic, a global recession, and orders to socially distance from friends, family and coworkers for weeks on end.

Our growing sense is that organizations who are engaging with this complicated moment with equal parts intention and action may be positioning themselves to emerge from this period of immense change with increased resilience, clarity and purpose.

Acting with intention involves centering around your organization's Mission and Values; getting clear on the needs of your employees, and your clients, customers, and other stakeholders; and building a near-term plan that allows you to act in service to your organization's purpose.

Engaging with action is to make visible a pathway forward, and then to move your organization, as best you're able, through this social and economic disruption. Whether circumstances demand your organization drops anchor, throttles down, or accelerates, part of your job as leader is to act, and inspire your people to act, in ways that bring confidence, compassion, and a firm focus on your mission to the forefront.

If the path we're all on right now is a bridge to what is next, we know at least two things to be true -- we're going to lose the horizon once or twice along the way, and the destination will be more clear as we move forward.

As you move forward, let us know how you're doing -- and how we can help. You can grab time on my calendar this month if you want to catch up, talk through challenges, or explore possibilities. If you're looking for facilitation support (to create order and traction in those endless Zoom meetings); ways to help your remote teams engage, connect and grow; or strategic clarity for the immediate challenges or the what comes next, let's talk.

Until we reconnect, stay well and stay centered.

Striking a balance in the time of Covid-19

Most days lately, I feel like I'm balancing between feeling normal and overwhelmed. Walking the streets of Northside with Nikole and the kids is centering -- especially when the spring sun is shining. Time spent on Zoom calls and diving into Floricane's 9th budget revision in three weeks helps to stretch my brain. Glancing at the daily headlines leaves me utterly drained.

The website CityLabs has asked readers to submit maps that reflect their current quarantined life. The kids and I have started talking about our map. Where once we painted with broad strokes across the whole of the city, we now live compressed. The albino squirrel in our backyard, a patch of buttercups in the field by Holton Elementary School, Jim and Nancy's house, Ruby's house, the urban garden, Becca's house, Senator Kaine waving from his home office. Thea has started taking close up photos of flowers, rocks and sticks on our walks. Jack wants to explore nooks and alleys.

Yet, in that same universe, the five-year-old can't sleep because "there are too many sounds in my head," and he's suddenly terrified of bugs. The 12-year-old misses her friends and yearns for a new puppy. Days can be terribly lonely when you're scared.

My stories mirror many of yours; I know because over the past week I've talked to many of you. Our conversations always start with the mundane, then shift to the overwhelming. For years, Floricane's work has centered on community; Covid-19 has unraveled our very sense of what it means to be connected.

I share these simple observations because we're all pivoting to reinvent -- our lives, our relationships, our organizations, our communities. Pivoting without perspective is reaction. Reaction was March. Pivoting with meaning is strategic. Welcome to April, a difficult month of choices, intention, and action.

For Floricane, that means working with clients to more clearly assess what is needed in this moment, and what emergence can look like when this first wave passes. It means creating opportunities for directed reflection. It means encouraging our clients to focus closely and draw new maps, to more clearly see the landmarks that give meaning and context to the work that lies ahead.

So we walk. We create excuses to connect (at a distance). We remap our days, and move forward in new ways. This is the work of human beings in community. It is our work. It is your work, too, because it is our community we are all holding -- together.

Stay well, stay centered, and stay focused on the things that matter most.

Navigating Change with Floricane

Floricane’s Covid-19 Update #2 - March 19, 2020

As your organization works to provide clarity, support and direction to your employees, it is critical to find balance – between action and caring, reaction and strategy, personal and organizational. 

We recognize that every organization is weathering this storm in unique ways. The team at Floricane is available to help you chart a unique course that surfaces your organization’s best leadership, engagement and strategy in the face of change and uncertainty. We’re also focused on providing actionable, and tangible, solutions to help our clients, partners, and community friends move through the coming weeks and months with purpose.

Here are three specific ways we’re here to support organizations, leaders and individuals navigating our new, challenging reality:

Leadership and Change

  • How do you leverage your best leadership to support change and lead through uncertainty? Join us on Wednesday, March 25, at 12 noon or Friday, April 3, at 9am for “Emotional Intelligence, Leadership and Change,” a one-hour workshop for organizational and community leaders.

  • Whether your teams are working remotely or on-site, we know the nature of our work has shifted. Join us on Friday, March 27 at 9am and Tuesday, March 31 at 4pm for “Insights® Into Change,” a one-hour workshop focused on how Insights® Discovery can provide concrete steps to strengthen relationships with employees in order to build performance and drive results.

Strategic Jumpstart

Your plans need to change. Schedule a 30 minute, free call to sort through your short-term adjustments and your longer-term strategies. Set up a call to fit your schedule with John Sarvay to discuss your organization’s strategic needs.

Community Conversation

If you’re an individual looking for an organized, interactive, and purposeful space to focus, connect with like-minded people, and bring more intention to your week, join us for our Community Conversation series. These one-hour facilitated discussions are designed to help you manage change on an individual level, and will include opportunities to break into small group conversations to process and learn from others in your community.

  • Register Now for Thursday, March 26, at 11 noon (and the whole series)

Stay In Touch

Keep reading our blog for regular updates on how we’re navigating, and for new tools and tips to support your journey. As we move through the weeks and months ahead, don’t hesitate to check in with any of us directly.

We’re looking forward to seeing you virtually, speaking to you over the phone, or just staying connected by email. As we move our way through this new normal, we hope we can “sail through this to that” together as a community.

Leadership, Community and Coronavirus: A Floricane Update

“Hope is a discipline”

Credit for this affirmation goes to American activist Mariame Kaba, whose website boldly states the obvious, “We need each other.”

Hope is a discipline. And we do need each other. Especially in this moment.

During this week when Coronavirus seems to have changed everything around us – faster than we could have possibly imagined – it’s as easy to feel like you (or others) are overreacting.

You’re not.

Psychiatrists call this an adjustment reaction. It’s an emotional dress rehearsal, and it gives us the space we need to get psychologically ready for the change. It’s also a strategic rehearsal, one that helps us sort through data, plans and strategies to determine a course of action.

The impact of this new Coronavirus has barely reached our community, and it has already proven its power as a disrupter.

During times of disruption and change, leadership is a gift. Your best leadership is a catalyst for inspiration, courage and action. It is a gift, one that is badly needed by the people in your life. Your best strategic thinking, the conversations you choose to have, the guidance you give – it matters now.

Our small team of strategists, community facilitators, organizational change experts, and leadership coaches know full well the disorienting power of disruptive change. And we know that it is essential to anchor ourselves – and our families, teams, organizations, and communities – with clarity and purpose.

We believe that each of us, as leaders in our organizations and communities, have real opportunities to support, reassure, and inspire others with our words – and our actions. As we move through the disruption created by Covid 19, our team at Floricane is holding onto four powerful concepts to guide our work.:

  • HOPE: We agree with Mariame Kaba. Hope is a discipline. During times of uncertainty and anxiety, we must give hope room to exercise and strengthen. To move through change requires focus, determination, and faith. “Faith,” Martin Luther King, Jr. told us, “is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Lead with confidence, and lead with forward motion.

  • COMMUNITY: It is too easy to feel alone during times of disruption. When the prescription for a pandemic involves remote work, social distancing, and 14 day quarantines, we must find new ways of being in community, in relationship, with coworkers, clients, friends, and family. Start talking now with those around you about the ways you’ll stay connected. Make time to check in often, about things that matter.

  • ADAPTABILITY: The velocity we’re experiencing – even over the past 24 hours – can be paralyzing. But just as change closes some doors, it opens others. Your ability to continuously scan the landscape is critical. More important? Your ability to engage others to collaboratively uncover new ways to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. Ensuring that your team is sharing observations, perspectives and ideas regularly will help you navigate the inevitable rapids.

  • STRATEGY: We are, of course, fans of strategic plans. Smart planning, especially in times of crisis, provides the direction, guidance, and alignment that teams need. Knowing how you’ll stay healthy, address challenges, support the needs of your clients or customers, communicate, and sustain your organization through this period is no small challenge. Write this one in pencil, and make sure everyone has a copy.

 

The worst thing we can do in this moment is wait for the storm to pass. Our actions now will not only help our community navigate this immediate storm, but it will set the tone for what follows.

Our team is ready to help you and your team adapt, plan, and move forward. Let us know how you’re responding to Covid 19, and let us know how we can support you. Schedule a time now for us to strategize – by phone or Zoom.

Coronavirus: How Floricane Can Support You

In the next week, we will be rolling out a full suite of solutions to help our clients move through this period of change. Below is a list of the services we will providing specifically to help leaders and organizations stay engaged, aligned and focused during the Coronavirus disruption.

  • Strategic planning: We can help you and your leadership team map out a clear, actionable plan to move your organization through this disruption with more clarity, focus and alignment. Sessions can be an hour, or several hours, and can be facilitated in-person with individual leaders, small groups, or remotely.

  • Leadership Coaching: One-time or multiple coaching sessions with individual leaders and managers to ensure your key influencers are bringing their best leadership to work during this challenging time.

  • Virtual Team Meetings: Maintaining a sense of community and connection with teams who suddenly find themselves working remotely is important. We can help managers co-design and co-facilitate regular team check-in and connection sessions for remote employees.

If you want to talk about these or other ways we can help you, leaders in your organization, or other stakeholders transition strategically, effectively and authentically through this time of uncertainty, please drop us a note. We’ll respond immediately to find time to diagnose and help you move forward.