Empathy in Action: Cartography for Locating Ourselves as Leaders in a Crisis
You are here: How locating yourself and orienting to the new reality is key to navigating a change cycle.
To listen to me read the post to you, click the play button above.
ID: Stencil and spray paint wood sign on a chainlink fence. The sign is purple with an orange spot and white stenciled letters say You are here. This sign is part of the LoveYou2.org project and is inspired by the story below.
This post is the third in a six-part #SelfCareSummer series that will culminate in an online workshop on Thursday, July 25th: Three Steps to Leading with Empathy and Avoiding Burnout. Each week, I write on an aspect of self-care for purpose-driven leaders. The ultimate power move is investing in yourself to be able to lead through change. I hope you’ll join me for #SelfCareSummer, and I look forward to seeing you in the online workshop.
You are here.
The sound of familiar voices and American accents reached my ears - welcome tendrils over and between the sounds of water lapping against the boardwalk. I stood there, unable to tell which direction the sound was coming from. I must be close, I mused. But I was also lost—two things that seemed antithetical.
I was already flustered coming late from another event. I felt lucky to be included in what I hoped would be an incredible networking opportunity and some excellent food. Without cellular data while traveling internationally, I’d resorted to analog methods to navigate: verbal directions, screenshots of maps, and a free city guide grabbed from the hotel desk.
About 20 steps away, I saw a public map on an outdoor message-type board. Excellent, I surmised. I would use the map plus the address of the gathering’s location to find my way to my intended destination since, by the sound of the voices, it must be close.
I arrived at the large map and began searching for the generally universal and ubiquitous “YOU ARE HERE” with an associated red dot or triangle or pin of some sort. What's a map without an orientation to the reader? I do love some excellent wayfinding. And I try to be a way illuminator whenever I can.
Alas, this map had NOTHING for me to locate myself amongst the lines. I started literally laughing out loud - how could it be I was close enough to occasionally get snippets of a good time being had I could not find my way to the gathering?
A rookie mistake leaders can't afford is finding themselves confused on a boardwalk at the beginning of a crisis with no idea where they are. As leaders, we need to be able to metaphorically drop our pin and know, “I AM HERE.”
Naturally, the onset of crisis will give off that familiar disorientation as disequilibrium begins. [See week one of the #SelfCareSummer series Preparation is Power: Navigating Crisis Close to Home.] There is no automating this part of finding ourselves as things begin to shift. The GPS of our phone system will not help, and we will not be auto-located by a chip inside the supercomputer we carry in our pocket. We must locate ourselves.
Three common missed opportunities I’ve noticed at the onset of crisis phase or change cycle:
We respond as if our role is the same now as it was last time we felt this way. Or we make the assumption that our role is the same. This happens particularly for folks who have been promoted (yay, you!) or shifted teams or roles. You had a frontline role and now you moved into management or team lead. Or you were previously on the programs team and are now in an executive, HR, or culture-related role. So many of us are really good at crisis mode - in the initial rush, we assume or resume a pattern of doing the actual work. For sure, we may need to fill in and this may be part of the sprint that is in front of us. But we may also be responsible for assessing things from a more mezzo or macro view and more clearly projecting future needs and current blind spots, as well as communicating plans. The saying, you can't see the forest for the trees comes to mind for this type of zooming in and out that needs to be done. Or think about what happens as a plane takes off, it has not reached its cruising altitude but somewhere about 10,000 feet you can still see details on the ground and also see the horizon.
We believe our team or those we have stewardship for (this may be customers or clients) have the same operating instructions and understand the assignment as we do. Crisis mode or phase will kick-off all kinds of coping or management or juggling. We will each have our individual responses. No judgments about this, and understanding it as part of the process is key to making plans. Our ways of working or styles of working can be compromised. We can both assume the best of intentions as well as devote ourselves to clearly assessing and communicating to minimize gaps in understanding.
We forget that this starts a 6 to 8-week change cycle. We may assume or act as if this is a permanent phase and either under or over-respond. Seeing what needs to be dialed up or dialed down, pacing the momentum of the change, and, when the time is right, assessing for opportunities to improve or enhance functioning, operations, outcomes. This is when we see it as a priority as a leader to map staffing and resources, as well as previous and emerging deliverables, and make decisions to pivot, pause, move, delete, and reassign.
As you feel or can plan for the beginning of a crisis phase or change cycle, you can consciously commit to a personal cartography exercise and locate yourself before choosing how you show up. [See This is the Assignment: Choosing How to Show Up.]
Become grounded in your own knowing: I AM HERE.
What is my unique role right now?
What is the generous response?
What is the sustainable response?
Please join me for the online workshop on July 25th! Reserve your spot.
Take good care,
Shannon Weber
Author | Coach | Consultant
Hire me for speaking, consulting, or coaching: www.xoshannonweber.com
Things Expanding My Heart
What’s expanding your heart these days? I’m eager for recommendations.
Love the Job: Finding the Labor We Love - How to Survive the End of the World [Podcast] Amazing episode from the Brown sisters - such a real conversation about the connection between our love and our work. What is enough? What is belonging? The value of creating community, connection, a political home. And how this is connected to our daily work.
Why Thinking About Death Helps You Live a Better Life | Alua Arthur [TED Talk]
People’s Faces [A Poem] by Kae Tempest.
Wonderful musings and wow that poetry reading, goosebumps indeed 🧭
Shannon, loving how you have an article voiceover here. It's a Saturday and your voice helps me be reflective with my moleskine journal here and pen. Your workshop on 7/25 sounds great and something I'd like to do. Cartography to locate yourself ... great concept! Last year I was sitting in a cafe near Cancun drawing a map of the transformation I help to guide, and people have loved seeing this as a map. Now while listening to you I'm thinking about how to map myself. - Adriana