WHEN WILL THIS BE OVER?
Admiral John Richardson, US Navy, compared the challenges of being captain on a submarine to persevering during COVID-19. In a December 2020 interview published by McKinsey, he asserted that “When will this be over?” is not the question, and pointed to commitment to the essential elements in our daily work and lives as the prescription for leadership courage under conditions of challenge.
Team is crucial.
First, attending to the ship is a 24-hour-a-day process. Everyone is essential. If one single member holds the responsibility and expertise for the group, the entire crew and. ship is endangered.
Secondly, the isolation on a submarine (and in life) is a health risk. The crew faces separation from friends and family, and sensory deprivation. Research at both the University of Chicago Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience and the Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT suggests that dopamine decreases in 24 hours of isolation, and that overstimulation of the body’s stress response in longer episodes of loneliness causes increased levels of cortisol, and vascular changes.
As a result, learning about and caring for each other is critical, not only on submarines but obviously also in our lives during COVID-19 where we are also interdependent and isolated. While taking the risk to learn about how others really feel requires vulnerability and time, it is a sure way a leader can cultivate cohesiveness and loyalty in a team.
Managing strength and energy is important.
No one on a submarine or in life knows when a mission will end or when it will turn critical. Life can change in a moment. Commitment to the actions and routines that support health, security and trust in each other is a form of leadership courage and essential to operating at the best of our capabilities.
STORIES OF STAYING POWER
My mentor, Marilyn Mason, PhD, lived her life demonstrating “staying power.” Her book, Seven Mountains, tells the story of how she learned about and cultivated the qualities of responsibility, commitment, trust in herself and others, and the ability to face the challenges of uncertainty. Marilyn believed in experiential learning, and climbed the greatest seven mountains of the world in the process, often leading others on journeys with her. She believed that personal bedrock developed in the process of addressing risk with grit, acting, and promoting power with others.
We probably all know people who quietly made remarkable investments in their commitments, and seemed unaware of how much it cost them or how amazing it looks to others. The private stories are often unavailable, and it is tempting to view their achievements as privilege or luck. Not true. What we are looking at is grit, action and the impact of a team.
Returning Warriors
Joe was a client and paragon of staying power. His inspiration was evident in a favorite book, Touching the Void. The story is about a “returning warrior”, a mountaineer who goes to a death-defying place and comes back despite the odds. It’s a story of true grit. Joe’s commitment to the man who gave him an opportunity to develop his leadership skills in a company turn-around endured for decades. His commitment to his wife and children is an enviable love story. His responsibility for those who had his back and worked for him is never ignored. The back story is his own. The outcomes are a testament to staying power, and relentless return to crucial commitments.
Another example is Janice. Her ultimate concern is the well-being of her family members. Born to her mom at age 18, the experience of reliable commitment was threatened early in life. Though she had the physical essentials, who she could depend on was unclear. She recognized the importance of staying power. As an adult, she models staying power, nurturing many dependents who have difficult stories and needs. Despite episodes of frustration, exhaustion and disappointment, she returns to her commitments to family and philanthropic work repeatedly. The inspiring outcomes are a testament to her staying power.
COSTS OF STAYING POWER
The costs of staying power can be high. Some who exert staying power believe they must do it alone. The result is a type of loneliness, which may be caused by physical separation from others, but not necessarily.
The experience of feeling invisible (especially while taking responsibility for others), of believing that our ultimate concerns are not acknowledged or understood or shared, can create a painful loneliness. A stigma of social weakness seems to surround sharing experiences, especially when emotionally loaded. Consequently, many who hold challenging responsibility choose to stay silent, repeatedly stepping up individually to do the work of a team.
An obvious example is seen in some of our frontline hospital workers who are in isolation, both literally and figuratively as they care for patients with COVID-19. They work in conditions of quarantine, and are witness to experiences of suffering, death and loss that would likely make others more than uncomfortable to hear about. The suffering they witness no doubt creates trauma, and the energy necessary to continue the work creates crushing fatigue. Containing the experience makes it even harder.
SENSE-MAKING: Your story as a source of strength.
When we commit to actions that make sense to us, confidence grows. Courage and energy are present. Research by Melissa Koerner at the University of Utah, suggests that getting clear about the value of our contributions reduces the stress of strenuous challenge and increases leadership courage. When we name how our identity is expressed in our action, sustaining courageous action is more possible for the long haul.
Koerner names four specific courage narratives or forms of courage prominent in her research:
- Endurance: Persevering to achieve an important and valuable goal.
- Reaction: Responding to problems or crises decisively as a truth-teller or disruptor, risking personal status or even harm.
- Opposition: Speaking truth to power.
- Creation: Pivoting even when growth or innovation is difficult or risky.
In sum, recognizing and valuing how we personally enact courage can validate and clarify the actions we want to enact. Energy is more available for actions that consciously align with our values and who we choose to be.
There is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”
Amanda Gorman, Inaugural Poet.
“The Hill We Climb”, January 21, 2021
