I have put in hundreds of hours fishing for stripers along the south shore of Martha’s Vineyard, and in all kinds of weather and at all hours of the day. Best to say I am drawn to this natural wonder for how it feeds my heart and soul every year.
Yet ours is a one-way relationship. The shoreline does not care about my very being, my thoughts and dreams, or my feelings. It just is. But I still love being in its presence, feeling so small and insignificant, and knowing that I am powerless to change or influence it. Every time I step on that shoreline, I feel a wave of immense happiness amidst the self-imposed solitude. That happiness creates a spiritual oasis for me to simply live in that moment and soak up the sheer beauty in this time and place. And if that is not moving enough, there is a raw reminder that I am of this natural world–not a ruler of it.
On the brightest summer days, when the water looks just like glass, there is a restlessness below the surface. Unnoticeable to the naked eye, the prevailing current moves water along the Vineyard shoreline throughout the day. With summer winds typically out of the southwest, that means the water is moving west to east from Squibnocket to Wasque on the corner of Chappaquiddick. The tides also have something to say about the speed of such movement which makes swimming in these waters even more adventurous.
A similar restlessness—difficult to see yet emotionally present in our lives—is appearing in many of my conversations with business and community leaders this summer. Thematically, it can be best summarized as a persistent undertow that is pulling us in directions that we may not wish to go. Candidly, some are expending a ton of energy swimming against it. Others are simply floating with the current and letting it take them farther down the shoreline with no clear understanding for where they will end up. And then there are a few sitting on the beach just trying to discern what this all means for our organizations.
The late summer period marks an inflection point for many of our organizations. Much like the start of a new school year, there is both excitement and uncertainty for what lies ahead. Sometime after Labor Day, our teams will dive headlong into preparing operating plans and budgets for the coming year guided by strategic goals and objectives. This annual rite of passage includes hundreds of big and small decisions that on the surface placate the restlessness. After all, doing something tangible or transactional here is our tried-and-true leadership response.
But what if this year we just sat with the restlessness and recognize its emotional impact on our leadership and our organization? What if we are just present in the moment and do not try to control everything? These questions undoubtably stir up uncomfortable feelings and judgments for many leaders. They do so because they stretch the limits of our authenticity, humility, and vulnerability–especially with our employees.
One thing is certain. Leaders will face even more restlessness within our organizations as we plan for 2023. COVID vaccination policies, return to office/workplace matters, and hybrid work schedules top a growing list of organizational priorities that must be addressed with care, compassion, and transparency. These COVID realities will compete with a myriad of other priorities for funding, time, and leadership attention within our organizations. Empathy can only get us so far here given that the future will demand even more humanity from leaders and organizations alike.
So how do we as leaders live with the undertow of this restlessness?
Well, to swim against it is to risk exhaustion. To let the current just take us along the shoreline is to risk outcome. That leaves only one way forward. Embrace the humanity that underlies the restlessness, name the devil aka the restlessness openly and frequently with our employees, and then live authentically with understanding and acceptance that not everything that makes us uncomfortable needs to be resolved. And above all else, remember that sometimes it is more than enough to just be present in the natural world.