Q: As a leader, where do I put my focus right now?
As a leader, I think over the next 18 to 24 months, realistically, in my opinion, there are four areas you should be putting your attention on because there are four threats that we’re facing.
Physical Health, Mental Health, Financial Health, and Societal Health.
Physical Health – We are in a pandemic, so you’re going to have to protect yourself and others from Covid19. This includes wearing face masks, practicing social distancing, and using, for the love of God, common sense. Pay attention to the things that you should be doing, stay safe, and help those whom you care about to keep safe.
Mental Health – your own as well as others. You have got to fortify your emotional well-being. Not everybody is handling being contained in the best way possible. Some people are in some harm. You have got to have some empathy in terms of being able to help others and check in on people. You have to fortify yourself as well and make sure that you’re doing okay mentally and emotionally. There are plenty of resources to aid you in this endeavor.
Financial Health – There are difficult times ahead for sure. What you have to do is limit your negative exposure and find ways to prosper. Some people flourish in difficult times; you want to try to be one of those people. Not by taking advantage of others, but by knowing where there are opportunities. You’ve got to spend some time in your leadership, figuring out how you’re going to move your team, your tribe, your organization, or business into ways that are going to be of service and be profitable.
Societal Health – We need to take the fragility of democracy and our way of life seriously. Then we’ve got to work on ways to make this a more perfect union. It doesn’t matter what your political affiliation is, or where you fall in the spectrum. Maybe you’re overacting right now and think there’s too much overreach. Or perhaps you’re under-reacting and saying, “Hey, it’s fine, you know? People will take care of me.” The reality is probably somewhere between the two. As a leader, you have got to go to work on protecting democracy, and it’s institutions.
These are the four areas that you as a leader, will need to navigate over the coming months.