It’s impossible to miss the context of what’s going on right now.  The unfolding complexity that is gripping our world with its need for attention, for focus.  Much like the screaming child on the bus that turns all heads, these tremors of change are sweeping our world, from the macro to the micro.

Each new day seems to bring a whole range of new’s to us…… New in two senses.

Firstly, News in the form of an overwhelming media frenzy of noise and distraction.
Every channel, every source, everywhere.  Seeking to sate the appetite that has been spawned from the wrestle humanity is having in seeking to understand, manage, maybe just cope with this COVID Complexity and all the associated tendrils that continue to evolve.

Secondly in the personal sense of New for us. New insights, new complexity, and new challenges.
These are unprecedented times. It seems that every day there is a new rule, a new discovery, a new concern. Occasionally even a new hope. These can at times stack up for us like the pile of dishes stacked so high that they start to wobble and require much focus to ensure they don’t crash down.

For us as leaders, we often think we must get our heads around both these types of New,
the News and the New. To be across everything, to know everything, be everything and to be that everywhere… like that’s possible……

I’d like to offer two actions worth doing right now.  

Firstly, let’s be kind to ourselves.

Right now, we are both leading through this and journeying through this ourselves.
We have simultaneous pathways we are managing and both paths demand our attention intellectually, emotionally, and physically. Like that child on the bus, they demand attention from us.  

Secondly, let’s simplify.  

There is a lot to take in if you try and take it all in… or even a portion of it… The volume of News and New is one facet of the current complexity.

Another complexity recognises that what is going on is quite simply messy…. very messy.
Trying to get your head around this complexity will frustrate you, freeze you, or potentially break you. No one wants this, you are too valuable, unique and wonderful. So instead let’s simplify.  

How do I do this simplification in my world… glad you asked…

I have a practice called The One Thing.

What is The One Thing I should be focusing on?
What is The One Thing that is the most useful thing I can be doing?
What is The One Thing that can have the most impact for where I, or we, stand right now?
Remove the complexity by reducing decisions to the most important, the critical, one at a time.

I will explain the process and frame I use for The One Thing further later this week. (Watch your inbox!)

So why this call to kindness and simplicity?

My experience with leaders is they often expect too much from themselves.  They wack their undies on the outside, put on a cape and, when they leap off the metaphorical ‘tall building’ into the current complexity, they wonder why they can’t move forward, let alone fly?

As you deal with whatever you’re facing right now in the context of where you are, I hope this thought of focusing on The One Thing will prove useful to you Allowing you to continue stepping forward in a managed and measured way.

Things are messy, but they will improve. It will take time. We will get there.
You working on your space, the people that you influence, the community that you belong to are a big part of how we all get through this together.

Let’s look out for each other and show others and ourselves an abundance of kindness.