May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears

Fear paralyzes, makes you retrench back, you become defensive and stop moving, it’s instinctive.

The nature of fear is rooted on the idea that something wrong will happen to you, that something painful or bad will come to your life…

So many things can generate fear today, fear of getting infected by COVID-19 if you go out, fear of losing your job, fear of losing a close friend or family member, fear of the insecurity generated by the economic crisis, so many fears.

So, when we are facing uncertainty, when the possibility of change is real, we should focus on the hope of the good things that we expect. Our choices, our decisions, what we think, say and do, should be focused on our hope for a better tomorrow, not on wishful thinking or naive and myopic idea of a magical transformation of the future, but on the decisive attitude, and the unbreakable belief that we will do better, that we will be better, on the bold and courageous pursue of our purpose, no matter what.

This wise advice from Mandela applies not only to our personal life but also to business and organization leaders facing a crisis. It is a personal responsibility of the leader to help their organization see the future and to believe that they will prevail; not that it will be easy, not that it won’t take hard work and sacrifice, but that with the talent, passion and commitment of everyone in the team, we can walk ourselves out of the crisis into a brighter tomorrow.

Tips:

1. Acknowledge uncertainty, be sensitive: Listen to your people and stay close to their feelings, don’t push back or try to change them, just listen and be there.

2. Focus on the progress made so far and the possibilities: When we look back we gain a better perspective of where we are coming from and how much we have achieved, it also gives us hope for the future.

3. Start from the purpose and walk the talk: During moments of crisis and uncertainty we need to go back to what matters most, to our why. Start from there and step by step walk yourself and your team out of the crisis.