WHAT TO DO IN TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY

THE STORY OF THE WOLF
This is a short story told by Native Americans about how elders in the
village provide wisdom and comfort for children and adults dealing with
stress during times of great change. It is told that a young boy came to
the wise elder one day with his sorrows and fear. The boy noticed that the
elder had a pendant around her neck with a carving of a wolf, and that the
wolf had two heads.

"Why does the wolf have two heads?" asked the inquisitive little boy. The
elder looked at the little boy and gently said, "One head is for evil and
the other for good." The boy's big brown eyes opened wide with amazement.
He asked, "Well, which one is stronger? Which one will win?" The wise
elder smiled and spoke very slowly, "The one that you feed the most."


WHAT ARE YOU FEEDING?
During times of change and uncertainty, the wise person knows that what you
feed determines the results you get. You can feed either fear or panic, or
wisdom and love.

What feeds fear? Worry, suspicion, impatience, jealousy, gossip, drama, and
a focus on what's not working. These predictably result in a leadership
style that generates chaos, divisiveness, and an "us vs. them" attitude.
This kind of leader often develops more allegiance to creating fear than to
creating breakthroughs, and usually becomes conflict avoidant. People feel
insecure and waste valuable time worrying about the future rather than being
proactive about creating it.

What feeds wisdom, love, and a strong life force? Quiet reflection,
self-care, re-evaluation, a curious attitude, authenticity, skillful
communication, and a focus on what is working. This kind of leader has an
open heart and a strong respected presence. There is more allegiance to
generating creative possibilities and breakthroughs. Staff love to follow
this kind of leader. They thrill in the enthusiasm and excitement of
creating unlimited creative solutions. Staff are emotionally engaged with a
clear purpose and look forward to working with a team that is fed with
trust, authenticity, and innovation.

An executive asked me, "How do I know what I am feeding?"

Every action, every thought is feeding an outcome. If a leader regularly
has judgmental thoughts about someone, the judgment feeds divisiveness and
closed-heartedness. People see the judgment and then waste time worrying
that they may be judged next. They won't be honest about their feelings or
ideas because they don't trust the ramifications. We've all seen it.

On the other hand, if a leader has kind and respectful thoughts about a
person, the kindness and respect feeds open-heartedness and respect. Open
heartedness and respect feed trust, meaningful relationships, and enthusiasm
on the job. People will love to be around the leader and each other. Staff
will have more productive meetings and will buy-in to change more quickly
because they trust and respect the leadership. Productivity and profit will
increase because staff genuinely enjoys each other, the work, and the
customers.

To find out what you are feeding, track your attention, your thoughts, and
your actions. Notice where you focus your awareness and spend your time.
Notice when you are happy and when you are dissatisfied. Notice your
results. If you are getting the results you like, observe what is feeding
those results.

For example, if you spend more time acknowledging people and encouraging
them, you are feeding your open-heartedness and your staff's self-esteem.
If you are honest with them on top of that and give authentic feedback, you
are feeding your authenticity and their talent and professional development.
If you deal directly with conflict rather than avoid it, you are feeding
your courage and honesty, and your staff's trust, respect, and vitality.


FOOD FOR SUCCESS
Here is a list of practical, cost effective things you can do now that will feed your life force, your energy levels, your self esteem, and your success as a leader.

1. Practice mediation, silent reflection, and contemplation. Taking 20 minutes a day for mediation or quiet reflection feeds your clarity, confidence, self-trust, health and success.
   
   
2. Exercise regularly and eat healthy food. The more you can cut down on coffee, sugar, and carbs, the more you feed a relaxed nervous system, clear thinking, and clear communication. You also feed your ability to own more personal power.
   
   
3. Check your assumptions, especially in situations of conflict. Making it a practice to check your assumptions will feed your relationships with trust, authenticity, and ease; and will feed your work with efficiency.
   
   
4. Simplify your priorities. Reducing your priorities to only three a day will feed your focus, efficiency, and a sense of completion. Simplifying your life and your work will feed happiness and success.
   
   
5. Spend time in nature re-dreaming or re-visioning your life and work. Take two actions a day on your dream. This will feed your purpose, talent, and relationships, and calm your nervous system.
   
   
6. Spend more time listening with curiosity. Deep listening feeds understanding, relationship, efficiency, and personal satisfaction. It also feeds the way to creating breakthroughs.
   
   
7. Make agreements and keep them. Keeping your agreements feeds trust and respect.
   
   
8. Follow your intuition, hunches, and gut feelings. This will feed your self-trust, confidence, and wisdom. It will also feed your personal authority.
   
   
9. Brainstorm at least 8 creative solutions to a problem. Let yourself be wildly creative. Creative problem solving feeds breakthroughs.
   
   
10. Take personal responsibility for your actions. This will feed integrity, respect, and courage.
    
    
11. Cultivate safety for people to be honest. Be willing to consider taking action on feedback. This will feed inclusiveness, collaboration, trust, and buy-in.
    
    
12. Be honest about your experience. This will feed your integrity, authenticity, confidence, and self-trust.