If you are a leader in this difficult time, go on video as soon as possible and talk to the people that look at you for an answer. Make it a recurrent thing, and most of all make it about them. How they feel, what they fear, what they need, how they are going to get out on the other side (with your help).
All the rest is unneeded.
Why do people keep going out and gather in groups when they are told to stay in and avoid in person contacts?
Because it is very difficult for each one of us to picture what could be, what could happen, the damage (or good) we might be bringing about. Until that is finally here and now, close.
And of course, because asking people to change habits, to let go of freedom, to do something that is not on their agenda, can only be effective if your communication is clear, straightforward, honest and transparent.
That’s what authority is based on today.
Both these points, by the way, are good reminders for all those working in marketing and seeking to make a change.
The harshness of your ways is merely fear and pain.
Fear of something that might happen, of something that might repeat itself, of losing control, of being subject to judgement, of not meeting others’ expectations, of being hurt, of having to face the unknown.
Pain for something that has happened in your life, for not being able to reciprocate a feeling, for a scar that has not healed yet, for the too much effort you are putting in keeping things under your will, for the lack of rest and tranquillity.
If you find the courage to speak of fear and pain, you immediately take their power away. Your relationships will benefit from it greatly.
Increasingly, the change we seek and want to bring about, the change to things we do not like or find unfair, is not a revolution led by a strong leader.
Examples such as #metoo and #blacklivesmatter show that change happens nowadays because of more or less spontaneous movements that find coordination and reach in the masses.
Change is less scary when it is not imposed, when it is shared, when it spreads horizontally.
As you go about your need for change, think: “how can I make it about the others?”.
What we are not helps define what we are.
Yet certainly, that cannot end there. This is particularly true when we compete, when we try to influence, when we run against something that is already established.
We need to differentiate, and that cannot be done by merely saying “not-the-other”. The more you let this message run, the more steam you are transferring to your adversary’s engine.
Building movements that matter is hard job because they require self-reflection, deep knowledge of the playing field and story building.
All the rest is a shortcut, and short is the breath that will sustain it.
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