2020 In the Rearview Mirror: Top Takeaways for the Year Ahead
As SmarterWisdom Consulting celebrates its first birthday—during the entire month of January—we have been reminiscing about what we learned during these twelve extraordinary months. The good news is that exceptional experiences—and 2020 was, if nothing else, an exceptional year—can lead to great learning! As we speed away into the new year, we want to build on these insights that have inspired us.
1. Zany, Zig Zag, Zen & Zoom: Our clients were under enormous stress as they balanced new day-to-day pandemic threats with their continuing efforts to prioritize and think big picture. SmarterWisdom’s role was supporting them in staying calm, going with the flow, and trying to counteract unrelenting pressure with a cross-institutional perspective of the bigger picture outside their gates. Good tech support and ongoing learning for all of us were vital.
2. Unleash, undo, untrain & unusual: SmarterWisdom spent time helping leaders to let go and to continue empowering their teams. While the pandemic often demanded a ‘command and control’ approach, we worked to help our clients consider how to unleash the power of their colleagues. We reminded them that they had been in difficult, pressured times like this before and they could draw on time-tested strengths and attributes. As the pandemic threw new wrenches into the mix, we asked them to consider who on their teams had perhaps become more adept and more valuable during these difficult times, and to consider these resources fully.
3. Equity, justice, belonging: Creating diverse, high-performing teams became undeniably integral to success—and more important than ever. Yet building teams is especially challenging over video-conferences and phone calls. We partnered with our clients to design roadmaps for success in this key area, focusing on careful hiring, excellent on-boarding and ongoing support. We asked leaders to take the time to nurture their teams—using reflection, sharing and delegating, and listening with curiosity, not judgement, as new ideas came their way.
4. Comfort, camaraderie, chocolate & chai: The new normal of the home office placed all kinds of strains on employees and households. Do I use a virtual background? What if I look like an alien without a green screen? Can I really wear those old sweatpants every day? And we went deeper. What do you truly miss about not seeing colleagues regularly; what did they provide for you? And, even though you perhaps do not miss your daily commute, do you miss the ‘alone’ time it gave to you? We asked our clients to look thoughtfully at what they are missing and how, if needed, they might seek to replace what is no longer there.
5. Partnership, peers and pragmaticism: With a renewed focus, we saw the value of thought partnerships during this time of upheaval. Our clients needed a safe place to go to talk through difficult issues that arose with their bosses or their boards; they requested some quick ‘first aid’ on issues that came at them as fires to put out; they benefitted from the external infusion of energy and new ideas that SmarterWisdom and others could provide.
6. Flexibility, imagination and success: We all saw that we could in fact respond quickly and successfully to the challenge. We were all better than we knew—moving quickly to Zoom connections, remote learning and seminars from home. We saw who delivered in tough times and we looked at our colleagues differently. Through crisis and caring, we stretched, learned and grew.
7. Hope: We, of course, hope for a continued year of growth ahead, but with fewer wrenches being thrown your way! We hope that you experience generative and innovative ideas; we trust that good challenges and exciting opportunities will come your way, and ours! Keep being smart and wise, and know we are here to be a part of your team.