The next chapter
© Pete Longworth
“I want things to go back to normal.”
I’ve heard so many people say it. Heck, in the first few weeks of the pandemic, I said it. But I’m not sure why because the truth is, I hope things don’t go back to normal. In fact, I hope we get so far from normal that we don’t even recognize our world. Why? Let me remind you what “normal” was:
“Normal” was a world in which more people were disengaged at work than engaged. In which millennials were “the loneliest generation,” and the suicide rate for teens and young adults—our future leaders—was the highest it's been since the government began collecting such statistics. In which the majority of Fortune 500 boards were still composed primarily of white men and the wage gap for women of color was as high as 42%. In which we told people they couldn’t work from home and made them choose between their jobs and their families. In which we strived for perfection and threw people under the bus to hide our failures and save our reputations. In which we hustled so quickly from meeting to meeting that we didn’t stop to acknowledge the people we passed in the hall. In which the workplace was the last place we felt safe discussing feelings, fears, or showing any kind of vulnerability whatsoever. In which hardworking, dedicated people were the first to go when budgets needed trimming. In which leadership was determined by tenure and rank instead of merit and many felt they couldn’t make a difference without the right title. In which people blamed their leaders and leaders blamed their people and we pointed fingers more than we worked together.
Go back to “normal?” That’s the last place I want us to go. Maybe the world I just described wasn’t your normal, and if so, you’re incredibly lucky. But for many, it was. For many, it still is.
So, what do we do?
Friends, I think our workplaces need a full-blown, all-hands-on-deck, people-first revolution. I think we need to use this pandemic as a chance to press the reset button harder than we’ve ever pressed it, all at the same time, until our fingers and our faces are red and shaking. I think we need to work harder than we’ve ever worked together to build a world where people come first.
Here are a few places we can start:
Work is personal. Caring for people no longer means simply providing a paycheck. It means caring about the whole of the person: their mental health, their physical health, and their financial health. No longer can we incentivize people to work in unsafe conditions or lay people off as soon as times get hard. We must make the same decisions for our people that we would make for our own children. There is no more separation between work and personal. We must create space in our meeting agendas to discuss feelings and fears; we must take the time to ask people how they are doing; and we must have the courage to share what is really going on in our lives instead of putting up a front. When we do that, not only will we feel less alone, but we will also inspire others to speak up and feel less alone.
Work is flexible. No longer can we deny people flexibility or call working from home a “perk.” If someone wants to work from their living room a few days a week, let them. If remote work isn’t an option, find other ways to offer flexibility: Let them leave at 3 p.m. to pick up their kid or give them the ability to make their own hours. No more one-size-fits-all approaches. Be willing to meet people where they are and let them do whatever they need to do to be at their best. Over are the days where work takes us away from the legacies we want to leave behind. Work must work with life.
Work is human. No more pretending that perfection is possible or cool. We must admit mistakes, own our weaknesses, leave our egos behind, ask for help when we need it, say when we are unsure, and celebrate that we don’t have to have all the answers. We must give each other grace, recognize that we all have bad moments and days, and embrace the messy moments because humans are messy. No longer can we call our workplaces human and expect that people just “get it.” We need to be taught what being human means. We must have training courses that teach every single person in every single position how to listen, how to empathize, how to communicate with compassion, how to address conflict, and how to make those around them feel seen and heard. We need to be intentional about building diverse and inclusive teams and educate ourselves on ways to combat systemic racism and barriers to opportunity.
Work is together. There is no more “us vs. them.” It’s time to be a team where every person matters, every role matters, every pay grade matters, and every voice matters. If you’re leading a team and you feel like it’s all on your shoulders, ask for help. No longer can we assume that people can read our minds or that they don’t care. We have to give them the chance. And if you’re upset with your leader, if you want change in your organization, if you have ideas and solutions that will make things better, share all of it. Leadership isn’t about titles; it’s about actions and stepping up before you’re asked to. Every person has unique strengths that only they possess. We can’t do any of this without each other. Imagine what we can create together when we actually work together.
One more thing: When we press this reset button, when we start to live by these ideas and values, we must have the courage to leave the organizations that don’t embrace the reset. We must teach dictatorial, profit-over-people organizations that they have two choices: Change, or cease to exist. Our world will only be different if we take a stand. We deserve better.
You have my word that I will share this message with a megaphone. (And if you want me to share it with your team, let’s make it happen!) I will not stop until we can look at our world and say that every person knows they matter, every person knows they belong, and every person knows they can make a difference. That’s the world I want for my future children, and that’s the world I want for you.
Big hugs,
