Banyan Tree Strategies
  • HOME
  • SERVICES
  • CONTENT
  • BLOG
  • NEWSLETTER
  • ABOUT
    • My Story
  • CONTACT US

Victim or Victor Checkpoint 3: What will you celebrate at the end of 2020 and how it may impact your 2021?

11/15/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
This is the 4th email and 3rd checkpoint in our 1/1/2022 Victim or Victor Series.

Staring at the final 45 days of 2020 and with a national election behind us we imagine you might have a few of your team members remarking how much they are looking forward to being done with 2020.

Sadly, as a leader you know all too well that Monday January 4th will present just as many challenges and opportunities as the previous Monday. 

Setting your team’s sights further out appears to be prudent and we have compiled a few best practices for your ready reference.

Be wary of vaccine watching.

We hear lots of chatter about COVID vaccines and will rejoice when the right solution is presented at scale, but we don’t think you want your people to be the worldwide experts in that narrative as it can be tremendously distracting and demoralizing.

Admiral Stockdale whose 7 years as a POW in North Vietnam make him a good primary source on endurance commented that the people who suffered the most were those who set arbitrary dates on when they would be released.

When the interviewer asked who didn't make it out of Vietnam, Stockdale replied:

 “Oh, that's easy, the optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, 'We're going to be out by Christmas.' And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they'd say, 'We're going to be out by Easter.' And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.”

Stockdale then added: “This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

Keep the daily routines and the key actions in place

Amidst the consistent noise of rising COVID cases and the concern over pending government actions it may be wise to take a page from Earnest Shackleton’s book when he was stuck on the south pole in the middle of winter. Their multi-year struggle with the elements included strict daily routines and even time out for the men to kick a soccer ball around.

When you are asking your team to hang in there every week, it can get old, consider keeping the cadence of meetings at the appropriate level and focus on the key actions that matter. Thinking back to the soccer example, we find it amazing that after trying to use a hand saw to break ice away from a ship that they had the energy to do anything, but the men trusted Shackleton and he trusted the power of keeping a cadence of action.

Having the courage to celebrate.

This may seem crazy, but we think the curious leader will find a way to help the team have the courage to celebrate the year. Turning this scrooge of a virus on its head and leveraging that for the first time in a century we are all have a common foe reminds of the Who’s in Whoville singing around the beleaguered Christmas tree in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” by Dr. Seuss.

Having the courage and curiosity to celebrate with your team could play a vital role in how the first quarter of 2021 goes for your team. 
​
  • Who will you memorialize? 
  • What will you honor? 
  • What future will you point to?  

How you answer these questions could make the difference in having a team that resents everything it sees in the world or one that is buoyed by what they are overcoming and empowered by the resilient spirit that this period of their lives is helping them build. The Who’s gathered hand in hand and sang, and while we know we won’t be holding hands and probably not be singing, we sure hope you find a way to celebrate.

We celebrate the opportunity to share our insights with you and are thankful for your readership and friendship.

Drew and Sara

View the next post in the Series
View the previous post in the Series

1 Comment
Logan Hernandez link
10/17/2022 05:39:45 am

Our support piece country. Into partner visit home. Much state base while difference exactly. Amount offer piece town without.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    This section will not be visible in live published website. Below are your current settings:


    Current Number Of Columns are = 1

    Expand Posts Area =

    Gap/Space Between Posts = 10px

    Blog Post Style = card

    Use of custom card colors instead of default colors = 1

    Blog Post Card Background Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Shadow Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Border Color = current color

    Publish the website and visit your blog page to see the results

    Categories

    All
    Community
    Competition
    Culture
    Leadership
    Networking
    Performance
    Sales
    Self
    Team

    Drew Sanders Blog

    Some of our awesome posts are from our newsletter Branches & Roots, an 8x a year publication.  For full annual volumes see our buttons below!  Even better sign up for the newsletter so you don't miss out.

    Volume 1 - 2014
    Volume 2 - 2015
    Volume 3 - 2016
    Volume 4 - 2017
    Volume 5 - 2018
    Volume 6 -2019
    Volume 7 -2020
    Volume 8 -2021

    Subscribe to our mailing list

    * indicates required

    Archives

    October 2021
    August 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    March 2019
    February 2019
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    July 2014

    RSS Feed

Banyan Tree Strategies  510.246.1446
© 2018 All rights reserved - Banyan Tree Strategies
Picture

Subscribe to our mailing list

  • HOME
  • SERVICES
  • CONTENT
  • BLOG
  • NEWSLETTER
  • ABOUT
    • My Story
  • CONTACT US