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Life is not about answers: Reflecting on lockdown week

Last week was a strange week. I was very fortunate to take 5 weeks leave over the Christmas/New Year period and had a relaxing time at home and a week in Denmark… one of my favourite places. 

Last Monday was my first official day back at work. In fact, Sunday became my first day back at work as we frantically met to plan what would happen at work during the unexpected week’s lockdown.

As I reflect back on the week that has past, like many people I have spoken to, I found myself in a strange headspace. It was a somewhat surreal feeling after being away on holiday for so long and then having to gear up so quickly to work from home. The reality is that uncertainty and disruption are now part of the ‘next normal’. 

On my PC in the office, I have a piece of paper attached with Blu-tack. It was given to me by one of my employees about 15 years ago. It contains the following quote from Swami Chetanananda which describes just what I mean:

“Life is not about answers. It is about learning to live in the middle of complete uncertainty, and doing so gracefully.”

To me, a leadership strength is being able to lead in the midst of uncertainty: being confident that whatever decisions you make at the time are the best decisions that you can make, based on the limited information that you might have. 

In this new world, being agile and adaptable to changing circumstances is something that all of us must embrace.