In May 2020, I wrote a column for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) titled “HR During a Pandemic in a Retirement Home.” I served as the chief human resources officer for the Motion Picture and Television Fund at the time—the retirement home for Hollywood actors and production people. I wrote it as a point-in-time piece, explaining the realities of HR at ground zero (remembering that COVID-19 was first discovered in a retirement home in Seattle). I likewise wanted to profile what it was like on the front lines a few months into the pandemic and how it was impacting our elderly residents as well as employees. I think it’s fair to say that we find ourselves now at a similar, seminal interval with a window into our future—this time as opaque and difficult to predict as that last time during the pandemic, only now we’re facing challenges to our core beliefs and identities as well.
Natural disasters, political upheaval, fears of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and more are rocking our world and posing fundamental challenges to who we are as a nation, where we stand relative to a new technological frontier, and how we care for our employees so they can do their very best work every day with peace of mind. What’s needed most today starts with our own self-care and extends to an agile and peaceful mindset. It’s all about coming from leadership wisdom—not just knowledge but true wisdom, which is best defined as “knowledge applied.” How we handle the present moment will go a long way in helping us define our character, our adaptability to profound change, and our future career (and personal) success.
Leading Effectively Through Crisis and Disruption Starts with a Breather
What’s needed most right now—no matter where you stand on the political spectrum or whether you see AI for all its benefits or threats—is peace of mind. We need to “quiet the room.” It feels like there’s so much noise and confusion that it takes our breath away, and it’s hard to gather our thoughts. There’s a spiritual saying that “If you don’t go within, you without.” That means that we need to know how to compartmentalize, we need to be able to turn off the noise, and we need to ensure our own self-care first. It all starts with us, and we have to ensure that—despite the ongoing profound changes that seem to threaten us or some of our fundamental beliefs—we have our wits about us and can serve as a calming influence on others, whether those threats are physical, futuristic, or fundamental to our beliefs.
Where do we find peace of mind? Where do we recharge our battery so that we have the energy to help those around us? What does it feel like to disconnect? The imagery of Hercules carrying the world on his shoulders is relevant for many of our family members, friends, and coworkers. But we have to take the heavens off our own shoulders first before we can bring peace of mind to others. We’ve got to identify new ways of drowning out the noise—no matter how much we pride ourselves on staying in tune with current trends and events.
Recognize That the “New Normal” Isn’t New. . . or Normal
“Change your perspective and you’ll change your perception.” In other words, if you can change your perspective—the way you choose to see things—you can experience the outcome differently. No, not a different physical outcome. We’ve still got to go through what we’ve got to go through. But we have the power to experience its effects differently.
How so? Come from gratitude and appreciation. Acknowledge the hard times before us but remain thankful for all we have. For example, the Greatest Generation was born around 1920, grew up during the Great Depression of the 1930s, and shipped off to Europe and Asia during the 1940s to fight the Second World War. Those challenges are not what we’re facing today. Likewise, we can be thankful that we’re in the United States, where less than five percent of the world’s population benefits from two-thirds of the world’s wealth. Yes, we have our challenges, but we have much to be grateful for.
Likewise, the three core challenges that we face today—natural disasters, political unrest, and the introduction of new technology—have been many decades, if not centuries, in the making. The difference is that we all seem to be sensing a “perfect storm” of sorts, where three massive, tectonic shifts are occurring simultaneously. It’s difficult for us all to comprehend and make sense of. It’s even harder for many of our employees. In short, we’ve managed through transformative, disruptive, and dynamic change before, yet our current set of circumstances feels different this time: If September 11th took our innocence away, the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath deprived us of our peace of mind.
Let's start with artificial intelligence (AI), a massive post-pandemic novelty, AI contains within it the possibility of changing mankind’s existence as we currently know it. Natural disasters from climate change seem to be hitting us harder and faster than ever before in the form of fires, floods, and tornadoes. And Americans’ self-identities are being challenged with concepts as basic as freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. Yet again, a healthy perspective will help us calm the room. Let’s look at some examples.
Most Americans couldn’t tell you what the initials “AI” stood for in October 2022. (“Art Institute” may have been a good guess!) But in November 2022, OpenAI launched ChatGPT, and by December 2022, the 24/7 news cycle had taken over with predictions that millions of jobs worldwide would be eliminated and that “no child born today will live to see the age of eight.” Such exaggerations are clearly intended to drive greater publicity and eyeballs for news networks. But fears about career vulnerability abounded, when in fact the net effect of AI introductions into the workplace will likely have similar effects as technology did in the past. For example:
In 1950, 43 million Americans had jobs.
By 2020, over 152 million Americans were employed.
Therefore, more than 100 million new jobs were created during a period of profound technological change, many in categories that did not exist before.
This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be wary of the negative potential of AI and ensure that we’re harnessing it with an ethical eye in terms of its usage. And sure—AI can fall into the wrong hands on the international stage and be used to threaten our very existence. But much like the introduction of the Atomic Age carried with it the potential to end humanity as we now know it, we’ve been able to build the right types of processes, controls, and regulatory policies to ensure that, for the most part, nuclear technology would be harnessed and used for good.
Application to Today’s Workplace
AI may be on the path to “superintelligence,” but the proper perspective can help us see “the forest for the trees.” In other words, getting ourselves and our teams out of the weeds and taking a 30,000-foot view of today’s challenges will help us retain a healthy perspective moving forward. This applies to today’s political climate as well.
Yes, we hear that “democracy and the rule of law are under attack,” and that may be true. These matters should be taken very seriously. But the movement toward smaller government, tax benefits for the rich, trickle-down economic theory, deregulation, and the shrinking of the middle class have been in place since 19th century England, where it was believed that a growing middle class was a threat to society. The theory went that power and wealth belonged to landed estate owners who were male; others, including females and minorities, should not have a place at the high end of society.
The classic 1843 Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens portrayed that “model” of society well: The British royal family and aristocracy owned 90% of the nation’s wealth. The “middle class”—portrayed by small business owner Ebenezer Scrooge as well as the doctors and lawyers of the time—made up 10% of the population and carried as much wealth. Yet, a full 90% of the population was made up of the working poor. (Think of the role of Bob Cratchit in the novella—a humble, low-paid clerk, dependent on Scrooge to feed his large family.)
Despite this economic model of “pure capitalism”—without interference from the government that instituted regulatory barriers to unfair business and labor practices—a middle class grew in England, as it did in the United States. The model of suppressing the middle class didn’t work in the long run. Removing social safety nets, restricting access to education, suppressing votes, and giving companies free reign to pursue pure profits without restriction—no matter how negatively their actions impacted the population or environment—fell by the wayside. That’s because the genie was already out of the bottle: citizens saw the many benefits of improving their wealth and social status. And they found a way to get there through hard work and education. A pure return to the “working poor” model could not and would not be sustainable. The middle class—although under attack from time to time—was here to stay.
Likewise, today, females are recipients of more than half of the undergraduate, medical, and law school degrees being minted. Women open 40% of small businesses in the United States. An attempt to return females “to the kitchen” will likewise falter. Demographics is destiny, and failure to recognize massive trends and patterns in societal behaviors will likely hurt any disruptor before too long.
As a business leader, you have the ability to look longer term at what’s happening. You simply have to possess the wisdom that challenges will come and go—some old, some new—but our future is bright, despite occasional and temporary setbacks. (As an interesting aside, President Dwight Eisenhower, Republican and war hero, warned in 1954 of a handful of “Texas oil millionaires” attempting to abolish Social Security. The movement faltered and was short lived, but it goes to show that such ideas have been around—and likely will remain around—for years to come.)
Reminding people of these broader, “30,000-foot” trends in human endeavors can help them retain a healthy perspective, no matter how much “noise” comes their way. Yes, change is necessary to better our current situation in life and in our careers. But returning to models that have been tested but failed for decades or centuries is likely not going to be in any society’s, company’s, or family’s best interests over the long haul. Read that: employers—small business owners, corporate executives, and frontline operational managers—hold the key to true, meaningful relationships at work, and this emotional connection remains critical to successful employee performance, especially in times of turbulence and disruption.
Challenges to Today’s HR World
There are so many changes and executive orders being released as of this writing that it’s hard to keep up. That’s the intent. The employment landscape appears “under attack,” as do other societal programs and long-standing establishments. Again, dismantling American institutionalism poses an existential threat to our way of life and workplaces, and questions remain as to whether the Department of Labor or the National Labor Relations Board, for example, will be defunded or eliminated.
In the workplace, employment-related executive orders include ending federal support of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs and deporting roughly 11 million immigrants without legal status. Increasing immigration enforcement may be a healthy and worthwhile goal, but doing so without a strategic plan or timed program will affect labor availability in various industries, leaving employers scattering for talent, disrupting supply chains, and no doubt spiking wage inflation. Similarly, executive orders have now been issued that:
Instruct all U.S. government departments and agencies to require employees to return to the office, ending remote accommodations.
Announce a hiring freeze at all executive branch agencies except in “essential areas.”
Remove civil-service job protections for tens of thousands of government workers.
Granted, these executive orders may and will likely be challenged by or stalled in the courts. The point, however, is that they're being released and announced in overlapping waves, causing significant angst in those who may be impacted. It doesn’t matter whether you agree with such executive orders or their intent. What should matter is that workers are overwhelmed by so many fundamental changes on such short notice. Such rapid and fundamental shifts in policy and practice are intended to induce a feeling of “shock and awe”—a sense of sweeping and overwhelming change that threatens workers, their career paths, and their retirements. This may be the government’s intended effect, but HR remains responsible for ensuring productive employees despite such worries and concerns. That’s no easy fete in today’s challenging business environment.
What “Wisdom” Should Sound and Feel Like
In times of massive change and disruption—especially when such disruption is intended to overwhelm and cause confusion—let calm and peace prevail. I know. . . that’s easy enough to say. But what about farm workers who are afraid to report to work for fear of immigration raids? What about employees who will quit if they’re forced to return to a full Monday-Friday onsite program with little or no notice? What about government “career” employees who are receiving layoff packages as we speak, full well knowing that they won’t have an easy time finding similar roles in the private sector? And what about their severance packages, retirement programs, long-term benefits, and the like: Who’s going to ensure that they’re taken care of when the entire government institution that employs them may disappear?
It's hard to share and provide wisdom when an entity’s leadership is looking to cause confusion and fear. The basic assumptions that we make about ourselves and our careers go by the wayside when ill intentions may be at hand. The real answer is that we can’t necessarily affect or mitigate these massive changes coming at us in such rapid bursts. Yet again, we should do whatever we can to help others navigate these rapids. In a time of change, loss, or grief, a strong sense of community and having one another’s backs is more important than ever. Help people heal, to the degree and extent possible. For example, follow some simple maxims and pass them along to others:
What you want for yourself, give to another.
Each to his own without judgment.
When in doubt, err on the side of compassion.
Make of your life a gift.
Teach what you choose to learn.
No, these aphorisms and adages won’t pay the rent. But historically, we’ve come through depressions and world wars together. We became “adrenaline junkies” during the COVID pandemic, and we will unfortunately have to continue through fierce adversity and headwinds moving forward, even if they're caused by our own collective actions or we believe that such changes are long overdue and warranted. We’ve adjusted before and lived to see another day. Chances are high that we’ll do so again, even if we see no way out at this point.
These threats are real. Again, even if you agree with them in theory—government got too big, there was too much red tape and bureaucracy in Washington, the world is taking advantage of our generosity—recognize that these massive changes are hitting and hurting real people in real time. Care for self, family, and friends is critical at a time like this. It’s crucial that we find our own balance and share our narrative with others. Be that calming influence. Help people understand that “this too shall pass,” although no one can know exactly when or how.
Key words to reflect on during times of tumultuous change include:
Calm | Patience
|
Thoughtfulness
| Empathy
|
Selflessness/Otherness
| Understanding
|
Support
| Security |
Self-Awareness, being present in the moment, and active listening (where you listen with your eyes and heart in addition to your ears) round out the mix. You get the idea: selfless leadership, open communication, and respect and trust should become hallmarks of your personal brand and executive presence. This isn’t handholding--it’s pure understanding and making space for people to gain traction relative to the new challenges they’re facing.
And I’ll return to that first bullet above again: “What you want for yourself, give to another.” The universe knows that you cannot give away anything that you do not already have. In that sense, give peace of mind; give calm; give reassurance. “I’ve got your back” and “We’re all in this together” are critical messages that people need to hear right now in the heat of turmoil. Karma is real: what emanates from you returns to you.
As I wrote in my book, “The First-Time Manager: Leading Through Crisis" (https://bit.ly/41aR9Qv), at times of natural disasters and emergencies:
“Getting through the storm together” and “not leaving anyone behind” become critical messages at times of extreme unrest. Exchange your “boss hat” for friend, neighbor, and helper hat and know that people will remember your kindness and feel more loyal to you if you’re there support them when they feel truly vulnerable. Disasters can leave employees anxious, displaced, and unable to work. Compassion and clear communication help restore productivity and a sense of normalcy over time. Be there for them as you would like the ideal boss to be there for you.
“This isn’t meant to be easy, but facing severe struggle helps you grow and evolve as a leader faster than just about anything else. And in that growth, you hone your character, your leadership mettle, and your definition of self. Is it a selfish or a selfless image that you wish to portray? Do you see yourself putting others’ needs ahead of your own or putting your own needs first? Are you a calming influence helping others focus on their priorities, or do you turn a blind eye to the new realities that have upended everything in your current line of sight? There’s no judgment here. But it’s important to give thought to who you are and who you choose to be relative to the overwhelming changes that may continue to come your way and affect your organization, employees, family, or general sense of well-being.”
Most important, remember poet Maya Angelou’s famous words:
People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
It’s the wisdom of connection, of interpersonal relationships, and of selflessness and otherness that create space for people to heal. Calm the room. Come from wisdom. Be wisdom. It’s never more important than at times of tremendous change and volatility. Now’s your time to shine your light. Leading effectively through crisis and disruption allows you to serve as the model for others to follow. And know deep in your heart that, while we may not hit any sort of “rock bottom” soon or return to a greater sense of order, normalcy, or predictability, it’s within our control to demonstrate role-model leadership that helps others heal.
Now is the time of our testing. Now is the time of our character formation. Find your peace, and lift others up. That’s the gift that this moment offers—and that you’ll benefit from for the rest of your career.
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For more information on Paul's books, please visit his #HarperCollinsLeadership author page at https://www.harpercollinsleadership.com/catalog/paul-falcone/.
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For video snippets of Paul’s presentations, visit his YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@paulfalconeHR.
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