Unless You Act When It Feels Too Early, It's Actually Too Late

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” - Albert Camus, Nobel Prize-winning philosopher

Praxis, an organization we are very fond of and involved in, released a compelling essay Strategies for Winter: Redemptive Leadership in Survival Times. Although a lot has changed from a health perspective since this was published, we believe the leadership principles are insightful and transcend any one moment. 

The authors discuss the necessary actions needed to be taken to lead throughout this uncertain time. The following essentials discussed are a roadmap for redemptive leaders seeking to survive and build for the future: Embrace your role, Maximize your runway, Prototype in sprints, Organize for resilience, Lead by naming, and Design for a different future. These summarize the counsel Praxis is giving to the hundreds of business and nonprofit entrepreneurs in their community and beyond.

We need to treat COVID-19 as an economic and cultural blizzard, winter, and the beginning of a “little ice age” — a once-in-a-lifetime change that is likely to affect our lives and organizations for years. For leaders of any organization, your focus now should be to survive the winter by building for the ice age. This means doing all that is necessary to sustain your core mission in times of scarcity; to prototype everything toward a different future, and in all things to compound the trust and reputation of your organization. 

We’re not going back to normal, which we believe only creates an opportunity for those who keep their heads during these uncertain times. If you’re a leader in an organization, it is time to rewrite your vision deck — that presentation so many organizations have that summarizes who you are, whom you serve, why you serve them, and what you do and how you do it. Your “who” and “why” almost surely will not change during this time. Rather your “how” will likely need to be modified to achieve your goals and reach your desired destination. Throughout history it has been clear unless you act when it feels too early, it’s actually too late.