“The difference between people who believe they have 
books inside of them and those who actually write books 
is sheer cussed persistence.”

— Jennifer Weiner

I have a reputation for being persistent. It is an important quality in my life. I think living through changing times requires both persistence and perseverance. My persistent self at its best works the issue, stays calm in chaos, searches for the path forward that is the best for all involved, doesn’t give up, uses my values to navigate, pauses, and keeps going until everyone safely crosses the finish line. I can be counted on. I have outdistanced any habit of procrastination. I rise early and tackle the most difficult task first. I break big projects into smaller chunks and do a little something every day toward the end goal.

I have also received feedback that, in my persistence about an issue that needs to be raised and addressed, I can be ‘like a dog with a bone.’ I won’t let it fester, gain ground, or go untended. I have experienced too often the consequences of avoiding the ‘potholes’ visible in our travel through life and work. Things that go untended frequently get worse versus going away. However, I will wait something out if it is moving in the right direction on its own.

In my roles as a consultant, coach, and facilitator of organizational health and leadership, I feel responsible for looking into the future and making sure the path is clear.

Early in my choice to start a business in a field very new to the work world, I chose to use a metaphorical title on my business card. The IRS knows that I am the President and responsible for the organization fiscally, but when I think of my role, it is as a Sherpa Guide.

I have read extensively about Tensing Norgay, the Sherpa who guided Sir Edmund Hillary to the summit of Everest. A Sherpa Guide must know the trail and be experienced in all changing environments. A Sherpa has experience in climbing and in supporting another individual in their goal of reaching the summit. The Sherpa won’t push, pull, or carry the individual but will ensure they have the right equipment to summit safely. But still, the Sherpa has ‘skin in the game.’ The risks are equally high for both the climber and the guide.

This metaphor suits me well. Everything I have learned about leadership, management, and organizational behavior has first been applied to myself, to my own company, and then added to my ‘toolbox’ of process tools for supporting the success of others in creating healthy working environments, working relationships, and high-performance organizations. I love to learn and share. My work has taken me around the world, and into organizations large and small in all industry types. I have confronted issues that keep me awake at night, responsibly. I have witnessed the best and worst of human behavior and uses of power.

I believe that my greatest contribution is to be honest and carry truthful and sometimes hard information forward. Always, I stand ready with ideas and ways to address the things that challenge and threaten our well-being.

With that in mind, I published a blog a couple of weeks ago about my concerns about how we move forward working together after enduring a pandemic whose future is still unknown. It is easy to look back and reflect on what we have done.

Our abilities to flex, change, and incorporate new processes and technologies are remarkable. We have learned a lot. But there is more to learn, more to change, and more to assimilate. We are not done.

Now is the time to take stock. To observe what we are doing and how we are doing it.

• Does it work for all our stakeholders?
• Is it sustainable?
• Will it ensure that we are competitive?
• Does it result in the best working environment and relationships?

I don’t have all the answers, but I do have many questions and concerns.

I am observing that we can work in different models. However, have we arrived at the model that will carry us forward into the future in a way that leverages our strengths and needs?

I would like to advocate for finding and creating a community of work again; to intentionally convene and bring our constituents together; and to ground ourselves in each of our missions, with our values in hand, inspired by a bright and ennobling future that we commit to creating together.

I know — sounds Utopian.

If we are going to continue spending more time working and with our coworkers than even with our families, I would like to make the best investment of time into creating something healthy and best-in-class.

I don’t observe that our settling for remote or hybrid has arrived at the model that will be the most synergistic or capable of creating greatness. The model we need to find will support the connective tissue of human relationship. It will be more than transactional.

The world in which we operate requires us to stretch our leadership abilities and learn new managerial habits.

There are conversations we need to have to become more deeply connected to our customers, workforce, and community.

Some will say that the younger generations don’t want to be in community and are comfortable working remotely or hybrid. I challenge us to give them some great experiences and the benefits of being in groups, being mentored, and ‘pulling together’ to create something larger than their single contribution.

Let’s try new ways of working together and give everyone a taste of what it feels like to be valued, contributing, and secure.

• What does ‘raising this flag’ suggest for you?

I have a hunch that I will continue to observe — and want to talk about — how we choose to work in our reinvented world. Yes, when it comes to wanting each organization and individual to thrive, I will be ‘the dog with a bone.’

Let me know what you are observing and choosing to do.

Leslie

“Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock,
perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it.
Yet at the hundred-and-first blow, it will split in two,
and I know it was not the last blow that did it,
but all that had gone before.”

— Jacob A. Riis