September is Brain Aneurysm Awareness Month. And August 4 was my 16 year “annie-versary” (as they call it) of surviving my own near-fatal brain aneurysm.
So many blessing to be thankful for. So many lessons learned.
In my memoir Rebooting My Brain, I shared that my own worst obstacle was not about my cognitive deficits or any physical limitations. Not even my impaired eyesight at the time. It came from within ME.
My stubbornness in refusing to change and adapt.
I kept trying to compare myself to the Old Me, to the baseline that existed before. “But before, I could do ….easier, faster, better! I just need to do it like that again!”
Until a very kind occupational therapist challenged me with tough love, saying, “Forget about what you used to do or how you used to be” She challenged me to face what was in front of me right now and figure out new strategies to get to my goals..
Once I stopped clinging to the past and embraced what was now in front of me, I found new ways to achieve my goals – and I thrived. My progress accelerated.
And this is exactly what I’m seeing leaders doing now, in our post-pandemic workplaces. Leaders refusing to adapt. Leaders clinging to outdate models. Leaders return to what they know out of fear.
What does that look like?
- Demanding 5 days a week back in the office
- Refusing to keep some of the flexibility they offered during the Pandemic
- Cutting DEIB programs and budgets
And you can probably fill in more examples you’ve seen.
My empathy speaker work is about helping leadering understand how to adapt to the new paradigms of leadership and workplace culture. Once they do, their progress and success will accelerate, just as it did for me!
However, here’s the plot twist:
Employees, you have agency, too.
If you are lucky enough to have a leadership team who understands the benefits they get from offering flexibility and a more human-centered workplace, great. But if you are not, YOU STILL GET TO MAKE A CHOICE. You deal with the new reality before you.
Stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole – or culture, if you will.
If your organization’s business decisions no longer align with your values or lifestyle, you get to make a decision to adapt.
The company is showing you who they are. They are allowed to do business however they see fit. Yes, even if it’s short-sighted, limiting, and will hurt them competitively in the long run.
BU they are not required to change for you. A human-centered workplace does not equal a YOU-centered workplace, unfortunately. The company also has a responsibility to all its employees and customers to run sustainable, with governance and compliance as they see fit.
So the choice is yours:
Despite your best efforts to create change where you are, will you continue to defiantly cling to the flexibilities you used to have during the Pandemic. Or will you adapt to the reality before you and chart a new path? Find a new company or role that better aligns with your values and needs?
Once you do, your progress and success will accelerate.
PS, Let’s take a moment to acknowledge that not every worker has the luxury of just leaving an inflexible environment and finding a new job. But if you are able to in your industry or career, it may be time to adapt and move on in order to thrive.
Photo credit: Ankush Minda on Unsplash
