How does leadership become contagious?

I went to dinner last night with a few dear friends. It’s the type of dinner I hope to still be having 30 years from now: inspiring, though-provoking, good food, great conversation and even better people.

Something happened that I wasn’t expecting though.

One guy had a career year and got a massive promotion. That wasn’t surprising and is well deserved.

What caught me off guard was how much him being on fire and aligned with his vision impacted me. I don’t work with him, his promotion doesn’t directly impact me, and yet I felt lit up and more connected to my own vision.

It’s no wonder that every manager who reports to him was recognized by the company for their performance this year. That shit is contagious. I caught that from eating delicious meat at the same table as him, so I can imagine how his team feels on the daily.

When leadership is done right, it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle where each individual is inspired to step up in their own leadership. This doesn’t happen overnight, and yet it can very quickly ripple through an entire organization. When you see these leaders in action, you realize that they are worth their weight in gold.

What does my life look like when this pandemic is over?

At the end of a zoom with a mentor, he asked me a wonderful question:

"What does life look like for John at the end of this pandemic?"

Before I get to my answer, let's geek out on this question. The path to the best answers is to seek out the best questions, and this one is dope.

Here's the stream of consciousness for this masterpiece of a question:

• We are making an assumption that the pandemic is going to end. Even though we cognitively know this to be true, it's nice to be reminded of this during these times of uncertainty. This will end.
• We make no speculation around the timing of the end. It will end, but we have no idea when. For purposes of this question, it doesn't matter. We have some finite amount of time, so how will I be intentional with it.
• It is beautifully open ended for the imagination of the answerer to fill a blank canvas. In contrast, see how to "make the most of the pandemic" and "18 ways we can ensure we maximize the potential of every minute of our quarantine." This question isn't that. For some maybe they maximize. For others it might be about maintaining sanity, increasing happiness, allowing for deep reflection, making major life change or keeping things the same. Choose your own adventure.
• We are invited to reverse engineer our time. What is the desired end state? Great, now we have a guiding light on where we want to go, and we can start to act accordingly. This is the proactive vs. reactive framework. It's the intentionality. Do we sit back and respond as things happen or do we take control of our situation and work to move the needle?
• Finally, it allows us some semblance of taking control of the situation. It focuses us. We move away from the victim and towards an active participant in our own story.

Ok. Enough about the question. It's a beauty and one I would highly encourage each of you to spend some significant time thinking about. It helps. Trust me.

My answer is quite simple. When the pandemic has come to and end...

• I have returned to my entrepreneurial roots (either by starting a new company or by taking a leadership position at a very young company)
• I have continued forward on the path of my North Star (more on this in a future post)
• I have adapted my daily routines to be as flexible as needed (the rigidity of my routines in the past has been a source of instability for me with rapidly changing external environments)
• I have strengthened my most precious relationships (in a time of social distancing and quarantining, this one may be the most difficult but I'm ready for the challenge)

Because we are designing the future and I can wave my magic wand to have whatever I want, this is it.

Everything else takes a back seat at the moment. It will be interesting to revisit this list in the future when we return to normalcy. But for now, I'm excited to be an intentional designer of my future.

Entrepreneur. North Star. Flexible routines. Relationships. Let's go.

How do I unlock "anti-fragility mode?"

Professor Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a next level scholar. When I read about the concept of antifragility, I was simultaneously blown away and completely enthralled.

What is the opposite of fragile, Taleb asks? A first guess might lead us to believe that it is something that is durable or resilient, but that is not correct. The opposite of fragile is antifragile, a word that previously was not part of our english language.

Antifragile is the property of becoming stronger or thriving in situations of stress, shock or uncertainty.

What a beautiful quality to possess, especially in times like these.

This is what enabled me to lead mission-critical teams at an international bank during the financial crisis. This is what helped me navigate both the creation and dissolution of several fast-growing organizations. And this is what will serve me well during this global pandemic.

When things are at their worst, how can I be at my best?

There has been a call for the last several years that the world needs more leaders, particularly leaders who have been putting in the work. This call wasn't to help drive record profits. This call wasn't to grow organizations when capital was cheap and the world was pleasant.

The call for leaders who have been putting in the work is exactly for times like these.

The leader who can maintain their composure, who can separate what they can control from what they can't, who have confidence in their ability to navigate the uncertainty, is the one that we are all ready to follow.

How we show up for each other, for our clients, for our colleagues, for our friends and family, and for strangers during these times is the mark of a true leader. It's time to unlock new levels of antifragility and become even better not despite all of the uncertainty around me, but because of it.

How can I step up as a leader during massive uncertainty?

Despite all of negative emotions that I've been feeling since the beginning of this global pandemic, there is one thing that continues to brighten my day each and every time I see it.

People, friends and strangers alike, are coming together to comfort and support each other.

It's inspiring to see this virus bring out the best in people. While the knee-jerk fear reaction may initially be one of scarcity, selfishness or individualism, there are more and more stories emerging of people choosing to lead with compassion, support and unity.

Global stories like Jack Ma, the richest man in China, donating 500,000 testing kits and 1,000,000 face masks to the US. Stories of neighborhoods singing to each other. Stories about international cooperation where a team of health experts left China to head to Italy to lend a hand. Crowd funding stories that spontaneously happen on Twitter to support those less fortunate.

This type of compassion and support is happening at the local level too. Countless stories of people helping their elderly neighbors buy supplies. Stories of helping friends and family understand the severity of our situation and prepare properly. And stories of supporting local businesses and providing extra tips and payments to service workers.

We need more of these stories during the coming weeks and months.

One question I continue to ask to all of my coaching clients is:

"How can you show up as a leader even more during these times of uncertainty?

I ask myself this every day.

For me, the answer is typically:

• connect with friends and loved ones
• help people to be as prepared and safe as possible
• express gratitude
• offer to help support others wherever the opportunity presents itself
• ensure that I'm taking proper care of myself and keeping my immune system as ready as possible

Am I going to be as productive during these times as I would be under normal circumstances? Absolutely not, and that is 100% fine with me. I've broken almost all of my personal, self-care and social routines. I'm doing my best with what I've got, and that's really all I can do for now.

It's important to remember what we are optimizing for in any given moment. I am not trying to minimize disruptions to my personal life, business world or daily routines. I'm optimizing to stay healthy for as long as I can to flatten the curve and at the same time show up as a leader for everyone I can.

If there's any way I can help, even if it's just a 15 minute virtual coffee, I am here for you.

We are all in this together.

How do I show up when the world is melting down?

With everything going on in the world at the moment, it feels important to look inward at how I'm showing up.

My personal objective is to prevent myself from contracting the virus for as long as I can to help flatten the curve and also to become laser focused amidst the chaos.

All in focus on the things I can control.

Yes, I want to be informed and prepared and understand what is happening in the world at large, but only so that I may help me make better informed decisions or take action. Halted trading on stock exchange or the decision to cancel Coachella has virtually no impact my immediate schedule and where I need to focus.

On the other hand, there's a lot of emotions that are surfacing during these times, and it's important not to ignore them.

I feel incredibly sad for the people all of the people already affected by this virus and the people who will be affected in the coming days, weeks and months. My personal, unscientific belief is that this is going to get much, much worse before it gets better and that makes my heart hurt. My sadness, my frustration with the current state of containment, testing and leadership in the US and all the other emotions that are coming up do not change where I need to focus. They do not change how I need to show up to each and every meeting, situation and activity.

Take care of myself, take care of my loved ones, do not get caught up in the hysteria and focus on what I can control. This is my reminder to show up as a leader and a rock for those around me during whatever comes next.