s I reflect upon the challenges of 2020, these are the words that come to mind. I know I am not alone; the COVID-19 pandemic has been disruptive on so many levels for everyone – personally, professionally and emotionally.

I’m not a stranger to challenges; I’ve faced and overcome my share of chaos and strife throughout the years. But 2020 was different. The continued onslaught of challenges, coupled with my own fears and anxieties, made it difficult to cope, much less plan.

I used to enjoy looking ahead. I appreciated insightful discussions about future goals, and brainstorming diverse strategies was invigorating. My confidence would be secured as each milestone was met. But the unpredictability of 2020 left me blinded. I was hesitant to presume and afraid to step forward. I found myself unable, and oftentimes unwilling, to plan.

A failure to plan equates to a failure to lead. This is incredibly problematic given the fact I am a business partner, I am a consultant, I am a supervisor, and I am a mentor. Quite simply, I cannot fail to lead.

Every business, and subsequently every leader, experiences peaks and valleys in their careers. The effective ones know when to push on, know when to rest, know when to focus on what’s in front of them and know when to scan the horizon. During rough times, they rely upon past experiences and intuition for guidance. However, I found 2020 to be unlike any terrain I had traveled before and, try as I might, I couldn’t make sense of or feared to trust what I saw on the horizon.

Thankfully, as the New Year approached, I think I exhaled. Figuratively, I had been holding my breath; literally, I had shut down the ability to see past my fear.

As 2021 approached, I imagined a return to “normalcy.” With imagination comes hope, and with hope comes renewed energy! I imagined a thriving community of grateful and supportive neighbors. I imagined a stable economy and a wealth of qualified, interested and able workers. I imagined continued growth for our business. And I dared to imagine an improved New Year for me personally. In that regard, hope came in the form of an empowering realization: I could be led by disruption or I could lead through disruption. In other words, I could continue to allow these challenging times to whip me to and fro, or I could dig deep, ground myself with my own expertise and insight, and lead through it.

1. I will lead with a laser focus on our vision.
During times of disruption, it is easy to become distracted with the “what ifs?” and the “oh nos!” These detours waste our energy and fog our vision. Therefore, regardless of the challenges we are bound to encounter this year, I will continue to articulate our vision clearly and unambiguously. I will remind myself and my team that disruption doesn’t change our vision, it simply changes our action planning. Speaking of action planning, now is the time for clarity, as clarity enables us all to navigate through the chaos.

2. I will lead through curiosity and adaptability.
Without an open and curious mind, my capacity to respond and flex during disarray is restricted. Therefore, I need to be vigilant in exploring other perspectives and solutions, which means I need to make time for this exploration to occur. I need to call myself out for my own biases and habits, and discipline myself to not presume or make assumptions. Finally, I need to be willing to change my mind, call it quits, or start over when there is still time left in the day and energy left in my team.

3. I will lead with open and honest two-way communication.
When commotion is constant, a pontificating leader simply adds to the overload and does little to foster trust or assurance. Therefore, I need to explore, listen, and engage in meaningful discussions with my colleagues and team. I need to be as transparent as reasonable with my plans, my concerns, our challenges, and our opportunities. I am confident that open, objective and reciprocal communication will allow me to gather not just their ideas and their insights but their respect and their confidence in me as well. This should go a long way in settling the commotion.

4. I will lead with humility.
This means I may ask for help or I may admit what is uncertain. But humility is more than that – it demands I let go of perfection and allow myself to be “good enough.” Humility requires me to release some control and willingly allow others to take charge. Humility suggests I begin to appreciate that my team often has knowledge and expertise that is better than what I alone can offer. Therefore, to gain some certainty or enable better direction, I need to empower my team to take an active role in planning, ideation and problem solving. As an added bonus, doing so should give everyone a sense of purpose, direction and ownership in the outcomes.

5. I will lead through encouragement and acknowledgement.
The 2020 tumultuousness, like the rising tide, has impacted all ships. We may not all be in the same boat, but indeed, we are in the turmoil together! That said, we can all rise to the occasion and emerge wiser and stronger, but only if we support each other, only if we break trail for those who are new, and only if we decrease the drag for those who are weary. This means I need to model supportive and helpful behavior. I need to replace critical judgment with patience and gratitude. Moreover, I need to slow down our processes to allow for continued learning. I need to enable experimentation and encourage discussions about lessons learned. Finally, I need to ensure that anyone who finds themselves overwhelmed, weighed down, or off-course receives encouragement that they can and will be shown the way back.

6. I will lead with optimism.
Once dismay finds its way, it morphs into crippling self-doubt, which can easily lead to apprehension or panic. However, there is no bigger enemy of dismay than an optimistic leader. While it is not overtly in my nature, I will summon up optimism to lead my team. This is not to say I’ll paint rainbows and sprinkle glitter, but it does mean I will self-regulate, persevere and keep my game face on until the worst has passed.

2021 will, no doubt, bring an array of challenges. We are not out of the woods with COVID-19, and while we have a renewed sense of energy, we have an incredible amount of work to complete. Our government, our communities, our teams – they yearn for leadership.

Someone to lead with vision, as it combats disruption.

Someone to lead with curiosity and adaptability, because they restrict disarray.

Someone to lead with open and honest communication, because they can settle the commotion.

Someone to lead with humility, as you alone can’t manage uncertainty.

Someone to lead with encouragement and acknowledgement, because they can smother turmoil.

Someone to lead with optimism, because it will always shadow dismay.

As you set your sights on an improved New Year, may that someone be you.

Choose to lead.