We need to live in reality.
I feel odd needing to defend that statement but I've learned a lot of people want to avoid doing just that. Our desire to avoid reality can be overt - in the form of deception, manipulation, minimization, or justification. Often, in leadership it is more subtle, even unintentional - some set arbitrary, unrealistic goals; others live paralyzed by countless 'what-if's. It is this last one that is helpful to talk about today.
Gallup came out with a report today: The People's Economic Forecast. Here are some headlines from the article:
- Americans hold largely pessimistic views of economic metrics for the next six months.
- 41% of Americans hold pessimistic views of unemployment the next six months.
- 50% of Americans believe they are worse off now than they were a year ago.
Are there economic challenges out there? If we're living in reality we have to say, yes, there are.
"Views" Aren't Reality
Here's the problem: Those numbers and headlines are American's views on issues. They aren't facts or necessarily reality, they are perception and experience.
American's views can be impacted by any number of factors - their news sources, work status, life stage, geography, circle of friends, individual life decisions, and countless other things you can't control. Asking for an American's view on an issue is like asking if they're hungry - they probably are but for different reasons and for different things. There are simply too many factors behind a 'view' of an issue to let that perspective be *your* defining reality.
Knowledge is knowing about something, wisdom is knowing when and what to do with it.
A significant part of having a non-anxious presence as a leader (to use Friedman's term), is having the wisdom to discern what your reality is, not the reality others are foisting upon you.
Let me frame this in a more controversial way. In 2020-22, masks and vaccines were the answer to the pandemic for everyone - they were made your reality in one way or another. Rather than give the best information available and allow people to make their own choices based on their circumstances, a corporate reality was imposed on you. Over the last year that reality eroded and the truth has slowly been coming out - neither vaccines or masks reduced the spread and pre-existing health conditions were the primary factor of mortality. If you had you known in 2020, what you know now, would you have made any different decisions? The chances are good you would choose to live in your reality rather than in the one defined for you.
You Need to Lead in Reality
Why do I bring this up now? Because it's my conviction that the future will continue to be complex, muddy, and require leaders to exercise wisdom and integrity in making their decisions. A big part of that is filtering through the onslaught of information to discern your reality. You will need to make choices that are counter to the prevailing views of Americans because those views are one data point among many others.
Now, let me get practical in two ways. First, yes, there are economic challenges but they vary on industry, geography, etc. There are significant layoffs in tech but unemployment as a whole remains low. There are significant declines in many churches but those hardest hit appear to be under 100 and in Blue states. You are making budget and leadership decisions right now -- do it based on your reality, not the countless 'what-ifs' or the views of people who aren't connected to what you're leading.
Being a faith-driven leader means having convictions, values, and purpose. You build trust when there is integrity in how you bring those to bear on your reality.
5 Questions to Help Lead in Reality
Secondly, here are five questions you can ask to help you lead with wisdom, courage, and integrity as you put forth new strategies this year.
- How does the news or forecast relate to your industry or market segment? Is it relevant to your specific business niche or only applicable to a broader trend?
- What is the timeframe for the news or forecast? Is it short-term or long-term, and how does that relate to your decision-making timeline?
- What are the assumptions underlying the news or forecast? Are they realistic, or are there factors that could significantly impact their accuracy?
- How credible is the source of the news or forecast? Is it a well-respected industry publication or analyst, or is it an unknown or biased source?
- What is the level of certainty associated with the news or forecast? Is it a prediction based on existing data, or is it a speculative estimate with little to no data to support it?
