I wouldn’t consider it delusional- hopeful maybe, but it is just as dangerous. Waiting for when. Or until. When that new staff person gets hired. Until that grant money comes through. Then everything will be fine. Then things won’t be so crazy. Then you can finally take that vacation. Then you will get that raise. If you only wait a little bit longer. Just a little bit more…
Sometimes that is true. Sometimes it is just one of those moments in time that everything seems to happen all at once, and everything will get back to normal when…
But in many cases, perhaps most, chaos is the rule and not the exception. The when remains a perpetual promise that is never fulfilled. Perhaps those making the promises have every intention of filling them and are simply at the mercy of impossible circumstances. Maybe they know they can never make good on them. Either way, too many staff wait and suffer, holding on for a when that will never come.
As a leader, it is important that you are not presenting the permanent state of things as something temporary to get your staff to endure their way through it. It may work in the short term, if it is in fact a short term situation, but it is sure to cause great harm in the long term if it turns out to be a long term situation.
As a leader it is essential that you are able to distinguish between a temporary disruption of the status quo and what has become the new status quo and then adjust accordingly. If the workload for staff has suddenly increased with no signs of slowing down, it is important to communicate that and adapt rather than falsely promising that things are about to get better when…
There is so much that can happen without our involvement or anticipation. It can be challenging if not impossible to predict how long it will be before things will get back to normal, if ever. Though unsettling, there is great integrity in being honest about this rather than trying to placate our way through it.
As challenging situations persist, promises that all will be well when… mean less and less the longer they go unfulfilled. Instead, being open and transparent about what you know and what you do not, what you are trying, and what the plan is can provide some level of comfort even when that comfort is accompanied by frustration and uncertainty.
Your staff do not want to be coddled or appeased. They want to be included and respected. If it is going to be a tough road ahead, they have a right to know that. If there is uncertainty, you owe it to them to prepare them for that uncertainty rather than falsely waving it away with yet another false deadline of fixing it when…
The pandemic was a perfect example of this. Too many leaders waited far too long to communicate what was going on because they were waiting to have something positive to share. People were anxious and they needed to hear something- anything. They needed to hear that nobody knew what was going on and they were doing the best that they could.
If you find yourself in a place where you keep waiting for when, ask yourself if when is really coming. If that staff is ever really going to be hired. If that promotion your boss keeps promising you is ever really going to come through. If that new initiative that was supposed to happen last year is ever going to get off the ground.
Things often move more slowly than we would like, and there are many times when we do need to wait until…. But there is a line where the time is simply too long. When mismanagement, dysfunction, and chaos are excused and expected to be tolerated for just a little bit longer. It is hard to know where that line is and when it has been crossed. The best we can do is be as honest as we can and recognize when we are asking our staff to endure too much for too long. Building and maintaining trust with our staff is essential so they are comfortable letting us know when they are getting to that point before it is too late. Unfortunately, we often do not bother to notice until it reaches that point.
Make sure to check in with your staff consistently to see how their workload is. What are their challenges? What complaints have they raised multiple times without any improvement? Where do they need support? What about you? What are your challenges? What complaints have you raised multiple times without any improvements? Where do you need support?
Similarly when it comes to going after what you want, there is a delicate balance between waiting for the right time and missing the opportunity. Despite what many inspirational memes may have you believe, sometimes it is too late. Sometimes you have waited too long and you have missed your chance.
You need to stop waiting until…You need to stop waiting for when…and do the absolute best you can right now.
