Gravel Roads that Stretch Forever

Gone are the voices.  For a while I heard echoes, but these faint voices are now gone.  My workplace is now quiet.  There are depths of quiet that I now know.  Each week the quiet grows louder and louder.

Odd that this is the time of my greatest leadership challenge.

I have written of my workplace … let’s call it “transition” before.  The good news is that a rebirth lies ahead.  The bad is today we few left live with a profound silence in the office.  We talk of the quiet.  We now recognize that each week it gets quieter.

How does a leader react to this situation?  I remember the “Days of Blue”. Where I was challenged to complete my daily work, attend to my team, assure solid production, and participate in all the meetings which appeared as blue on my calendar.  There were countless days of blue where each meeting touched another and the full day turned blue.

No more days of blue.  Along with the quiet comes a loss of color.

My fellow leaders and I move forward searching to add color to the workplace and end the quiet.  We recognize our unique situation and are adapting.

Now it is less about the team and more about each person.  Before there was a workplace buzz with a full and vibrant team at work.  Now I hear each voice and it is to each voice I must attend.

I watched a great video this morning shared at Lead.Learn.Live.  Very inspiring stuff.  There was one line that struck me, “gravel roads that stretch forever”.  That is my leadership mission … to help others find the road with no end.  To create a new path if necessary.

So we start walking down that gravel road.  At first the only sound is the gravel crunching under our feet, but that is okay.  There will be more sound and even echoes ahead along this road.  Also there will be color, blue again and all.

We can not wait for it does not come to us.  I now know we must walk to it.  I am a leader and I step forward crunching gravel at my feet.  Walk with me.

WeMoveTogether