Faith in the Journey

2020 has been an exercise in faith. An eye-opening year for most of us, it has been a reminder of how vulnerable we are both individually and in our businesses. At the most basic level, we have learned how much we need each other for sustenance, emotional support and financial assistance. It has also become apparent to us how long the journey will be to find universal compassion for those who are different and to even the playing field but … we made strides.

Each day, most of us have stepped out of bed having faith that we would find that next job, find the help we needed to educate our children without the programs we had come to take for granted, find the supplies we needed to survive with some level of ease, find a vaccine and a cure for a fast train named Covid that came roaring into our lives changing all that was familiar to us.

Right about the time our business world was beginning to use words such as empathy, compassion and higher purpose, the word faith began to creep in and, our business world found it could not rely solely on quantitative analysis to study bottom line goals – qualitative information in many respects became more important. The human factor, our collective strength and welfare, started rising to the top.

Faith is a word that has different meanings to those who surrender to it. For some, it is exclusively tied to a particular religion, others look to their personal “higher power” – that internal compass that keeps their lives on track and on purpose.

Mixed messages come to us by the dozens during times such as these. We are told on the one hand to have faith in God and give our problems to him/her even as we are being told to have faith in ourselves, that we alone, as masters of our fate, can accomplish anything that we set our minds to.

Daily, we are asked to have faith in the inherent goodness of mankind even as TV programs like NCI or the news spew content that is unsettling and disturbing. We are asked to have faith in a system that has proven to be broken over this last year but, we are unsure which leaders to have faith in, which new round of “facts” to believe in.

And yet, I have faith – for me there is no alternative.

I have faith in the rhythm of life. As sure as night will follow day or one wave will follow the next, happiness will follow sadness, stability will follow chaos and hope will follow despair. For every rough patch in the road, there is an even one allowing us to take a breath before we tackle the next challenge.

For me, faith is born in hindsight. Blind faith can be tough, instance by instance. But, looking at the totality of my life allows me to see the rhythm and the cycles. This 360° view and the confidence that all will be well acts as a buffer to fear and a reminder - when the road is bumpy, it won’t be for long.

As leaders, your team has placed their faith in your vision, your integrity, your skills and ability to weather the rough patches. There are signs that there is smoother traveling ahead in the coming year. But, what will you do in calmer waters before the next rough patch arrives? What actions will you take during these times to reinforce your businesses? Will you sit back and breathe a sigh of relief getting back to business as usual or, will you build in resilience so that you and your team are more prepared when the tide goes out? Because, it always does, that’s the cycle.

Equally important to empathy, compassion and all the softer skills we are attaching to our businesses in this New World of Business is this concept of faith. What will you do to ensure that your circle of influence keeps the faith in you and your business? How will you protect your team’s trust and confidence so that they can experiment creatively for solutions without fear, showing their brilliance? Will you work harder at creating a sustainable business model that shows your investors well-intentioned stewardship with their funds?

Courageous and brave hearts have weathered this storm and I’m confident that the coming years will be the most innovative our world has seen in decades. Will your company be a Renaissance Company, leaving a legacy in addition to being a financially stable and vibrant business? I’m sure of it - I have faith in you.

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All rights reserved – Linda Lattimore