There’s nowhere to go but down!
We’re on the countdown to the new year. The holiday crowd thinks that to be the week after Christmas, but everyone knows that Labor Day marks the transition from summer vacation distractions to the launch of the last months of the calendar year.
It’s August! No summer slump here; we’re going to use these four weeks to gear-up for the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Unless the latest Delta Variant kicks our marketplace tails and we have to go back into panic mode, teams have been ordered back-to-the-office for the restart of commercial life.
Before you get geared-up to work on everybody else, it may make some sense to do an audit of your own status, regarding your career and life as a leader.
The last 18 months have been brutal for many. Big news flash: life has never been a flatland experience, or a downhill coast. Your life is a course marked by ups-and-downs that should be no surprise – but it can be an emotional seesaw! Peaks and valleys are not exceptions; they’re the reality, and they’re connected by climbs and drops that are full of curves and cliffs. Auto-pilot won’t work…
The most dangerous section of your leadership path? It’s the period just after a great victory!
Here’s an example from Bible history. Elijah – about 860 BC – was God’s prophet when Ahab and Jezebel reigned over Israel. They had closed-down the worship of Jehovah and endorsed the pagan gods, Baal and Asherah. Elijah confronted the palace about that heresy, and issued a challenge answered by 850 false prophets: they’d meet Elijah – with King Ahab – at Mt Carmel and figure out whose God was supreme. It’s worth a reread; check it out in 1 Kings 18:16-46.
The 850 charlatans died at the hands of the Jews in attendance, who recognized the reality of Jehovah’s superiority. Elijah won the Superbowl of Prophets. Would there be an after-party?
“Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, ‘May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.’ Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.” (1 Kings 19:1-5).
Elijah had won a battle, but the war was still underway. For him, the thrill of victory was short-lived. When was Elijah most vulnerable to destructive self-talk and depression? After great victory…
It’s called the “doldrums:” a state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or depression. It’s counter-intuitive, but it’s real. For a leader, the day-after victory can be worse than the day-before.
The message for us today: win the battle; summit the mountain; achieve the objective… but don’t expect that to satisfy the inner-leader who always needs a new objective!
Key insight: expect achievement to expose the fickle nature of leadership success. When you lose the adrenaline, it’s time to make plans for the next stage of the race.
Despite challenging times, you may have come through 18 months of pandemic conflict with some victories that are real and retained. If so, you may be careful sharing that with anyone in the fear that they’ve been harmed by the storms that have raged over the culture, on all levels. What now?
Expect the Doldrums to be waiting for you as you walk away from achievement. They put you in a predictable but surprising challenge: how do you handle the aftermath of accomplishment?
Next week: a choice you need to anticipate in the long road of leadership. Recycle, or reinvent?
Bob Shank
