Of Covid and Hornets

So now we have giant hornets – murder hornets. As someone who has carried an EpiPen for stings most of my adult life, learning about yet another flying threat really gave me quite a jolt. Come on.

Threat. For the past 10 months I’ve been working on some personal rewiring – developing my self calming skills. Mindfulness – yes – I’m a convert, awareness of thoughts and reactions, writing, making cartoons, have all been very helpful.  Learning to use gentler words and above all else, NOTICING. Noticing everything. I was doing really well. Enter Covid. Now “murder hornet.” 

The words and pictures associated with both are dire. The COVID image splashed on every update reminds me of a floating mine in the sea. You’re on your boat way out in the open and it just drifts into you and that’s that. And this image of the new hornet, well it’s just troubling.

What I find interesting about all this communication is how it appears to be designed to provoke fear. I am certain there are lots of people like me who also find the images frightening. And yet what we know from teaching, coaching, leading, parenting, and just being a good human, scaring people only works for so long. You actually get better and more sustained change (and results) with encouragement, focus on strengths, recognition and reward for progress.

We are in a worldwide change management initiative and probably at least a billion smaller change  projects happening at the individual, team and organizational level. And, we don’t have a strategy just yet (see – I used two calming words “just yet”).

We will though (more calm). And perhaps we are learning ("ing" words are great for calming) about change while changing. And maybe noticing skills are the next leadership super power.  Noticing that we’re 8 weeks along and just maybe, you are feeling a little more hopeful. 

For once you learn to notice your own reactions, you become so much more adept at noticing what’s happening in others.