• What if’s cause anxiety and stress, consider a change in mindset to “What is”
• Stress reduces effectiveness and resiliency response
• If we took responsibility for making things as we want them to be…to change things…we are more likely to be effective and successful in creating the change we are looking for.
• Hoping for something to happen is completely ineffective…there is no action associated with hope.  It is an inert mindset.
• Take a step back and see your reality as it is now….what are the factors creating that reality?  How would you like to change it?  Break it down, and pragmatically step through the actions you can take to make that change you are looking for.
• Taking control, reduces anxiety and builds resilience.  Resilience is built through experiencing things…if you only hope, and don’t ‘do’ or ‘experience’ you risk lacking resilience.  Your ability to cope is enhanced is you have experienced something similar before.
• Set realistic expectations, plan for the future you want to create, keeping perspective of the present, and how you can build on it.
• Empowerment is the tool here.  You are creating a fantasy world which you are hoping will achieve, you are actually disempowering yourself from creating the real world you can achieve.  
• Macro example: Climate change – example….when you let go of hope, you see the reality of the situation, which allows you take control of the situation and do something about it.
• Micro example – on a yacht, seeing a storm coming, sit there doing nothing, or go and get the main sheet in and prepare yourself for the conditions as they are.

So what does this mean for us, coming out of Lockdown?  
• Assumption from leaders that their people know what the expectations are of them, and a vision of what is going to happen.  BUT this isn’t necessarily the case.  Need to give people a realistic vision of what is going to happen, help them prepare for it, and make their own choice as to whether they stick with you, or not.  Yacht – if skipper doesn’t communicate on a daily basis, on the situation is.  Like Boris – everything is changing so quickly, need to keep communicating everyday and checking people are still onboard.

• Lots of people have said that this last period has been an opportunity to consider how we might want to change the way we do things, the way we love our lives and balance work, how we work, where we work etc….  many will go back to work with the "expectation" that things will be different / better / or just the possibility of better. 

• Treating people as adults – empowering them to make their own decisions based on being informed as to the actual situation and realistic options.

• How do leaders engage with their followers now to gauge what needs 'fixing'? Dashed expectations are a way of reducing resilience very quickly. A well communicated strategy for change will enable many to be resilient to the conditions they cannot control. 

• This is super important for leaders - it give them control over the new culture they are trying to create for themselves and their teams.  There is an opportunity to break bad habits on a broader organisational level, rather than just on a personal one.  This is a chance to push the reset button, but many will return to 'normal' and that normal may be toxic.

• Hoping things will change, won’t cut it… leaders need to take responsibility to make change happen.  

• Then perhaps something on habitual group behaviours and how to change them?
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