Expectation
“For even though our outer person gradually wears out, our inner being is renewed every single day. We view our slight, short-lived troubles in the light of eternity. We see our difficulties as the substance that produces for us an eternal, weighty glory far beyond all comparison, because we don’t focus our attention on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but the unseen realm is eternal.”
- Paul to the folks in Corinth
Sam:
It’s all wrong
By right we shouldn’t even be here.
But we are.
It’s like in the great stories Mr. Frodo.
The ones that really mattered.
Full of darkness and danger they were,
and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end.
Because how could the end be happy?
How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad happened?
But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow.
Even darkness must pass.
A new day will come.
And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.
Those were the stories that stayed with you.
That meant something.
Even if you were too small to understand why.
But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand.
I know now.
Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t.
Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo:
What are we holding on to, Sam?
Sam:
That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.
The hobbits from the shire are tapping into some ancient wisdom that Paul offered the church in Corinth. Despite our circumstances, we cannot lose hope. We cannot lose heart. We have to carry and offer the expectation of a brighter day.
A recent survey from the U.S. Census department yielded the following results of how small businesses were faring as a result of the COVID crisis:
31% said their business was much worse
44% said it is moderately worse
19% said it was about the same
5% said it was moderately better
1% said it was much better
That means 75% of all businesses said things were worse as a result of the pandemic. And it is worth noting that they can only survey businesses that are still businesses. Said another way, a full three-quarters of all businesses that haven’t already failed are worse off since the pandemic. That is a staggering revelation.
Several things came to mind as I read through that sobering report:
The Praxis article told us in the earliest days of the pandemic (over a year ago) that from that moment, every business was a start-up and things were never going back to the way they were. We’ve worked with so many businesses, including our own, that began the process of pivoting in those early days of the crisis.
They say it is not the physically or mentally strongest that survive internment, but those who are most hopeful. Those who have an expectation that a better day is coming. Those who hold onto hope.
The dozens of conversations we’re are having with the new coaches and business leaders we have coached in South Africa. Beyond all the leadership and business coaching we have offered them, the thing they seem to treasure most is the restoration of hope.
We often tell leaders that this is their most important currency with the people they lead. When the storms are raging outside your home, your children look to your face to see that things are going to be okay. And when the obvious storms are raging around all those we lead today, they are looking to us for the same reason. Are they finding us fearful, withdrawn, and reactionary? Or are they finding us calm, assured, and hopeful?
I once knew a leader that would regularly come into the office full of fear, anger, and obvious agitation. Sometimes it didn’t even have anything to do with the company or the team, but every team member felt like it was their fault.
Our words not only hold the opportunity to uplift or crush a team member, but our countenance can also do the same. We can bring more life as a generative governor (life-giving leader) or take it as an immature dictator.
Consider
In this most difficult hour, what face are you showing your family, your employees, and everyone else you lead?
Are they finding you hopeful or even faithful?
What expectations are you giving them?
Are you shaping your worldview from sources full of fear, hatred, and lacking any hope (news, social media, etc.) or are you turning to eternal sources that provide a worldview that transcends this hour?