I met with my crew this morning. While doing our version of the one-word check-in, Nick said something like, “It just hit me this week how long this thing is going to be. I had geared up for a few weeks. It looks like it’s going to be a lot longer.”
We all nodded. Maybe you’re nodding now. The length of this crisis and the depth of the crisis is just now sinking in. And it feels heavy.
That’s why one of the best things you and your crew can do is to play. I know playing seems counter-intuitive and maybe even a little disrespectful with so many suffering so much.
But this is where children can be our teachers. In the most desperate circumstances around the world, children play. They turn a discarded tire, a ball of tape, or a stick into a game. Humans were made to play. My dad told stories of the crazy games they invented in the Great Depression when they barely had enough to eat.
One of my brilliant clients showed wonderful leadership by getting her work crew to play recently. With March Madness shut down, her crew created a bracket to compete in a variety of online games. Eventually, they will have a videocast of the semifinals and finals. They’re adults and they know it’s silly. But they also know that part of being a crew is being human. And being human means that we need to play sometimes.
What can you do to bring laughter and play to your crew today? It may be the best thing you can do to improve your own resiliency in this crisis.
