Context Before Content

“𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭.” I learned that phrase from Jamie Washington M.Div. P.HD. several years ago, and I’ve found myself returning to it over and over. So often as leaders we jump into the content of the work before really acknowledging that the current context may require something new.

At the beginning of 2020, I was invited to lead skills workshops for two different groups of supervisors and managers who provide services for vulnerable populations. Once the reality of the pandemic hit, the workshops were delayed by over a year. Navigating the challenges of keeping their teams and clients safe and their organizations financially viable didn’t leave much room to learn new skills.

By the time staffing and other factors were stable enough to bring the teams together, we knew something different was needed. The pandemic put so many people in the deep end of the leadership pool. While no one would have chosen it, the experiential learning was intense.

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩, they needed a way to start to integrate all that they’d learned in this challenging period.

The context had changed dramatically. By showing up each day and helping their teams and clients face uncertainty, they had developed essential skills without even realizing it. What was needed was reflection so that they could integrate what they’d learned – about their own capacity and about what it meant to lead during such a challenging time.

The “content” of the workshops ended up being just 3 questions:

• What are you most proud of from this past year?
• What did you learn about yourself as a leader?
• What do you want the organization to learn from this experience?

The answers to questions 1 and 2 elicited many concepts that are easy to understand, but hard to practice:

“I learned that I can’t do it all by myself, I had to ask for help.”

“There were so many things I couldn’t fix for people on my team – I just needed to listen as they acknowledged the fear and grief.”

“I had to focus on what was most important each day and set down the rest.”

“I had to take moments by myself to find my ground before facing the next thing.”

Hearing the lived experiences and insights from each other was so much more impactful than learning these concepts in a workshop.

When the context is changing as rapidly as it has in these past two years, it is essential for leaders to look there first, even when the work is urgent.

When have you identified that the change in context required something new from you or your team?