When I was a student, I attended the school for mountain guides. I had to go through classes and practical exams. One of them was to climb up Piatra Craiului. We were a diverse group of students: 2 colleagues and I were from the Department of Foreign Languages and the others were from different departments within the university and some from the Engineering University.

We left at night, by train, in order to reach the foot of the mountain by dawn. It was close to Easter, however, quite cold outside. We climbed 12 hours until we reached our destination. Along the way, winter and blizzards were waiting for us, our movement was difficult, in some parts having to hold onto chains. From time to time, we would stop when our guides would tell us to.

They were setting the pace, when we ate, when we stopped, and encouraged us when we had the feeling we couldn’t go any further. Some wanted to give up. It seemed like madness to be there on such weather. When we reached the peak we had to descend on the other side of the mountain in order to reach the chalet; as we had relaxed a bit, our legs were barely taking us, on certain parts we were sliding without wanting to. I never forgot that experience. It seemed almost impossible to reach the top, wind-beaten, frozen and tired.

However, we were well trained, we had food (not a lot, but we did not have to eat more than the guides would tell us at every stop), we had adequate equipment (boots, axes, special gloves). It was not easy, however. It was a struggle with the weather, with the mountain and with ourselves, with our insecurities, our fears. Some wanted to give up and go back, commenting all the way. The majority was confident, ready, wishing to go further. It was also riskier for the “commentators” to go back than to stick with the group. We all arrived in one piece and everyone was pleased in the end.

The end result was due to the collective effort not just that of our guides. Experience alone was not enough if they had not had the students to follow, learn, and trust their instructions and decisions (on the mountain discipline is essential).

This period we have been through for the past 3 months, remind me of that experience. We had to rethink a few things, both as leaders, and as group members:

We had to rapidly adapt to an increased level of complexity, of uncertainty. Leaders have defined new ways to work, rethinking systems and procedures. The crisis came with a high level of interdependence; people had to combine their efforts, interact more, rely more on each other to have results.

Willingly or not, we learned to work remotely, we adapted (it is amazing how we manage to adapt, beyond the inner resistance we have).

I have learnt a few lessons over the years:

Life is full of uncertainties. If I think about it, there were moments when I had the feeling that everything was upside down, that I was starting over again, that the world had ended, as if I had been in a movie that finished and another one was about to start, not knowing which one, or how it would be. Here are a few of those moments of uncertainty, of crisis: when my father died; when I broke up with my husband; when, as a student, I went through the ’89 revolution, then through the miners’ revolts, when I managed to run from miners by the skin of my teeth. We all had this kind of moments. Think for a while and you will find them; how did you overcome them? What did you learn?

In this world, our individual values are extremely important: empathy, compassion, caring about others, integrity, continuous learning, investing in yourself; taking responsibility for decisions, a role or the roles you want to play in this life and in a team. Which ones are yours? Think about the common values that you have with your team, I am sure there are a lot that hold you together.

Jordan B. Peterson said that any attempt to change starts with ourselves; with a certain discipline that we must impose on ourselves; it starts from our home, in the space where we live. He suggests that we start by tidying up around us, in our room, making our own bed.

But we have to go beyond that. By having order around, we create a context where it will be a pleasure to work and collaborate. A part of it also depends on the manager, some would say. I would dare say that it depends mostly on us, on each individual, to create an environment where to work with pleasure. This environment is not limited to the infrastructure of the workplace, but also extends to the hygiene in the relationships that we have; it means to trust one another, the manager, to know that if we have an issue, that manager will be there for us, that they will support us, the way they can; that, if a colleague has a problem, we will support them, and show that we care about them;

That, when one of our colleagues violates the rights of another, we will draw their attention, delicately, respectfully, the same way we would do with a family member, precisely because we care about our tribe;

That we will behave with integrity, respect and care no matter the position that we have

That, when we are in charge, we will appreciate the diversity of opinions, because we know how important it is to have as many perspectives as possible when making a decision

That we will express our opinion in a way that does not harm others and make efforts to educate the way we communicate, to refine our approaches. No one has to put up with our coarse way of behaving;

To learn to give feedback in such a way that it will not harm or destroy someone’s confidence

We can all create a good context for work:

Managers, leaders – I talked with a lot of them; no one goes to work with the thought of making fun of what they do, of their teams (of course, there are also behaviours that come close to pathology, but I will not talk about those).

Team members – they are part of non-profit associations where people come and give their time for various causes, they need to give back, to ‘invest themselves’ in something. Indian philosophy says that in the first part of our lives we get educated, in the second we deliver, in the third we give back to society. I believe, we live in times where these three overlap for the most part: we get educated, change, and get re-educated, for our entire lives; we deliver in order to exist and contribute to society not just because we are in the third stage of our lives, but because this contribution is needed in society, and many have taken this responsibility.

However, I ask:

Why do we not start with this mentality in the workplace as well? We spend the better part of our lives there, why should we come to hate that environment? What can we do to bring the kind of energy that I see outside of organisations, inside also? Thus, we will be more congruent with ourselves.

I look at the girl of some friends, a 10-year-old child, smart, beautiful, the way all children are at this age. I saw in her:

Regular moments, when she behaves and proves that she is a 10-year-old, she has some knowledge, questions, specific preoccupations

Moments when I have the feeling that I am talking to an adult, she has some questions, remarks of amazing depth

Moments when she regresses, gets scared easily, hesitates, cries.

It is natural, I know, she is just a child. But that is how we adults are as well. We have periods when we perform at our usual level, periods when we shine, and others when we regress, we no longer trust ourselves, fears take control of us, we enter a shadow area, an area where we do not want anyone to see us and where we do not want to be seen.

I think that the pandemic period was one where regression was quite present. Not for everyone, not equally, but for many to a large extent. And that is natural. Think about it: people were losing their jobs, the danger of us and our loved ones getting sick was upon us, the media was reporting grim news, we started working from home (most of us), many times we did not even see each other on online platforms, just through phone calls. Now, it seems that we live in one of Eminescu’s verses: ‘Gladly we’ll carry them all, whether peace, or whether war’.

Everything is still uncertain, we move forwards like a car that is being driven through a dense fog, slowly, carefully, with all senses in high alert, but with no other choice.

An important role rests with the leader, to support the team to come out of this fog slowly but surely (and, of course, they need to help themselves to come out). When you drive and get out of the fog, you are tired, but you have the will, the feeling that you are regaining your strength, that you can do a lot more.

The leader could:

Accept that team members can be in a state of discomfort. It was not and it still is not easy for anyone. It is better to accept this fact rather than deny it, just to prove that we are brave. It is useful to create a safe context, psychologically speaking, in the organisation, team, if we want employees to perform. I know it is difficult, it seems like we do not have the time, and now we need to be more energetic, more agile, more dedicated. However, as one of my friends reminds me, ‘It is what it is’, we have to start from there, and not from where we want to.

Be in need to restructure the team or firm. It is difficult yet vital to think differently now, if we want to exist medium to long term. The moment has come to think together with our teams about how we can have an impact on our clients, and then how to rethink the organisation.

It is also a great moment to apply design thinking principles and to redraw the company, the team. This entails to start with the clients in mind and the impact we can have for them. It is a moment where we can bring a level of energy to the team, to make them part of the new organisation.

At the same time, I would also want to draw the attention to the team. A team that performs, starts with each of us. Success is not only leader dependent. Maybe they hold the key to the door towards success. However, the team must want to enter this door, to take responsibility for the fact that it is important to do things together, the same way we did while climbing the mountain. And if someone is a stickler, let us take care of them too, but not just wait for the leader.

And one more thing:

Let us not forget that the leader is human too. They also have ups and downs, fears, just like we do. The leader is not super-human; showing a bit of empathy towards them, allowing them to have their moments of regression, showing that you care, will point to your generosity, your capacity to treat someone else with human care, to create long term relationships and will make you shine. Why would you be in the shadow of negative people, when only the light reveals what is best in people and contributes to a high-performing team?

However, we are still like in the mountain situation, the road ahead is perilous, uncertain, our visibility is reduced, we go forward, we do not have a choice, and we know that somewhere, up there, there is an inflexion point and that it will be easier afterwards; after that, the pace can change, we can relax a bit. Until then, it is good to have a healthy degree of alertness, to trust and to support each other, to contribute, as if we were on the mountain and individual discipline depends on all of us. It may sound harsh, but this can get us to the top.