Stability

I was in Russia in 2019. It was lively and vibrant – at least in St. Petersburg and Moscow where I spent most of my time. At a café some young folks, eager to practice their English, struck up conversation. Since the country we were visiting at that time was so different from the Russia we had heard about at the back end of the 20th Century, I asked them about what life was really like and how things had changed. They laughed about the government and all the corruption, citing an example of the previous mayor whose wife’s family owned a paving company. One year the city gave her a hefty contract and they got all new roads and they were hoping the next mayor’s family might have a power company. I asked how they felt about the corruption and they briefly took a more somber tone. They liked the stability the new government brought them — and the corruption was an annoying, if not sometimes funny, cost of having that stability.

This post is actually about stability, not Russia.

I recently met a world-renowned scientist, and his life story was extraordinary. He grew up in the slums of Chicago. His father had very poor health so couldn’t work, and without the income, they couldn’t move to a safer neighborhood. He spoke about how he and his three other siblings were all part of the gang network. It was the only way to survive. He spoke about the chaos all around him including at home with his ailing father. The gangs gave him stability – there was a hierarchy and they protected each other. The gang life was not a nice one, but it was predictable. He was safe if he was in the gang, or at least was safer than not being in one.

There are those who thrive in chaos, but for most of us there is a general desire to create stability and minimize uncertainty. McDonald’s capitalized on our human desire for the familiar and predictable, creating a system for consistent and uniform “burgers, fries and beverages that tasted just the same in Alaska as they did in Alabama.” 300 billion burgers later, they might be on to something.

McDonald’s notwithstanding, we are not always able to stabilize our surroundings to achieve a perpetual feeling of security. We cannot control volatile markets or change erratic managers. So let’s focus on where we can create some stability. The question to ask when it feels like everything is out of control is “what thing – no matter how small – can we control or at least manage?” This holds true for us as individuals and as leaders. Finishing a project? Setting and keeping regular meeting times? Clearing and reorganizing an office? Attending a class or lecture series? Learning something new? Think of it as an anchor.

I recently heard David Oppenheimer speak about his book on the synagogue shooting in Squirrel Hill. He mentioned a woman who felt strongly about needing to help that community even though she was from a completely different state, miles away with no direct connection to anyone there. Her contribution was baking pies. Pies?! The pies didn’t stop the shooting and they didn’t resuscitate anyone. But they were a part of healing a community and they gave her purpose and stability and control in a very out of control situation.

And though I said this was not about Russia, I would be remiss not to at least acknowledge the impact of what is happening over there. It is not just paying more at the gas pumps. Knowing what is happening – and that it can happen just like that – is tremendously upsetting and unsettling. So if you are feeling anxious and wishing for just a little stability, you are not alone. You can try to ride it out, or you can find something — for you, your teams, your family — that can be an anchor. Something that is reliable, good, and that can give you some sense of effectiveness and stability when nothing else feels that way.