How Will You Lead?

by Jim Solomon

“This message is to honor my daughter and her family, our many friends, and too many others who have battled and won, earning the title “Cancer Survivor”. With October designated National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, may these lessons serve leaders well so they too can lead through breast cancer and #FinishStrong!”

 Lead With Awareness

As a leader, how will you react when a teammate informs you of her diagnosis of breast cancer? Are you and your team prepared to take on the toughest of challenges like this?

One in eight women are projected to develop breast cancer during their lifetime according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, with 50% diagnosed during their working years. For leaders, this situation is not a case of “if”, but rather “when”. From the day of diagnosis, lives of the patient, her family, and her work family, will forever be changed.

Leadership or the lack of it can determine the outcome during a challenge. This is no different when facing a teammate diagnosed with breast cancer.

While exploring this topic, in almost every case, leaders indicated that they really hadn’t addressed this as a contingency scenario that they regularly planned for during their strategic thought sessions. Research has found that there have been extremely empathetic leaders who provided encouragement and support to the employee and her family, while educating and engaging her team so that it wasn’t about the individual, but rather the team. It was also found that for too many employees, they were shunned, avoided, or made to feel so uncomfortable in the workplace that they simply gave up and quit.

Lead Through Adversity

Leadership lessons from survivors are powerful and plentiful. The wisdom shared from their experiences are lessons that can benefit even the most seasoned leader. How can these survivor lessons be helpful for your personal leader development and for those on your team?

As the COVID pandemic hit the world in 2020, this educator was slammed with the diagnosis of stage-3 breast cancer. For this healthy, active 37-year-old, with no personal or family history, her life would change drastically with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. As her “warrior spirit” sparked, her drive and determination would become even greater as she fought cancer with her charge “#FinishStrong”!

When Life Throws a Curve Ball, Swing for the Fence!

Two options for leaders when faced with adversity – go under; or take it on as a challenge with determination and grit. It’s adaptability that allows one to adjust to the situation or conditions, in a responsive manner, to move forward and to succeed. Its resiliency that allows one to rebound from hardship with optimism to approach the next challenge.

“When life throws you a curve ball, swing for the fence!! Never give up, never curl up in defeat. I wanted them (students) to see that I truly care about them and their education, and that not even cancer could ever keep me from my love of teaching. It’s what motivated me to get up every day to continue teaching – kids are our future. And I wasn’t going to let this evil cancer change any of that.”

Inner Strength for Outward Gains 

Often, during chaos or battling work’s daily “whack-a-mole” challenges, we find ourselves tiring to the point of burn-out. Possibly, we begin to simply go through the motions, becoming negative, forgetting about others on the team, and failing to put your all into your work as you once had done.

Developing a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) is a leader’s first step to building resiliency.  A PMA approach does not mean being unrealistic or painting a rosy picture on everything. Rather, by taking a PMA approach, focus on good things while addressing challenges and obstacles as opportunities; practice gratitude; take time for self-awareness to identify areas of negativity in your life; and begin each day on a positive note to set the stage for yourself and for your team.

“Through this horrible disease, I gained strength that I had not had in the past; I got strength and peace of mind through my positive attitude and having my support team with me on my journey.”

Ring the Bell

Do you celebrate successes with your team? Too often we fail to take the time to celebrate accomplishments. Recognizing team wins, even small ones, is a way to honor the achievement, while also acknowledging individuals and the team. Reward and recognition are jobs of a leader.

“After many months of chemo, I’m done! I rang the bell today, which looked just like the only other bell I’ve rung in my life. In CrossFit when you hit a major personal record, you get to ring the bell. While cancer and CrossFit are so different, in both cases you have to push your body and mind to do things that you weren’t sure were possible. You have to go to a place you never thought you could, and you can’t give up, not even on the hardest days. Worked so hard to do everything in my power (body, mind, and spirit) to never miss a treatment due to lab work. One chapter down and now we will celebrate the much-needed break until the next phase of treatment.”

Lead to Be the One

Be The One

Be the one who provides a glimmer of hope by knowing how to listen when your teammate struggles to share her diagnosis of breast cancer.

Be the one who leads with a positive mental attitude (PMA) and shows encouragement and support during her life changing journey.

Be the one who influences their team to rise in support for their teammate and her family.

Be the one – the leader prepared to achieve optimum outcomes through times of adversity to Finish Strong.

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