The current changes in society affect our perception of the time and opportunities within which we can choose. However, time is not an isolated point, but it is one entity of the past, present and future. Use this temporary melting pot to get to your core and as a leader create cohesion in what you and your workplace did, do and want to do.

Corona. It can feel like a time lapse.

In Denmark and Europe, we are amid our ‘ground zero’, where the fear of reaching a certain KPI has been replaced with a fear of what lies ahead. Who can say with confidence today what their goals look like or how they will be achieved?

There is an experience of a before, during and after the time of lockdown.

Past, present and future in one

This linear conception of time dates all the way back to ancient Greece and Aristotle (384-322 BC). He operates with a past that is no longer, a present here and now as well as a future that is not yet here. Time can be measured and divided.

On one line, we can point to a specific point and look isolated at this moment. But this point is not isolated, because what happened right there is part of the line of its prior actions and forward-looking consequences.

Instead of seeing our lives and experiences as points on a timeline, according to Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), we are shaped by who we are and who we want to be. The experience and knowledge we have with us from the past creates the basis for our prospects.

Times gather – past and future are here now and all the time.

How do you create future opportunities?

Time creates a meaningful context in our experiences. What we have experienced in the past and learn these days forms the basis of our continued being.

What are you building on?

What opportunities can you open when you look at your experience from now and before Corona came to Denmark?

Answering these questions means that something is not prioritised. There will be something that we choose not to build upon. It takes courage to dare to talk about what is lost. At the same time, it takes courage to engage in dialogue with our employees about which organisational experiences we choose when walking new paths and create opportunities.

Change is taking care of loss and joy

In the space between the actual and the possible – past and present – many questions may arise, and perhaps as a leader you do not have all the answers ready. Be honest and remember that because we do not yet know the answer, it is not necessarily a bad answer waiting.

Losing can arouse anxiety in us, just as the uncertainty of the future can cause a feeling of anxiety. For Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), anxiety is directed to the future, to what is undetermined and does not have a specific object as object, which is in opposition to fear. According to Kierkegaard, fear is a feeling toward something specific.

But it is necessary to deal with the loss to look forward to the new. Facing the anxiety is meeting yourself and taking responsibility, which can help you find the courage to let go of control and see what it brings.

Being proactive, being able to take the difficult conversations and let go can bring joy that you can pass on. You can be the proactive leader who gives direction – even when it is difficult.

Your own choice of future

Due to the many and major changes, this time right now may feel like an isolated bubble, where the time of just a few days and weeks ago has nothing to do with the present and where the future is completely unpredictable.

Although we are in a time of wrestling, the past is still connected to our knowledge and experience, and the future is here already in terms of the opportunities we experience. At the core of the two, we can try to meet ourselves and ask ourselves:

What do I encounter in the anxiety?

What I meet there, what does it do to me?

Which experiences – own or others – can I draw upon to find the courage to take the dialogue on the difficult and set a new direction?

Your reflections on the questions and your situation right now in conjunction with your knowledge of living life offer many opportunities to gain experience and use the same experience. Find out what is going to help create opportunities and talk about them as well as what is changing.

We create the person we want to be based on who we are and our experiences.

If you would like to work with your energy and how to use it positively to make decisions please contact me to hear more.

You can also read more about coaching and team coaching.