Pivots S..k!

It happened again – plans changed at the last minute because of COVID restrictions. This time it was Thanksgiving dinner that got rearranged because we needed to keep people safe. And so we pivoted.

There’s that word again – “pivoted.” It’s the prettier version of adapting or flexing. And I enjoy pivoting about as much as I enjoy adapting, which is very little. And I know I’m not alone. That’s what everyone on the planet has been doing this year – pivoting, adapting, flexing, transitioning, changing, adopting. It’s hard. And it continues to be hard. And that’s what I want to write about today.

During one of our recent leadership retreats, I committed to writing an “elevated” pitch. It’s an idea from Shawn Achor’s book, “Big Potential.” He defines an elevated pitch as a pitch in which you quickly convince others to be a positive force for change – you inspire and motivate others and yourself. He shares that “humans are habitual creatures and can be resistant to ideas that feel new and different” (and hasn’t that been our life for the last nine months!) An elevated pitch is a way to communicate with others about why a change is important while instilling a sense of ownership and possibility to be able to do so. What I like most about this concept is that it has a feeling of positivity. And in some ways, it diminishes some of that victim, woe-is-me thinking, which is something I admittedly have been guilty of lately.

I think it would be very cool if I shared at this point in my blog a fantastic elevated pitch that I wrote … unfortunately, I don’t have one yet. But I will (thanks to Joe and Phil who will hold me accountable to that promise 😊). And I want you to write one as well. Email it to me at cindy@getemergent.com, and I’ll share mine with you, too. Let’s be positive forces as we continue to navigate the pivots of our lives.

Last, I’m reminded of a Stephen Covey quote that fits so well on this topic. He said, “Every human has four endowments – self-awareness, conscience, independent will, and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom. The power to choose, to respond, to change.” We really do have the power to choose our attitude, don’t we? The power to embrace change, to learn – gasp – to enjoy the pivot?!

Keep Leading!