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Let it Snow: Leadership in Winter

Guest post by: Sylvia Lafair

Article Overview: I'm looking out the window at the marshmallow world for the second week in a row; beautiful, pristine, and quiet. I remember in the long ago past, oh maybe ten years ago when snow days really meant stop; work, school, community. Not that way anymore. Computers have been buzzing along and work is getting done. Every so often the ring of the landline or the cell phone interrupts and a human voice feeds the need for a different kind of connection.

Let it Snow: Leadership in Winter

I'm looking out the window at the marshmallow world for the second week in a row; beautiful, pristine, and quiet. I remember in the long ago past, oh maybe ten years ago when snow days really meant stop; work, school, community.

Not that way anymore.

Computers have been buzzing along and work is getting done. Every so often the ring of the landline or the cell phone interrupts and a human voice feeds the need for a different kind of connection.

On one call a lawyer friend said "Do you remember when you knew it was going to be a white out snow storm and you would have to gather three, four, or more briefcases of material to take home to get things done?

Not that way anymore.

We are in the midst of such massive changes in how we work. We can, almost all of us, get as much done in our bathrobes as when we get all fancied up to get to the gathering place called the office. Remember when it was only the "wimps" who stayed home on snowy days?

Not that way anymore.

And yet, after two days of everyone staying home because the ice was a meaner task master than two feet of soft snow we all gathered to get work done together. It really felt warm and confortable to be with each other. There was a sense of collaboration, of enjoying a cup of hot coffee or tea and sharing stories of slipping and sliding and taking the kids outside to sled. The camaraderie was nourishing. High touch is as important as high tech. Being together matters.

It's always been that way!

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Article Tags: cell phone, human voice, landline, leadership, marshmallow world, snow days



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