Surge Capacity
I am not titling this article downshifting. I know few will read that article. Yet, surge capacity should mean exactly that, the opportunity to take on more, to dig deep and do what you need to do to meet a crisis or an opportunity. The surge should ebb, and you need the skill to shift down to a sustainable pace.
First, let’s explore the surge. You know you have a big opportunity ahead–big pitches, presentations, a new role. Or crisis hits–the end of your fiscal year, a family emergency, illness, fiscal limits with real world implications. Ideally, you usually are working and living at a pace where you can handle these things. You can reasonably ramp up your time and energy to meet the need.
What is your first step to face your surge? You take a deep breath, and ask yourself what matters most here–before you dive in. In a true crisis, it’s often immediately clear what matters. In chronic crises, new opportunities or overload, it’s not always especially clear. You may rise to a challenge out of reflex, without thinking about the tradeoffs or consequences. Here’s what that can look like:
Is this a crisis, or is this urgency in disguise of true crisis or immediate opportunity?
What is important right now, and what can wait? What might I neglect for a short term crisis that will create a bigger crisis later (those important but not urgent items that may haunt you)? What do you need to do to balance these needs and mitigate future issues?
What is important for you to do, and what is needed from others? What other support do you need?
What do you need for yourself to meet this need? Boundaries, holding your exercise routine steady, letting go of some obligations?
Plan for some extra time when you might expect a break. Hold to that time. Really.
Understand there are tradeoffs during your surge, and after. Anticipate that you may be depleted and need recovery time. You are human, and so is your team. These tradeoffs happen whether you plan for them or not. Make intentional choices in the tradeoffs.
Many mission-driven organizations and leaders thrive in crisis, and perhaps even depend on crisis adrenaline to motivate and keep going. A pause can help you see when urgency can distort your priorities. Checking to see what’s important now and what investment you need to make in your future is a highly underutilized leadership skill. Be kind to your future self–and your whole organization–by understanding the tradeoffs in what you postpone to address the current challenge. Practice valuing the future time and resources that you and your team will need if you neglect future challenges by surging to meet the most urgent issues.
Of course, there are real opportunities and crises that merit a surge of time and resources. We’re seeing them more and more, and we sometimes need to deal with them in real time. Most leaders are very good at rising to the occasion. Fewer are good at shifting back down. What happens if you stay activated and in crisis mode indefinitely? You burn out and often end up with health issues. Sometimes you end up with serious health issues. Your team burns out and shuts down or leaves. You end up in a worse place than you are now.
You have thoughtfully and intentionally risen to the occasion and met a challenge, or at least weathered it. Let’s talk about what it means to downshift, and what you need to plan for.
Remember that time you built in when you started this surge. Hold it, and use it. You’ve likely lost some of the sense of how you feel and perform when you are wholly resourced. Trust that you need space to reconnect to that leader and let them reemerge–do lighter work and catch up and find balance.
Reconnect with your body and the habits that sustain you. We often disconnect and ignore somatic signals when we’re pushing hard–and that is a reasonable choice. It is not sustainable, and if we don’t reconnect and acknowledge how we feel physically, we unintentionally stay on the path of burnout, stress, and illness.
Think about what it takes to get back to a baseline for you. What does it feel like when you have all your resources? When you are on your game and hear and see what’s going on in a way that you don’t when you’re at peak stress?
Many feel like these are luxuries. But, the best leaders know how and when to shift to full throttle and how to shift right back down. They bring intention to each choice for themselves and for their organization. They cultivate practices that support surge and recovery. This is like physical performance–it peaks now when you drain your resources, but when you intentionally build new strength and growth, and also build in recovery and consolidation of what you’ve gained.
I want to acknowledge that this is hard for most of you (and for me!). You don’t always see what leaders you respect do to stay in top form. You may assume that they work hard and play hard, and that they don’t get stuck home sick after a trip. You also may not realize that the leader that carried on and took care of others without enough care for themselves developed acute or serious chronic illness. It happens all the time, yet you probably don’t think that could be you. You may hold yourself to a standard that isn’t going to sustain you, let alone allow you to be the leader you could be.
It may help to think about times when you have surged, ideally meeting a challenge successfully, and then found your ground again. You can meet the challenges that come your way by building self-awareness of what you need, and the discipline and the self-kindness to respect what you need to be on your game, and to be ready for the next surge.
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