Running on Low? Check Your Surge Capacity Tank
The fact that this is the first blog I’ve written in months says quite a lot. Back in March, when the pandemic arrived in Seattle, quickly moved across the U.S., and expanded around the world, I dug in deep and, like many of you, decided that I would not only get through this, I would come out stronger.
“I’ve Got This”
My mantra became, “I’ve got this!” I set goals, embraced working from home, and fastened my seatbelt. Within days, my leadership team and I essentially reinvented the school, moving all operations off campus and designing new strategies for meetings, decision-making, and access to shared resources.
For an organization whose model is founded on a commitment to academic rigor, community, collaboration, and character, the shift to 100% remote operations went far beyond managing core business operations such as finance, HR, and facilities (We are also in the middle of a multi-million dollar expansion of the campus!). It also required a tremendous focus on the underlying relationships and school culture that have been woven into the very fabric of the school for nearly 70 years.
As March rolled into April and May, I set my sights on June - with graduation marking the official end to the school year. This is the funny thing about schools: “Happy New Year!” means welcome to September. And graduation signals the end of a year. With a fresh set of aspirations, new tools in my tool box, and an “I’ve got this” attitude, I dove in and kept going.
Edgework
I fundamentally believe that challenge is essential to growth. Edgework is in my DNA. Sometimes we choose our edgework, and sometimes it gets handed to us. Regardless, I believe that within each challenge is opportunity. A flexible mindset can unlock solutions, and our emotional mindset impacts how we respond to challenge and change.
Embracing our unchosen edgework, we made it to graduation and moved into summer. We launched new programs, learned as we went along, pivoted as needed, and even began to plan for the next school year before graduation even rolled around. Don’t misunderstand me. There were plenty of lessons learned, bumps in the road, challenges, and anxieties. But we did it. And we were already planning for the reopening of school in September, developing multiple remote and hybrid structures, researching and implementing dozens of protocols, policies, and procedures to mitigate risk.
Happy New Year!
It’s September, and the launch into a new school year has been challenging. Recently, my mantra “I’ve got this!” has felt a little hollow. I mean, I know I’ve got this. I have to. We have to. Yet, I can sense a difference, and until I read Tara Haelle’s article on “surge capacity” I couldn't name what was I was feeling.
In those early months, I was using “surge capacity,”as Ann Masten, PhD calls it. “Surge capacity is a collection of adaptive systems — mental and physical — that humans draw on for short-term survival in acutely stressful situations, such as natural disasters.” As Haelle comments, “When it’s depleted, it has to be renewed. But what happens when you struggle to renew it because the emergency phase has now become chronic?”
We need a new way of coping. “That means reckoning with what’s called ambiguous loss: any loss that’s unclear and lacks a resolution. It can be physical…or psychological. Ambiguous loss elicits the same experiences of grief as a more tangible loss — denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance — but managing it often requires a bit of creativity.”
Pauline Boss, PhD, who specializes in ambiguous loss says,“It’s harder for high achievers, The more accustomed you are to solving problems, to getting things done, to having a routine, the harder it will be on you because none of that is possible right now. You get feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, and those aren’t good.”
So if you are experiencing ambiguous loss or experiencing low surge capacity (i.e. your tank is running low and the strategies that served you well when you approached the pandemic as an acute challenge are no longer doing the trick), Haelle offers some guidance:
Accept that life is different right now
Expect less from yourself
Recognize the different aspects of grief
Experiment with “both-and” thinking
Look for activities, new and old, that continue to fulfill you
Focus on maintaining and strengthening important relationships
Begin slowly building your resilience bank account
If your “I’ve got this!” mantra is beginning to feel tested and if you, like me, are thinking you’ve had enough of edgework for the time being, I encourage you to dive into Your ‘Surge Capacity’ Is Depleted — It’s Why You Feel Awful. Truly, a helpful read that puts an awful lot into perspective.
Special thanks to Julie Lennox for sending me the original article. We are in this together!