So are organizations better off without managers? With or without them, management and leadership demands will persist. The shadow side of management is real and traditional leadership development has fallen short. We need new models to strengthen our ability to build leadership and managerial capacity — at scale. Shifting the management mindset from control to empowerment and support won’t be easy, but may be a more fruitful path than trying to rid organizations of management.

The way we explain the events in our lives, our personal storytelling, and thus how we envision the future, has a huge impact on our resilience and wellbeing. BetterUp’s research finds that people who start out low on optimism see a 68% increase in 3-4 months of coaching. James shared with me how rewarding it is to see this kind of growth amidst crisis. “As they start to recognize how they think of their situation and challenge it, they are in more control. They get back some sense of control, despite the chaos. This allows for optimism to bloom.”

Practicing self-compassion may not be second nature to you (and you’re not alone if it doesn’t). But with the right focus and guidance (hint, hint: use those tips above), you can quiet that inner critic and begin not only being nicer to yourself but also turning those things that would’ve flipped you upside down into opportunities to celebrate your humanity and thrive.

Happiness. Sadness. Disgust. Fear. Surprise. Anger. Emotions come in all shapes and sizes, don’t they? At times like these, when you’re being asked to flex and bend in new and challenging ways, emotions can vary greatly. And it’d be easy to get stuck in a rut of negative emotions, letting uncertainty dictate your thoughts and actions.

In recent years, there’s been a lot of talk about cognitive agility. But, if you’re like many, you may still be scratching your head as you wonder what exactly is it, and – more to the point – are you good at it? And, if you’re not, are there ways to get better at it?

Spoiler Alert: Yes, there are ways to strengthen your cognitive agility… at any time, even during a crisis.

As an adjunct professor teaching in the HR Master’s Program at Georgetown University, I see students calling into class from their beds because their physical environments simply were not set up for virtual classes. Other people I know are dealing more directly with the virus —either having it themselves or taking care of their loved ones. One friend shared she was wrestling with profound guilt for missing her grandmother’s funeral, even though she just didn’t want to put her elderly relatives at risk. Another said a final goodbye to a loved one in their final moments via a video call. So many others are feeling extreme isolation, loss of routine, and feelings of anxiety.

Imagine walking into your doctor’s office and being handed a prescription for mercury, the chemical element found in old-school thermometers that has long been known to be poisonous and even deadly when contacted directly. Sounds crazy, right? But if you lived 100 years ago, mercury was commonly used to treat many illnesses.

If you don’t know the answers, a pay-for-performance system might not be right for your company. At a minimum, if you’re in doubt, make sure to evaluate your policies over time, assessing both intended results and possible unintended consequences. If your system doesn’t seem fair to employees and doesn’t motivate them, it’s probably not worth keeping.

Start by collecting data from employee surveys and HR information system records to help identify patterns related to shocks. Also pay attention to what workers say in exit interviews and to their bosses when they quit. Relationships between managers and their direct reports can be very telling.