The Next Big Thing
Are you leading as if disruption is behind you…or as if it’s part of the job description?
It has been more than five years since the world shut down.
In one of our Central Illinois Convene team meetings this past week, we paused to reflect on the pandemic that swept the globe in 2020.
No lament. No shade. No complaint. Our goal was to be objective observers.
What was the impact on the workplace? Its culture? Leadership posture? Employment expectations? Relationships? Rhythms?
What about our personal lives? Our children? Shopping habits? Service expectations? Emotional resilience? Rhythms?
Yes, there is significant overlap. We are integrated people. Business disruption does not stay at the office. It bleeds into homes, marriages, churches, friendships, and communities.
But this was not a novelty exercise.
Our aim was simple: What did we actually learn? And are we applying that learning in preparation for __________?
Nobody has a crystal ball. We do not know what will fill in that blank.
But one thing is certain. It will be filled.
The next global disruption is already on the calendar. We just do not know the date or the category.
That is not pessimism. That is history.
At the end of our time together, we revisited a brief COVID-era message from Simon Sinek titled, “There Is No Going Back to Normal.”
His central idea was not alarmist. It was liberating. Stop trying to return to something that no longer exists. Instead, normalize the reality of ongoing disruption.
These things happen. They always have. They always will. Humanity always finds a way forward.
And the leaders who thrive are those who adopt what Sinek calls an “infinite mindset.”
An infinite mindset does not obsess over quarterly wins while ignoring long-term resilience. It does not build fragile systems optimized only for efficiency. It builds adaptable cultures designed to endure.
In an infinite game, the objective is not to win. It is to keep playing the game.
That reframes everything.
The pandemic exposed brittle cultures that were high on performance but low on trust. It revealed leaders who had positional authority but not relational credibility. It tested balance sheets, but it also tested belief systems.
So here is the hard question: Are you building a business (and a life) that can survive the next shock? Or are you building one that only works when conditions are favorable?
Preparation is not fear-based. It is stewardship-based. It looks like:
Cash reserves instead of maximum leverage.
Trust-based cultures instead of compliance-driven ones.
Cross-trained teams instead of single points of failure.
Leaders who invest in their own emotional and spiritual depth, not just their strategic acumen.
Rhythms that protect margin instead of celebrating exhaustion.
“Normal” lulled many organizations into thinking predictability was permanent. COVID reminded us it is not.
And yet, there is hope here.
The same season that exposed fragility also revealed strength. Teams rallied. Innovation accelerated. Decision cycles shortened. Bureaucracy fell away in places where it once felt immovable. Families rediscovered dinner tables. Leaders discovered courage they did not know they possessed.
We are more capable than we think.
The question is whether we will train and further develop that capability before the next disruption arrives.
Executive leadership is not about predicting the next storm. It is about building ships that can handle open water.
So, again, the question. If the next big thing arrived tomorrow…
Would your culture hold?
Would your people trust you?
Would your systems flex?
Would your own leadership presence steady the room?
We do not know what is going to fill in the blank. But we do know it will be filled.
The infinite-minded leader does not panic at that reality. He prepares. She steadies. They build organizations designed not merely to survive disruption, but to endure beyond it.
Disruption is not behind us. It is part of the job description.
That is not a threat. It is an invitation.
Blessings to you, my friends!
==========
This Week’s Resource Recommendation:
"The Infinite Game"
- Simon Sinek
From Amazon: How do we win a game that has no end? Finite games, like football or chess, have known players, fixed rules and a clear endpoint. The winners and losers are easily identified. Infinite games, games with no finish line, like business or politics, or life itself, have players who come and go. The rules of an infinite game are changeable while infinite games have no defined endpoint. There are no winners or losers – only ahead and behind.
The question is, how do we play to succeed in the game we’re in?
In this revelatory new book, Simon Sinek offers a framework for leading with an infinite mindset. On one hand, none of us can resist the fleeting thrills of a promotion earned or a tournament won, yet these rewards fade quickly. In pursuit of a Just Cause, we will commit to a vision of a future world so appealing that we will build it week after week, month after month, year after year. Although we do not know the exact form this world will take, working toward it gives our work and our life meaning.
Leaders who embrace an infinite mindset build stronger, more innovative, more inspiring organizations. Ultimately, they are the ones who lead us into the future.
MMS 26-07
I would love to send our Monday Morning Stretch directly to you via email and would consider it an honor to serve you in this way. To register, please take 30 seconds to give us permission to do so below.
