Leadership lessons from losing a cat.

A couple of weeks ago one of our beloved moggies, Jasper James Sharpstone, went missing. For a week. During the week London temperatures hit 35 degrees.

Spoiler alert. He came back. Wandered in at 1am, apparently unharmed, got a thorough wash and brush up from his sister Lola, they curled up together in their cat bed and all was well. No idea where he was, if they only could talk!

3 lessons in leadership that the whole experience brought in to sharp focus:

1. Never underestimate the value of community. Leadership is lonely so we need to build a support network.  When His Lordship went missing, we posted on local community groups, on social media and put posters on lampposts. What we got back was an outpouring of empathy, support and practical to dos. Things we’d never thought of like searching at night when it’s quieter, starting further from home and walking back towards your home. So, your calling doesn’t inadvertently lead your cat further in to unfamiliar territory. Who knew? Who do you have in your business community who can keep you strong with support, ideas and advice?

2. Never fall in to thinking you know or have to know it all. Because you don’t. I thought I had a Masters in Crazy Cat Lady, it turns out there’s lots I don’t know. Did you know that a cat trapped without food and water, will go in to a sort of “flight safe mode” to conserve energy and can survive way longer than a human? I didn’t. As a leader you can be good at some things, but you can’t be good at everything. Who supplies you with knowledge and expertise you don’t have and are you cultivating and preserving those relationships?

3. Never lose hope but positive thinking isn’t enough: you need a plan. Ever the eternal optimist, I tried to stay hopeful during that awful week, but I felt helpless and distracted. Activity and an action plan helped a lot. When you are leading a team through a challenge, it’s unrealistic to expect endless cheerfulness, even if that’s what you role model. What are you doing to keep people occupied, give them useful focus, and support them to take back and feel in control.

Invest in these things now and they’ll serve you well when you have to deal with the business equivalent of a missing cat.

Right - lesson over - I’m off to prepare Jasper a light supper of seabass in a balsamic reduction. You know what they say: dogs have owners - cats have staff. 😻😻