FEATURED POST OF THE WEEK

Our long-form article of the week. You can always view the current and past featured posts on Empower’s blog.

Cicadas and leadership: Lessons in resilience, creativity and impact

Did you ever think you’d read a post that linked cicadas with business leadership? Today’s your lucky day!

Here in Tennessee, May has been marked by a historic emergence of “periodic” cicadas. It’s the first time in over 200 years that two cicada broods - the Great Southern Brood (XIX) and the Northern Illinois Brood (XIII) - came up from the ground simultaneously in the U.S. Lucky us! 

After enduring their incessant buzzing for several weeks, I decided to learn more about these creatures. As I did, I strangely became fascinated by the capabilities of these dopey-looking insects. Since I spend a lot of time thinking about business building and leadership, I couldn’t help myself and started to draw parallels between the traits of cicadas and those that we humans also value in strong business leaders – resilience, creativity and the ability to leave a lasting impact on an ecosystem. 

Now I’ve got your attention, right?

Resilience

I shouldn’t have to say more about cicadas’ resilience beyond the fact that they live underground, in the dark, and avoid predators for 13 or 17 years. But, there’s more to explore on this topic.

Cicada Fact #1 - Survival tactics

Cicadas pursue a unique survival tactic when they rise from the ground. Swarms of cicadas coordinate and synchronize their emergence to overwhelm predators, increase their chances of survival and preserve their ability to reproduce, which is the primary purpose for surfacing in the first place. 

Leadership Parallel #1

Resilience in business, especially as a startup or small business founder, is one of the most important attributes of a leader who can persevere. The amount of adversity that comes your way will challenge what you believe and test your mental and even physical strength, all while you need to inspire, push forward and maintain a positive attitude to adapt.

Resilient leaders, like cicadas, appreciate the need to be dynamic, enabling them to be better prepared for disruption and to seize opportunities when they arise. They’re also prone to solution-seeking and building relationships to make them stronger. 

Truly effective resilient leadership also requires emotional intelligence. You may know an example or two of someone who has broken down barriers or bouldered through hard times with brute force. Society often views that as resilience. Maybe it looks like that on the surface. However, without the emotional intelligence component, it’s hard for leaders to build empathy, deliver compelling and persuasive communication and, importantly, build a culture of collaboration and problem-solving to make the collective more resilient. 

Creativity

There’s also a creative side a cicada can exhibit, even though it’s not entirely intuitive. 

Cicada Fact #2 - Unique sound

I call it incessant, but the female cicadas probably would say their male counterpart’s mating cry is unique and compelling. Each species creates its own song and males competing for a mate will try to drown out their competition with louder, more vibrant noise. 

Leadership Parallel #2

Creative leaders innovate, can solve complex problems and see things others don’t. They can identify the current, and anticipate the future, needs of their customers and provide products and/or services that solve their most pressing challenges. Especially for emerging businesses in competitive markets, like cicadas vying for a mate, creative leadership helps identify opportunities to differentiate and find unique paths to growth. Those who possess this quality and harness it well will also bring it out in their teams, leading again to increased collaboration, better problem-solving and stronger connections. 

Leaving a mark

While I now know more about cicadas than I did a few weeks ago, their ability to leave a lasting impact on our natural ecosystems was probably the most intriguing thing I learned.

Cicada Fact #3 - Nutrients for nature

The holes they leave behind in the ground help aerate the soil and strengthen root systems by allowing water to reach them more easily. When they die, their bodies decompose and leave an abundance of nutrients behind, contributing to long-term soil fertility.

Leadership Parallel #3

Similar to cicadas’ positive influence on the soil, strong leaders and influential businesses leave an enduring impact on their customers, suppliers, community, team, investors, and more. When building a business, think about how you can make the things you touch better, and how your success can also mean the success of others in your ecosystem. 

In closing…

It’s not every day that I draw inspiration from insects, but this month was an exception. The next time you turn your nose up at a cicada, remember its innovative nature and ability to possess the same core attributes that we humans value in leaders. 

What unusual sources of inspiration have you found in your leadership journey? Reply to let me know!

Sources

• Vox

• NY Times

• Phys.org

WEEKLY DOSE OF EMPOWERMENT

The weekly dose of Empowerment is meant to provide one weekly tip that’s both practical and approachable, to help drive incremental improvement to your day-to-day. We’re always open to your contributions as well. If you would like to submit a tip to be shared with the Empower community in a future newsletter, please reach out at [email protected] with the subject line “Weekly Dose of Empowerment Submission.”

Incorporate deep work to accomplish the most important things more quickly

In last week’s newsletter, I wrote about calendar chunking. To stay on the time management theme, this week’s dose of empowerment centers around the importance of deep work and setting aside time to do it. It’s also a practice I’m actively pushing myself to improve.

What is deep work?

Deep work is generally defined by the ability to focus without distraction on mentally intensive work. The idea is that if you can eliminate the noise, you can reach peak concentration, increase your capacity to learn new things and complete difficult tasks more quickly. 

The “without distraction” piece is most important here. We’re all bombarded by daily distractions that can stand in the way of achieving our goals. To be in a true state of deep work, you need a quiet setting, notifications muted and superfluous technology and apps as far away as possible. This might not be something you can do every day. That’s OK. Be realistic about what works for you. Start small and build from there. What’s important is committing to this practice and setting yourself up in an environment that lets you get the most out of your deep work time as possible. 

What type of work should be conducted during deep work?

Don’t spend this time doing routine tasks like responding to emails, scheduling meetings or completing invoices. Use it for thought-intensive and creative work like developing your 3-year strategy, writing your newsletter, working through a complex business problem or building a financial model. If it’s a body of work that requires an extended stretch of focus, then it’s probably best reserved for deep work sessions.

Why is deep work important?

Deep work has many benefits at both a professional and personal level. Here’s a handful to highlight:

• Enhanced focus

• Increased satisfaction with work and output

• A creativity boost

• Increased capacity to learn

• Accomplish more in less time

Set yourself up for success

Allocate the time

Remember the calendar chunking exercise? Build deep work into your weekly agenda. People generally say the best time for deep work is in the mornings, so try to optimize for those hours.

Plan

Before a deep work session, know what you want to accomplish. You won’t do yourself any favors if the clock starts and you don’t have clarity of purpose.

Set the stage

As I mentioned earlier, deep work requires a distraction-free environment. Set yourself up for success and use simple tools, like “Do Not Disturb” on your phone and Slack, to ensure you can remain uninterrupted. 

Use a timer

A timer will be helpful in general and also if you want to batch specific projects within your deep work session. For example, if you allocate four hours and want to ensure you both create a client presentation and finish this week’s newsletter, you can break down those four hours and set a timer to hold you accountable.

Conduct a quick retrospective

At the end of a deep work session, assess how you did. Did you accomplish your initial objective(s)? Did you get distracted? This immediate self-reflection provides a means to learn quickly and adapt for next time.

Follow deep work with a break

You’ve just completed meaningful work and your brain has worked hard! Schedule a break following deep work to decompress and recharge for the rest of your day.

This is challenging work. We’re wired these days to be responsive to everything coming our way. I’m far from perfect at this skill, but I know it’s extremely important. I work each week to protect my deep work time and, maybe the more difficult part, to remove the distractions. Continuous improvement is the name of the game. So, take the first step toward action.

JESSICA’S READ, OR LISTEN, PICK OF THE WEEK

A little something that got my gears turning this week and might pique your interest as well!

From DealBook: Why Companies are Nervous About the Consumer

TL;DR

A recent DealBook newsletter focused on a narrative that emerged prominently during the Q1 earnings season — that of the "stretched consumer.” Mass-market brands (e.g., fast-food companies) reported a pullback in spending, whereas less price-sensitive sectors (e.g., hospitality) still see strength with wealthier customer bases. The more stretched consumer feels the sting of inflation, less savings and higher debt levels. Corporate executives clearly have an eye on this trend and it will be interesting to see how it evolves through the rest of 2024.

Is this on your radar?

Do you see this pattern emerging with your business or in your line of work? I’m interested in your observations, so reply and share!

JUST FOR FUN

Really, this section is just for fun. Who knows what will be in store each week?

I’ve been on a home organization and decluttering mission recently. This journey has led me down a rabbit hole of solutions and products to fulfill my needs. One recent purchase has made a difference in how I feel when I walk in my door — the Open Spaces Entryway Shoe Rack.

We no longer have a dozen pairs of shoes randomly placed at our front and back doors. Instead, everything is neatly organized on this rack. If it doesn’t fit, that pair goes back into a closet.

Who knew a shoe rack could bring such joy? A simple reminder that sometimes the little things can go a long way in impacting how you feel in your own space.

LOOKING FOR MORE EMPOWERMENT?

You’ve worked hard to build your business. Let’s work together to make it last. We want to be your partner in the journey to build the business that lives into your vision.

If you want to learn more about Empower’s offerings or methodology, reach out to discuss how we can support your goals. 

If you were forwarded this newsletter and enjoyed it, I encourage you to subscribe and join the Empower community.