March 6, 2025
Mindful Leaders… Face Reality
By Ken Giglio, Principal of Mindful Leadership
The upheaval happening here in the United States, which is reverberating around the world, is unrelenting and far-reaching. The pace of change is exhausting and disorienting. It feels as though we are in permanent white water.
How do leaders navigate the realities of whitewater? How do they keep themselves and others in the raft as the rapids churn up continuous change and chaos?
Peter B. Vaill, management consultant, author, and organizational change theorist, coined the term permanent whitewater in his book Learning as a Way of Being. Though he worked and taught mostly in the 1980s and 1990s, his keen observations regarding leadership and change still resonate today.
“It has been my experience that you never get out of the rapids — the feeling is one of continuous upset and chaos.” Peter B. Vaill
Facing Reality
My favorite dictionary definitions of reality come from the Advanced Oxford Learners Dictionary:
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- the true situation and the problems that actually exist in life, in contrast to how you would like life to be
- a thing that is actually experienced or seen, in contrast to what people might imagine
Mindful Leaders navigate whitewater by facing the reality the rocks and swirling water of our current world are real (true situations). They keep calm and maintain their balance in the boat. They do not soften or sugarcoat the things they are seeing and experiencing by imagining things are different than they are. Instead, they acknowledge and communicate to others the dangers, risks, and opportunities of being in permanent whitewater.
Our present circumstances have left more than half the United States population (poll averages) feeling frustrated, angry, fearful, and powerless. The reality is also just under half of us approve of current government policies and direction. This disconnect in our families, communities, and companies is the whitewater we are all experiencing. The changes have motivated and excited some and shocked and angered others, depending on our values and worldview.
Fear and hope are co-existing right now; every human emotion is bubbling up in the permanent whitewater. As Mindful Leaders, we need to understand the reactivity of our inner reality is not necessarily the reactivity and inner reality of others. To best lead others in our present times, we must see and appreciate the different rafts people are riding in, all being carried by the currents of the same river. We need to create psychological safety for everyone and create a collective and appreciative space for differing perspectives and values even if they differ from our own.
Reflective Practice: (This practice can help unearth unconscious biases and create connection with others.)
- Be aware of your values.
- Where and how would I take a stand to defend them?
- Be aware of how your values may differ from others.
- How can I openly listen to others without judging them (I am right, they are wrong) or tuning them out?
- Stay rooted in your values.
- How will I create the necessary boundaries with others to stay true to my values and show up authentically in all contexts?
We often hear “perception is reality,” which can be useful in keeping alert and aware of the rocks in the river which represent people’s personal reality, which becomes their truth. This can be the case with individuals, groups, and even countries. These perceptions are not real in and of themselves; however, we imagine and wish them to be real.
Mindful Leaders ask direct questions and test how others are facing into reality because they know it is not the reality of the current situation (tariffs and federal layoffs, for example) that will cause the raft to overturn in the rapids, but how people react to these changes.
Leading others through change means first facing the changes, our common reality. From this starting place, leaders can support others in navigating their feelings and thoughts (what is inside) about the policy shifts we are all experiencing (what is outside). Staying curious and open so we can move beyond right and wrong and good and bad broadens perspective and helps us take in the realities of each moment.
Mindful Leaders take on the responsibility of challenging teams and organizations to see things as they are and not as they would like them to be. Helping others face reality is a leader’s core responsibility, such as when a team member or the entire team states views that are overly positive or negative about the team’s and/or company’s performance. To keep the team grounded in reality the leader can open a dialogue to surface how the team’s view of reality (perceptions) formed and then level set reality with data and professional experience.
Here is what I am confident enough to write about regarding how to face reality from my experience with it, and without it:
Reality is… Life is stressful. If you haven’t noticed, and not just now in early 2025, the stress and suffering we create and perpetuate for ourselves and others is rooted in wanting and expecting people and things to be different than they are. In other words, we too often deny and avoid reality.
Reflective Practice – When you become aware of being stressed, take note of your thoughts and feelings and ask yourself, “What do I expect to be different about this person or situation?” And, what would it be like if I accepted things right now as they are and not as I expect them to be? Remember, accepting means the reality of the external situation and your internal reactivity.
Reality is… Only in the present. I am stating the obvious here; however, we often live in some version of the near-past or near or far-future and call it reality based.
Reflective Practice – Watch how your mind slips backward and forward in time and set the intention to face reality as it is in each moment.
Reality is… Constant Change. Everything we experience in our lives in always in flux. The transient nature of reality is reality itself. Everything is temporary, including our lives. Even permanent white water is not permanent; it is a set of changing water conditions.
Reflective Practice – Notice the changes happening over the course of years, weeks, and day-to-day in people, nature, and most of all in yourself.
Reality is… Interdependence. The myth of making it in the world as an independent person has caused immense suffering over the course of human existence up to our present time. Science has long established how interconnected humans are with each other, and recent research shows how interconnected we are with nature. Our future hope as a species depends on how we care for each other and work together to solve our most challenging common problems.
Reflective Practice – 1. Set an intention to connect more frequently with the ones you care about and want to be closer to. 2. Set an intention to make eye contact and connect with everyone you interact with every day, no matter how briefly, for a week or month. Notice what happens within yourself and in your relationships with others as a result of connecting.
It can be said, with certainty, that reality is more, and less, than it seems. Mindful Leaders face the reality of permanent white water as it is and not as they or anyone wish it to be. They navigate the changing and chaotic current with calm confidence and support others to open, curious, and accepting of our shared, current reality.
Since our whitewater is a permanent state, we will explore how mindful leaders navigate our current environment in future posts.