Page 80 - FDCC Pandemic Book

Living in a Pandemic: A Collection of Stories on Coping, Resilience & Hope
comfortable showing up as myself, even when myself was exhausted or sad or struggling with feeling isolated. I both talked about the hard things and admitted to my team that they are hard. I openly acknowledged the ups and downs—by turns comical and maddening—of juggling a demanding career and a family that needed me more than ever and in different ways than ever. I didn’t panic when the dogs jumped in my lap or the kids showed up in the background of my camera. I modeled, not just an array of hats, but a growing comfort with imperfection. By looking a little less like I had everything dialed in, I created an environment where others felt less pressure to hide their struggles. They no longer panicked when a child cried or a dog barked. They stopped apologizing for how they looked on camera. They began to express fears and frustrations alongside wins and silver linings. They reached out when they needed extra support.
Something as simple as Hat Fridays made me a better leader. By being more authentic and vulnerable, I created space for others to be more authentic and vulnerable without fear of repercussions. In that space, a legal team that has been physically separated since March 2020 and will not be together again before November 2021, grew closer and became even stronger. In that space, attorneys who exist in a profession that attaches a heightened stigma to mental illness found the courage to take advantage of our company’s remote therapy benefits and to talk about it with their peers. In that space, we have identified ways to better support each other through the other difficult challenges of 2020 and today. We forged deeper connections that will carry us through whatever 2021 and beyond holds. And it all started with a hat.
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