This oh so humbling historic year of our Lord, 2020, is racing toward its close. Companies and leadership teams are no doubt eager to turn the page to 2021. But not all of them..

A lot of managers out there are preparing to deliver tough news. On behalf of others. It might be a delay in giving out raises. It could be delayed promotions due to business conditions. Or perhaps even major shifts in the form of re-organizations, layoffs, or some other shock to the system of your team.

Somewhere out there a manager is preparing to deliver a message that they didn’t even have a hand in crafting. They probably disagree. But they’ll have to deliver the news.

Has it been an unprecedented year? Of course. Yet, sometimes doing your job well is delivering and standing behind decisions that you don’t like without the necessary context.

Anyone in these situations would feel pretty far from the decision making table. You might feel bad for yourself and perhaps powerless. We’ve all been there. It sucks to be stuck in the middle delivering messages you didn’t make…with a smile.

However, it’s not all bad. Pause for a moment and let this realization hit you, as it hit me, like a thunderbolt. Hopefully it helps you out there in another squeezy situation..

We’re all in the middle!

Truly. It is just a matter of perspective. Even an all knowing founder sits between a board and their company. Hell, they might not even be able to block a major decision like a board proposed layoff in order to get the company to profitability. They sit between sparring executives too.

There are infinite combinations of competing priorities and middle-ness at ALL levels. So if we’re all in the middle, what can we do?

• Adjust Perspective – once you realize that there is no escaping, you might allow yourself to get more comfortable. If we’re all dealing with the squeeze we can be empathetic of this feeling in others as we tackle the frustration internally
• Make it a Skill – one key to happiness might be shrinking the infinite category of things seemingly outside of our control into our control. You can’t control unprecedented events but you can control how you respond. You may not seek conflict but you can learn to deftly manage it. Allow living in the middle to become a sharpened skill to keep your head when others are losing theirs
• Ride the Wave – there really isn’t any escape upward, is there? Understanding that everyone is dealing with this at all levels hopefully allows you a little less stress and anxiety. If there is no imminent escape and the plight is widely shared, what else is there to do but be like water? Flow, crash, channel your inner Bruce Lee

Is perspective power? Maybe so. Get comfortable with the squeeze from both sides. Change your perspective and free yourself from the binds of a losers game. Instead of feeling bad for yourself, increase the power you have over the things you can influence. Give yourself the perspective to let the things you don’t have control over fall away.

And find yourself perhaps even a little bit happier as you sit down for a pandemically modified holiday season. You might not even have to see Uncle Louis this year. You deserve the break!