{"id":45172,"date":"2024-05-01T14:25:31","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T18:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/?p=45172"},"modified":"2024-05-08T13:17:52","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T17:17:52","slug":"holding-up-the-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2024\/05\/01\/holding-up-the-sky\/","title":{"rendered":"Holding Up the Sky"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section class=\"wp-block-umw-hero alignfull umw-custom-block umw-hero umw-hero--dark-text umw-hero--media-float-right umw-hero--white umw-hero--with-no-media\"><div class=\"umw-hero__inner\"><div class=\"umw-hero__media\"><\/div><div class=\"umw-hero__title\"><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"umw-hero__title__wrapper\"><h1 class=\"umw-hero__title__header\">Holding Up the Sky<\/h1><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-umw-hero-ctas alignfull\"><div class=\"umw-hero__links\"><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"umw-hero__links__wrapper\">\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<p>May 2024 &#8211; <em>By Devin Fedor, Senior Director of Organizational Design and Effectiveness, Great Minds<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Change has been taking up space in my mind lately. I find myself surrounded by change, personally and professionally, and I am often called on to help teams navigate change more effectively. Reactions to change can range from mild to extreme, from excitement to dread. For leaders, managing change efforts and supporting others through transitions are among the most important and challenging aspects of their role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many are familiar with the idiom \u201cthe sky is falling,\u201d originating from the European folk tale Henny Penny, widely known in the U.S. as Chicken Little. In the tale, a small hen, startled by an acorn falling on her head, mistakenly believes the world is ending. She quickly spreads word of the sky\u2019s collapse to the other animals, oblivious to the true cause of her fright. Such panic-inducing reactions often occur when confronted with the unexpected and unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Showing up as a leader demands the delicate balance of empathizing with others&#8217; experiences and reactions while clarifying that the perceived catastrophe is merely an acorn falling. Simply put, when everyone else is Chicken Little proclaiming \u201cthe sky is falling!\u201d, it falls upon the leader to hold up the sky. The higher one ascends in leadership, the greater the responsibility to uphold it\u2014requiring greater strength and resilience. When faced with holding up the sky, several critical questions emerge:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How do I show up in the face of the unexpected and unknown?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How can I build and maintain resilience in myself and others?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How can I reframe problems as challenges and opportunities?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How do I prioritize self-care to effectively care for others?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Who holds up the sky for me?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Who stands beside me, sharing the load?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>As Dr. Askhari Johnson Hodari aptly said, \u201cIf everyone helps to hold up the sky, then one person does not become tired.\u201d Leadership transcends fair-weather conditions. Leaders must weather all storms and uncover the opportunities for growth and beauty amidst adversity, even when others perceive impending doom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May 2024 &#8211; By Devin Fedor, Senior Director of Organizational Design and Effectiveness, Great Minds Change has been taking up space in my mind lately. I find myself surrounded by change, personally and professionally, and I am often called on to help teams navigate change more effectively. Reactions to change can range from mild to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4305,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-45172","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Holding Up the Sky - Leadership Colloquium at UMW<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2024\/05\/01\/holding-up-the-sky\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Holding Up the Sky\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"May 2024 &#8211; By Devin Fedor, Senior Director of Organizational Design and Effectiveness, Great Minds Change has been taking up space in my mind lately. 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