Your organization needs YOUR leadership
What your organization needs right now is YOUR leadership.
As more information becomes available about COVID-19, we will find our footing and move forward with greater confidence, but for now, we navigate the uncertainty. As I shared with a client last week, it is like the world is a giant snow-globe that has recently been shaken up. It is hard to see what's out there, unsure where all the pieces will land, but confident, in time, things will settle down.
While it all plays out, what you, your team(s), organization, family, and friends need more than anything is your leadership. Tune into these thoughts to guide you in this season of uncertainty.
Embody these three behaviors:
Authenticity: Don't hide from what's going on right now. Empathize, listen, and connect. As a leader, however, you are the someone people look to as the world finds its way forward. Save your angst, fear, and insecurity for trusted friends, advisors, and your journal. Have those thoughts, express them, but more than anything, your teams need you to validate their experience right now.
Stability: Speak in a way that deals with reality but gives people hope. Not false hope, but the reassurance that you'll be clear and direct and forthright as details about your team, company, travel plans, changes, etc. emerge. This is a time to build and deepen lasting trust with the people in your life.
Encounter: Because uncomfortable events are going on in our world, it does not mean we should shrink back from hard conversations. Be willing to have difficult interactions that speak to fears in people, reactionary language, or uninformed opinions. Challenge in a way that holds people accountable, calls them into a more profound sense of humanity and reminds them of the vision - the "why" of what we're experiencing together.
Demonstrate tri-focal leadership.
Lead yourself. You must master the art of leading yourself first. This is the time to find your way into mediation, reflection, journaling, etc. Find a way to develop a more deep-seated conviction of how you want to show up, get clear on what's next (even if it's just the next step), and find your courage.
Lead your teams. More communication than usual is needed. Work on collaboration with a generous spirit, be mindful that people are on edge and embrace remote work where possible.
Lead with your organization's goals and objectives. As leaders, we must keep people and performance in mind. Use the goals of your organization to align yours and your team's efforts. Link to them and sync up with them as the landscape evolves over the next few months. Keep people informed and connected as you navigate the unfolding events.
Show up.
It is not possible to know how this plays out, but it is possible to understand how you will lead. Use what you know has worked for you in the past and be aware of the powerful impact that authenticity, encounter, and stability can have on people, teams, and organizations during challenging times like the present.