What’s a Leader to do in these Uncertain Times?
If you’re in a leadership position, you are no doubt being tested, as we continue to move into the uncertainty created by the spread of COVID-19 and the subsequent shutting down of most schools, businesses, etc.
These are the times when it will become very apparent who you are, what you’re made of, and what kind of leader you aspire to be.
Perhaps the hardest part of this season is that you, just like everyone else, is also experiencing this shift in a very real and personal way. At the same time, you are supposed to be ready, willing, and able to stand up with confidence and lead your team, your organization through this.
The waters are uncharted; we’ve never been in a situation just like this before. And it’s continuously unfolding. Paradigms are shifting. Beliefs and values are being exposed. No one really knows what we’ll be living in when we come through the other side.
What’s a leader to do in these uncertain times? How do you deal with your own personal fear, uncertainty, and dis-ease with what’s playing out around you? And then, present a calm, resilient, forward-focused demeanor to your people?
Certainly, there are many facets to this story… paragraphs and chapters still being written. No one really knows.
What I feel confident of, is this: There is opportunity here to not just survive, but the thrive. To grow personally and professionally, as people and as leaders. There is opportunity for changing our beliefs and paradigms about what business looks like, how it works, and how teams come together to serve each other and their clients.
To that end, it’s important to understand that moving through any kind of change is similar to moving through the stages of grief. There is denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Each stage marked with its own recognizable characteristics and behaviors.
Each person moves through this process at different rates of speed; and to be fully transparent, some people make it to a specific stage and get stuck (I know one woman who is literally still stuck in an experience from 2004; she’s not processed, released, accepted, nor moved forward and it impacts every aspect of her life).
Part of your leadership role is to understand this process. The create and communicate a path forward. To understand where each of your people is along this continuum and help them through it. To do that requires you to recognize and respond – with compassion and thoughtfulness – to their fear.
No one can really hear you or move forward when they are gripped with fear.
Please don’t mistake my intention here. I’m not trying to bring you down in an already uncomfortable season of time. Rather, I want you to see clearly a very real aspect of your work that can hold you and your entire organization from moving forward.
Once you see it, you can think into how to respond to it, to create a path and a plan for moving forward.
But if you are still in one of those stages of the grief – change process before fully reaching acceptance, you need someone to see, hear, and offer you compassion, as well.
That’s why I filmed a short video lesson for you this morning. You can watch it here.
Then, you can reach out if you’re in need of an objective strategic thinking partner who can walk through this with you. If we’ve worked together in the past, I want to gift you with a complimentary 30-minute Thinking Partner session.
If we haven’t worked together, yet, but you want to find out if we are a good fit, I will gift you with a complimentary 30-minute Consult.
And if you’ve not already received a copy of my book: Conscious Leadership – Are Your Leaders Wide Awake?, you can request it here.
Whatever you do, don’t go through this alone. The greatest waste on our planet is human talent. The collective brain power available to you is exponentially beyond your individual potential. Consider this an opportunity to rethink your work, your business, your processes… and come through to the other side with creativity, collaboration, and confidence.
I hope you and yours are well and healthy. I look forward to connecting with you soon; in the meantime, have an intentional day.
Positively!
Laura
PS – Tuck this video link away for future reference. COVID-19 will pass, but other changes will soon follow, and the message will be a good thought starter for you then, as well.
