Leading Now Requires Patience
I can’t remember a time of more change in my lifetime (I was born in 1968 so did not see the 1960’s.) We have a global pandemic, massive economic crisis and protests across the country around racial inequality. We have had to figure out how to home school our kids, get our employees to work from home and some how get our products and services to our customers. It has been a challenging time and it looks like some of these challenges will be around for a while.
Okay, so what does that mean for you as a leader? The Guns & Roses song, Patience, pops to mind when I think about you. You and your team will be overwhelmed at some point this year. This is a lot of change and we will all react to it differently and at different times. I am finding it harder to concentrate at times. I also find myself getting annoyed with the actions of others much more quickly than usual. We have all lost some sense of control due to all the changes happening and we are looking to you as our leader to make sense of things. Thus, you will have to have patience for people being a bit more frustrated, not sure of what action to take and maybe a lack of focus. This will also require you to tap into your empathy and find ways to connect at a deeper level.
A few tips—make sure you are still having 1:1’s with your direct reports. Start some of the meetings with—How are you doing? On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your morale? Ask what could help your morale score go up? Take time to really listen…there will be time to get to the tasks either today or sometime soon. Try to listen to what else might be on a person’s mind. I am working with one executive who thinks she will give up her dream job if her elementary aged kids do not go back to school in the fall. She thinks it will just be too much to balance and she wants to be there for her kids. She is still doing a great job at work but her leader probably needs to check in on the whole person and not just the worker.
As you start conversations with your team, do a check-in on their desired outcomes for the meeting. We are all feeling a variety of emotions with everything happening in the world and the original agenda for the meeting may need to be tweaked due to other concerns.
- Set the vision based off of the new operating vision we are living now. Yes, many of us would like to go back to the old normal. The reality is things have changed.
- Partner with your team to set the new vision for how we will operate in this new reality.
- Be open to their feedback, collaborate and then communicate the changes to others. You will need to communicate in multiple formats and multiple times as we are all struggling to stay focused right now.
- Look for small wins and celebrate with the team. Find ways to have some fun and bring some joy into the workplace. Finally, you will have some folks who are really struggling to adapt or to focus.
- If you have Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), remind people about their services. If not, offer to listen and then try to help the person create some path for them to help themselves.
Good luck! Stay patient. Listen more. Be empathetic. Explain changes a few times. Celebrate the small wins. Be curious. Help others. Find fun. Get a walk in. Be grateful. Lead well. You are awesome!
