The Good, Bad and Great News for Leaders
Right now, if you are leading through these tough times, I have some good news, some bad news and some great news.
Let’s start with the bad news….
THE BAD NEWS
The bad news is that as a leader, if you haven't done the work building strong relationships with your people during the good times, now that times are not so good you’ve got a lot of catching up to do. You now have to backfill your leadership.
When times are great in an organisation and in a team, sometimes leaders can take a step back and take their foot off the pedal. It reminds me a lot of parenthood.
I remember when my children were very young. My first two kids are only 18 months apart. When they were toddlers, they would be playing in the toy room and I would go in to check on them, see if they wanted to play something different or maybe have a snack.
There would be times when I would walk into that toy room and see the two of them playing beautifully together. I’d hold my breath and stop dead in my tracks. I’d very slowly reverse out of the room and hope that they didn’t see me. They were playing so well together; I just didn’t want to disturb them.
I see the same thing in the corporate world. When things are going really well and teams are performing, leaders back off and leave them alone. The strategy of ‘don’t fix what’s not broken’. However, it’s during these times that your people need to be coached, mentored and inspired. They need a facilitative leadership approach to allow them to continue their great work, make them feel valued and most importantly to allow them to grow and expand their capability.
This type of leadership in the good times, builds trust, connection and loyalty. All of the things that will get you through the tough times in business.
THE GOOD NEWS
The good news is, that even if you’re thinking you could have done more in the past with your team, there are actions you can take right now as a leader to get you through these tough times.
My top three tips are:
Breathe and hold steady as a leader. Everyone is looking to you for your reaction. You need to keep flying the plane. (Take a look at my vlog on this from 16 March)
Show empathy and understanding. It's the time right now to really listen to your people and their concerns. Find out what they're anxious about. It will be different for each team member. I know this is a luxury that you think you can't afford right now because you're being asked to make very quick decisions but now is the time to listen to gain influence.
Practice what I call naked communication. And no, it's not about taking your clothes off (lol). It’s about real, honest, raw and authentic communication with your people. So saying things like, "Guys, I've made this decision right now based on X, Y, and Z. This decision could change in the next couple of days or the next week, and I'm so sorry that I can't give you more certainty, but this is what I need us to do right now." As a leader, if you've done all that hard work in the past and you've built a very high level of trust, you can probably communicate a lot faster than this. But if you haven't done the work, you need to be deliberately open and transparent with your communication otherwise people are just not going to listen to you.
THE GREAT NEWS
Finally, the great news that I want to share with you. The great news is that the work that you're doing right now as a leader, will be remembered and will have a lasting impact on your people and your clients.
People will remember what you did for them right now. They will remember how you made them feel during this time. What a wonderful opportunity.
It’s also a chance for all us to take some time out and reflect on the question:
“When all this is over, when times are great again in business, what will you do differently as a leader?"
Champagne and Sunshine,
Midja x