Leadership in difficult times – is it really any different?
Leaders should always be leading. With leadership in difficult times, that is never more evident. You can lament the current situation, and wax lyrical about what you believe could or should be happening, but you are where you are. So, it’s time to do what we should be doing – and the clue is in your title, ‘Leader’.
“The leaders who get the most out of their people are the leaders who care most about their people.” Simon Sinek.
In times of crisis – more so than at other times – whether you’re struggling to go on, or perhaps maybe even struggling to handle the success (some people are doing well during a pandemic it’s making them feel guilty), it’s very understandable for people to feel anxious, uncertain, and more than a little worried. However, the more people worry, the worse it makes them feel and – quid pro quo – it makes them worry even more.
Recognise that this happens, and then recognise that, as leaders, it’s our role to break the cycle. Recognise also that this applies to everyone – us, as leaders, included. In leadership, there is no magic cloak that shields us from this. However, as a leader, our role is to provide an antidote to all the fear and uncertainty around us – it’s what our teams look to us for, and we can’t afford to be seen to be coming up short. So, what can we do?
There are many millions of studies around what the role of a leader should be – believe me when I say that I feel as though I read most of them when I was undertaking my MBA! What is clear, from all of these studies, is that there are certain traits and characteristics that are evident in all great leaders. The aim of this article is not to push which traits are the ones I believe are the most important, but it is certainly the aim to highlight six things that, during these exceptionally challenging times, I believe will reduce the amount of anxiety currently being felt by many leaders.
1. Clarity of purpose and a vision
When did you ever jump into your car without knowing where you were going? That’s right – never !
Driving your team or business forward is exactly the same. In the absence of a clear vision of where the business is going, all teams become listless, or even depressed. The lack of clarity around purpose and direction has a detrimental effect. As a leader, you don’t have to be the one to have all the ideas – leaders don’t have a monopoly on great ideas – but you do need to be the one stating them clearly. Once you know where you’re going and what you want to achieve, your leadership needs to provide an inspiring vision and clear goals – and it needs to be in writing. And it needs to be everywhere. On your walls, on your website, on your invoices, everywhere. The very best companies do this – why not you?
2. Demonstrate unshakable confidence
The culture and behaviours in any organisation are set at the top. If you’re not inspired and confident, how can you expect any of your team to be? There are some great examples of great leadership where the leaders in an organisation, by demonstrating unshakable confidence in what they could achieve, saw that behaviour permeate throughout the whole organisation and, ultimately, lead to great organisations, achieving amazing things.
(Turn The Ship Around by Lt. David Arquette – about how he turned round the worst performing submarine in the US Navy fleet; and American Icon by Bryce Hoffman – about how Alan Mulally turned around the Ford Motor Company are two great reads).
There will be times, because we are human, that we will wobble. It happens to everyone. Accept it, and by all means, be human, show some vulnerability – then get your act together and communicate with absolute, unshakable, confidence. Don’t act it, don’t fake it – be real, be truly confident and, above all, be authentic.
3. Communicate positively and frequently
It is often said that communication is the glue that holds every organisation together. Regular communication with, and to, your team is paramount. In challenging times like these a monthly team meeting is not enough – the timescale is too big because of how fast things are changing. As a minimum, there should be weekly team meetings but, in times of exceptional circumstances (like the ones we are currently facing) then ramping up communication becomes ever more critical. It may be that daily communication needs to be the norm. Maybe ten minutes only on Zoom/Skype/Teams each morning or afternoon. Maybe even a personal email or, even better, a personal phone call (where possible). It is impossible to communicate too much in times like these.
4. Set clear goals and ensure everyone has a plan
Your aim is to ensure that every team member knows where the company is headed, they each know their role in getting there, and they feel confident that they can do it. Anything less will result in some degree of failure and that, ever more so in these times, is not a viable option. Every individual needs their own plan, and their own KPI’s to be measured against. Remember, KPI’s are there for your team to demonstrate how good they are (and not for bashing people with -which, unfortunately, we see too many times). Great leadership means setting clear goals and having a defined plan – with measurables – it means everyone knows what they are doing and so breeds confidence. Your role as leader is then to help them achieve their goals.
5. Structure
Probably the most overlooked aspect of leadership over more recent times, is that of the structure of the organisation. When people are feeling unsettled, unsure, anxious – give them structure. Give them certainty of structure.
For teams that are working remotely, as many still are, structure is one of your best friends. People need certainty. Ambiguity breeds anxiousness. For teams who previously worked together in an office and are now working from home, this is especially important. As above, define regular communication, and regular, short, 1-to-1 conversations. Every single team member is important – and it is our job to make sure they feel that way. Knowing who you report to is critical, so make sure you have an up to date organisation chart. Similarly, knowing who to report to if your line manager is unavailable is also essential. Working from home may have some fabulous benefits but it also breeds anxiousness and worry if there is no concrete structure in place, alongside not knowing what the daily communications/reporting lines are. When people are not included, they feel very vulnerable.
6. Celebrate every win, no matter how small
“But John, they’re just doing what I pay them for” !!
As it says at the top of this article in a quote from Simon Sinek;
“The leaders who get the most out of their people are the leaders who care most about their people.”
Celebrating every win is just good practice. Everybody wants to feel as though they’ve done a good job, and just a simple ‘Thank you’ can mean an awful lot. Simon Sinek is absolutely spot on, and his words follow many years research into the very best performing companies. We already know that it’s way better to give than to receive, so let’s start giving some praise when people do things well. Let’s celebrate when we do something special. One of our clients has a chart on the office wall of what they’re going to do as they hit each milestone along their journey – for them, when they hit revenues of £150k for the first time ever in a month, they’re having haddock and chips with gravy the very next Friday !! It doesn’t have to be expensive. But it does need to be celebrated.
Great leadership means being generous with your praise. It means a lot coming from you, the leader. Say thank you; say well done; and mean it. The best people have a choice where to work, so look after them. You will have seen across LinkedIn many times, depictions stating, ‘People don’t leave bad organisations, they leave bad leaders/managers’. Don’t let that be you.
If you haven’t celebrated something recently that happened within your organisation, with the people who look to you for leadership, do it now. Send them a message, or speak with them. They’re waiting. And they’ll feel amazing. And so will you !
