Why leading through COVID-19 requires new tools. And 5 that you’ll need
COVID-19 forced us to act quickly to find new ways to connect, keep the team together, deliver content, educate our children, buy food and stay safe. We’ve shown how resilient we are and how quickly we can act and adapt. But navigating the future and finding balanced solutions to issues we’re now facing will require deep inquiry into our value systems and priorities.
What isn’t going to change?
This virus has shifted our world in radical ways that will remain with us when the virus is gone. People have adopted new norms and discovered upsides to work-life integration that include less stress, more time with family and the head space for deeper connections. These evolutions in human relations and how we prioritize what’s important should be treasured and integrated into the new norm with intention and honor.
What’s yours to do?
What will you do to honor and integrate the positive outcomes of COVID-19? How will your culture evolve and priorities shift? Most important, how are you preparing for the decisions and choices like those listed below that await you in the coming weeks and months?
Flexibility and freedom in how we work: There are real advantages to working remotely. People feel more present for their families, relish the time saved with no commute, and even report feeling more focused and productive. But are your teams collaborating and working as effectively? What may be suffering, like creativity? And what about those physical assets? Important questions, and finding and collating the answers will require new ways of thinking and envisioning what’s possible.
Feeling trusted to get results without lots of oversight: Because people are working remotely, it’s harder to manage how they work. There’s more trust because there has to be and people have gained confidence in their own resourcefulness. How will you nurture the trust that’s been cultivated and resist reverting back to old decision-making structures? What changes will you make to demonstrate trust and confidence in your team moving forward?
Expectation to be seen as a whole person, not just an employee: COVID-19 has impacted every area of our lives and brought a level of fear and uncertainty we’ve never known. People are having to bring their whole selves to work and we’re all responding with more understanding and empathy and getting to know more about each other beyond status updates and family highlights. How will you as a leader evolve your culture to welcome vulnerability and wholeness when you’re facing competing priorities?
New expectations for employee development: We have certainly experienced the importance of having tools to manage stress and uncertainty and being resilient in the midst of drastic change and raw fear. Ensuring that objectives for your talent development programs are expanded to incorporate these types of tools and practices and foster wellness and wholeness overall is critical for optimal performance and long term success.
You’re Going to Need New Tools
You’re facing issues now where there’s no precedent to inform or guide you. Finding workable solutions is going to require reassessing your values and priorities and redefining the criteria that guide your decision-making.
You’ll need new tools that include tapping more deeply into your own inner wisdom and raising your level of consciousness so that you can process the complexities of this new landscape and make smart decisions.
Here are 5 new tools that can help you find answers:
#1: Consult and listen to your inner wisdom and internal guidance system: This requires carving out time to sit in the silence and JUST BE. There’s a treasure chest of insights, knowledge, experiences, and intuition within you that’s likely not being tapped. No better time than now to leverage that.
#2: Pay attention to your emotions. We’re good at ignoring or just pushing through emotions that are uncomfortable or that we don’t understand. Emotions hold important signals and messages for us and you’re missing out on a rich resource if you don’t engage them and hear the messages there for you.
#3: Use inquiry to ask open questions of yourself and others so you can explore complex issues more deeply and thoughtfully. Think more and collect more data before acting. The landscape has changed and you need new information and to hear the voices of others before making important decisions.
#4: Set an intention to become aware of the situations, personalities and energies that trigger you and bring out your reactive tendencies so you can respond more thoughtfully and consciously.
#5: Invest in new development tools for yourself, and ones that focus on developing and evolving your inner world. Completing a 360-assessment like the Leadership Circle Profile that provides valuable insight into your reactive tendencies could be extremely helpful in preparing you for the complexities you’ll face. Hiring an executive coach with experience helping people develop their inner game as well as their outer game is also an investment that will pay off significantly.
Make decisions now that ensure this crisis for you is more than a time of stress and disruption. Let it be an invitation to take stock of your life and create a plan for how you want to grow and evolve so that you’re positioned for greater success and more meaning in all areas of your life.
Cheryl Stevens is an executive coach, facilitator and conscious leader who works with leaders and teams looking for breakthrough performance and ready to invest in individuals to help them reach full potential.
