Five Strategies that will Improve Your Leadership
As “stay home” orders shift to “stay safe” orders, workers are getting back to business. In the span of just three (long) months, however, COVID-19 has reshaped the workplace. Some employees will return to office buildings that occupy the same space, but bear little resemblance to the work sites they left in mid-March. Others will continue to work remotely. What began as temporary workplace changes now has a new end date: indefinite.
Leading your team in an uncertain time demands that you up your leadership game. Why? Because you set the tone. Competitors in your work sector are wrestling with the same challenges. The more certainty you can interject into an uncertain time, the more likely your organization is to survive this pandemic in the best shape. If you want to be a better leader in this critical time and going forward, consider adopting these five strategies:
- Spread positivity. Attitude is contagious. Are you displaying negativity or positivity? Welcoming your team back with a positive attitude and enthusiasm, whether working at your site or remotely, is a great start. We’ve all experienced unwanted but necessary restrictions forced on us during this health crisis. Acknowledge “quarantine fatigue,” but stay positive, provide reassurance and offer hope to your team.
- Help people succeed. Choose to help each member of your team succeed. Listen to understand where your team members are with work and important areas in their lives. Sometimes listening makes all the difference. Help them in areas where you can or refer them to appropriate resources where necessary.
- Connect work to a higher purpose. While watching the news one evening, I enjoyed a segment that highlighted an employee working in the produce section of a grocery store. This person stated how he had always liked his work, but never viewed it as fulfilling a societal need until the pandemic hit and he and his coworkers were declared essential. He stated how this critical need of helping supply food gave his work more purpose and meaning than he previously realized. How can you help connect the dots, so your employees understand a higher purpose with their work?
- Demonstrate resilience. The need to make changes in the way products are made, sold, serviced and delivered is challenging every line of work due to COVID-19. Leaders who model valuable skillsets for adapting to and recovering from setbacks or adversity develop resilient employees. Resilient employees counter negativity and help create solutions for moving forward.
- Encourage teamwork. Creating an environment where people are encouraged to work in teams, feel supported by their leader, and valued by other team members leads to higher rates of success than when team members don’t feel supported or valued. Good leaders understand that each member of a team brings unique experiences and skills to solving problems and achieving positive outcomes.
As the working world sorts through the challenges presented by COVID-19, leadership will help determine successes and failures. By incorporating these five strategies into your leadership practice, you set the tone for greater opportunities for your team and success for your organization.
How can executive coaching help you lead better and create positive outcomes for your organization as we return to work during the COVID-19 pandemic?
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Lance Hazzard, CPCC, ACC, is a certified Intelligent Leadership Executive Coach helping people and organizations successfully achieve what’s next. He is Executive Coach and President at Oppnå® Executive & Achievement Coaching. Lance and Eric T. Hicks, Ph.D., co-authored the book, Accelerating Leadership, published in June 2019 and now also available as an e-book. More information can be found on the book, Lance and Oppnå® Coaching at the links below: