Leadership Challenges and Opportunities During the Pandemic
As leaders, we have a unique mission during this unprecedented time.
As we adjust, daily, to this pandemic, not only is our health at risk, but also the economic health of business. We are all being inundated with information making it difficult for people to process.
What can we do as leaders to keep calm in the storm and to guide our team to shore?
In order to try to maintain business, leaders need to convey resilience, control, and empathy to their staff and customers. It is within your power to take steps that will aid in the management of this crisis.
With remote work forces and heightened anxiety, as leaders, it is important to:
- Show concern and establish pro-active policies for staff and customer well-being
- Keep information flowing; be honest; share what you know when you learn it (see link 1, below)
- Be a role model for managing and preventing stress by leveraging healthy habits
- Demonstrate and show resiliency, confidence, positive strength and inner power (see link 2, below)
- Take regular breaks to recharge yourself: exercise, meditate, read, connect with someone
- Identify and share ways to de-stress (see link 3, below)
- Think outside of the box: how you can reinvent and/or refocus on what you CAN do to maintain business? (Remember, whether you think you can or you think you can’t: you’re right. ~ Henry Ford)
- Set up video conferencing, rather than phone meetings, to maintain face to face communications
- Check in more frequently and be accessible
- Encourage ways to give back or play it forward (see link 4, below)
- Manage the lack of structure effectively. Never was Coveys “Four Quadrants” more relevant. (Quadrant 3 and 4 can quickly subsume Quadrant 2 and 1; 7 Habits of Highly Effective People)
- Identify financial resources that can help your company (see link 5, below)
As leaders, we have a higher calling to protect and connect with both our internal teams, and our external customers, for the sake of the business.
If Covid-19 has impacted your business, we’d like to share some resources with you…
Link 1: Mass.Gov COVID-19 Information and World Health Organization Information
Link 2: Resilience (Watch Italian Opera singer sing out in Italy during quarantine)
Link 3: Connecting–Stay Healthy (stay connected, despite isolation)
Link 4: Giving Back (The Greater Boston Food Bank) and Americares Donations
Link 5: Financial Resources (COVID-19 Business Loan, $75,000 at 3%, initiated by Gov. Baker)
Be well. Stay well. Lead well.
Let us know how we can help.Atlantic Consultants~ Bonni Carson DiMatteo, Jerry DiMatteo and Associates ~
Related: How to Develop Your Leadership Pipeline
In periods of change, leadership from within has to drive the vision and the people. Leaders who become tactical can win the daily battle, but lose the war.
Looking for more information on becoming an effective leader? Contact Atlantic Consultants to learn more about how we can help improve your leadership through your company’s turbulent times.
