“Choose courage over comfort. Choose whole hearts over armour. And choose the great adventure of being brave and afraid. At the exact same time.”
– Brene Brown
What’s important right now is leading with heart.
After 18 months since we first went into lockdown in March 2020 and the way we work forever changed………..we now know that we can still achieve, deliver and get things done. For anyone who ever doubted that working from home could become embedded, doubt no more. The last 18 months have shown that stuff still gets done and that employees can and will step up to deliver.
So in the middle of more lockdowns where people are struggling to juggle their conflicting role of parent, partner, “teachers”, employees and <insert any additional relevant roles for you> – now more than ever is where we need Leaders who care.
As I spoke with several clients this week the conclusion we reached was we need Leaders to truly lead with heart!
They don’t need another zoom call to figure out where a project is up to, or what the status is on that deliverable………………they will get it done.
What they do need is someone who cares enough to just check in, cares enough to genuinely be interested in their response to “how are you coping?”, laughs at the latest home-schooling disaster, sits with them in their feeling of frustration, waves at kids interrupting meetings because they want mum or dad’s attention.
What they do need is to know you feel the same. That the emotional rollercoaster they are on is the same one you’re on. That you’re not superman/superwoman and that you are actually just like them. That you’re human and can be up one day and down the next.
What they do need right now is to know that they are being supported by a fellow human being who happens to have the title and role of being their Leader.
What they do need right now is someone who cares about their mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. That the person on the other end of the phone, zoom or Teams cares enough to ask about their father in hospital who they can’t go and see, their grandma in the nursing home, their family overseas who they haven’t seen in years, knows that their relationship has broken down, that the fact is that they’ve booked six holiday escapes and had to cancel them all as they’ve always coincided with a lockdown.
Everyone who is working through this pandemic has layers. And those layers are individual to each of your employees or peers that you work with. What one person is dealing with and coping with is unique to them and for a little while our role as Leaders will be to swap hats from driving outcomes to demonstrating genuine care, compassion and connection.
Our role will need to be to lean into our values as human beings not as professionals. Our role will need to be to care, demonstrate empathy, lean in, understand, be genuine, really listen and just switch the head off and open our hearts.
Because when the dust settles and our ‘new normal’ becomes embedded, those same employees will be more loyal, productive, passionate and energised than ever before because in the midst of chaos they worked for a Leader, in a team and for an organisation that had a culture of people first and heart at its core.
4 Comments
So true Janine. As you say now more than ever do we need to keep connected. I find myself (more than I ever have before!!!) talking about my own challenges and that opens the floodgates for people to feel they can do the same with me. Sometimes that can be exhausting but more often than not the talking helps both me and the person I am talking to. I find having a good belly laugh the is sometimes the best medicine.
Vulnerability is the key to connection Sue. So as you’ve found by you sharing where you’re at, it gives permission to others to also open up. I know how much people at Axicom respect you and appreciate your always checking in with them. It does not go unnoticed. And you’re right a good laugh is definitely a cure all.
I love this but do wonder if I sway to far in this direction. I am very open about my challenges with small house & juggling the kids etc but I also want to ensure i am a rock for them – that they can lean on me for anything related to work or personal so getting the balance right is important.
I so get this Katrina as I can fall into this trap too! Maybe the balance between too much and not enough is – “Is what I’m sharing with them at this point in time going to help me connect with my team and create trust so that they feel safer and more willing to be open with me?”
I think Brene Brown puts it beautifully when she talks about the fact that you don’t need to share your whole story with everyone. There are parts of us that we do not need to share with everyone at work but I think the struggles that we are facing through lockdown is so relevant right now and you sharing your story of how you’re struggling or coping simply puts you all on the same page and enables everyone to feel like they are not alone.