Good leaders inform employees in times of uncertainty
People say there’s an old curse, “May you live in interesting times.” These times are certainly interesting.
As I write this, the stock market is tanking, thousands of people have been laid off, and the world is reeling from the new global economic order. Every business leader I’m talking with continues to struggle with how to plan, whether for the short term, the next quarter or beyond.
In my previous post, I listed five specific leadership skills to provide confidence and direction to your people and simultaneously manage your own emotional reactions:
Connect
Inform
Guide
Manage expectations
Create community
I wrote about the first skill, Connect, in that post. This time I’m focusing on the second leadership challenge: Inform.
Inform early in the process for maximum effect
Employees seek input and guidance in times of change and uncertainty. In fact, they are more open earlier in the process than later. Leaders who use early opportunities to inform their people have greater impact than those who delay.
Here are the key leadership skills for sharing information with your people:
Be self-aware. Understand how your feelings are affecting your delivery. Your tone, your body language and facial expressions, your word choice—they all convey as much or more to your audience as the content of your message. Get feedback from others about how you are coming across.
Focus on clarity and consistency. Don’t “leak” information. Share the same message with everyone as much as possible. Use many different communication channels. Communicate your message repeatedly. It often takes people more than one hearing to get the message.
Be transparent—tell the truth. Of course, this is always important. But at a time when people’s trust is shaken, you want them to be confident that you are telling them as much as you can and doing so honestly.
Give out information before you are asked. Get ahead of the news. You want them to hear it from you first. Then give people time to digest, ask questions, push back, etc.
Treat adults like adults. Tell them what’s going on and what’s going to happen, to the best of your ability. Invite their comments and observations. Don’t patronize.
These are all good rules to follow any time, but they are especially crucial when the world feels chaotic. If you would like to talk more about leading through uncertainty, contact me at ggolden@gailgoldenconsulting.com.
