Leading in a time of uncertainty calls for individual connection
These are highly unsettling times. Between the unstable global political and economic situation and the rapid, unpredictable changes in the direction of the U.S. federal government, every business leader I’m talking with is struggling with how to plan for the coming weeks, let alone months or years.
This context requires a specific set of leadership skills that enables you to provide confidence and direction to your people and simultaneously manage your own emotional reactions. These skills can be summarized under the following headings:
Connect
Inform
Guide
Manage expectations
Create community
This post will focus on the first leadership challenge, Connect, and in following posts I’ll talk about the other challenges.
Tap into these 3 leadership skills when uncertainty looms
In a time of uncertainty, people need to feel their leaders’ presence through individual connection. Leaders who offer warmth, support and reassurance will be trusted as credible sources of information, which can overcome the toxic effects of the company grapevine or articles in the media.
Providing individual connection requires three key leadership skills.
Know yourself well. Emotional self-regulation is always a crucial leadership skill and is more important than ever in a time of uncertainty. Know your triggers. Practice relaxation and stress-reduction techniques. Seek frank counsel to help you manage your reactions. Check in with people to understand how they perceive you.
Paradoxically, providing strong leadership in a time of uncertainty sometimes requires showing vulnerability. While you need to offer reassurance and comfort, it’s also important to acknowledge the discomfort, fear and distress that you and others are feeling. Otherwise, people may think you are out of touch. Show your humanity. Normalize people’s reactions by sharing some of your own.
Listen, listen, listen. What you say is important, but what you hear may be even more important. Use trusted staff to help you hear what is going on. Take pulse checks. Make time for Q&A and dialog.
Be available. Give people plenty of opportunities to engage with you, both in formal scheduled meetings and informal contacts. This may be challenging because dealing with the uncertain environment also requires a lot of your time and energy. But you need your team members to be functioning at their best, and that means you have to be there for them. See yourself as a provider of psychological first aid for the people around you. Get out of your office. If there was ever a time for “management by walking around,” both physically and virtually, this is it.
If you’d like to talk more about leading through uncertainty, contact me at ggolden@gailgoldenconsulting.com.
