It’s an irony of life that we learn the most about ourselves when life throws us a curve ball. So it is with leadership. We fully discover our strengths and shortcomings when we are tested by adversity. How we deal with it and what we learn is central to who we are and our credibility as leaders. In bad times, all eyes are on the leader. How you behave has a tremendous impact on your people.
Recently I have been called upon to advise several C-suite clients leading in tough situations. Continued economic lassitude in many parts of the world, an uncertain future for the oil sands, disappointing financial returns and associated cost pressures are but a few of the contributors. Across industries and geographies, when people are under stress for sustained periods of time, there are predictable outcomes. Fortunately there are also practical leadership approaches to mitigate the risks to your business.
Many of your staff will become increasingly wary and tend to interpret each new sign as an indication of more bad things to come. Negative emotions run high and people are more likely to experience conflict and openly display frustration. They may become skeptical of the new and different and prone to reject it out of hand. As the stress continues, fatigue sets in and they become pessimistic about the future. Relationships can suffer as the focus becomes increasingly work related.
Keys to Leadership Success
Decades of research describe three elements of effective management in stressful times: task, people and self-management.
- Task management is leader’s ability to set goals, organize efforts, direct activity, provide corrective feedback and set the general focus of efforts.
- People management identifies the importance of communication, motivation and encouragement. The ability to set the emotional tone of the workplace and inspire greater effort from others is the hallmark of a transformational leader. Operating in a stressful environment actually tends to increase the leaders’ impact. People look to leaders more in hard times, partly as a product of the ambiguity that adversity creates.
- Self-management includes managing your behavior in ways conducive to more positive morale and action from your people, and helping them manage their own attitudes and behaviors towards appropriate outcomes.
The best leaders focus on all both task and people management in times of stress.
Task Management: From a task standpoint, the critical challenge is keeping people focused on things that are under their control. You may not be able to affect what happens in the stock market, but you can reach out to your customers and provide great service. This sense of control helps people manage their stress and allows them to experience small wins that have a buffering effect. It is critical that leaders provide a broader vision of the future and a sense of direction and purpose. By linking today’s actions to a better future, people gain a sense of perspective. Pointing out how one’s individual job links to a broader corporate strategy, provides a sense of purpose and utility. A sense of purpose can provide significant relief from the debilitating effects of stress. While many people draw their sense of purpose from broader life activities, a business leader can help provide the same sense at work.
People Management: On the people side, the key task of a leader is regular, honest, candid and consistent communication. The leader must be seen as a reliable source of information, even when it means admitting you don’t know. Equally important is listening. By understanding people’s concerns, leaders can more readily address them and share with them the information and insights that will help reduce misunderstandings and deplete negative rumors. In tough times, it is critically important to find opportunities for positive emotion. While a sense of humor helps, it is also important to celebrate wins, find ways to have fun, and thank people. Emphasizing strengths, wins, and good news helps redirect people’s attention. While few people would wish to go through a difficult personal or professional challenge again, most recognize the benefits. Seeing current circumstances as contributing to our resilience, helps to make us more resilient.
Self-management: includes managing your behavior in ways conducive to more positive morale and action from your people, and helping them manage their own attitudes and behaviors towards appropriate outcomes. It’s natural for people to feel powerless and victimized in tough times, so it is important for the leader to help his or her people shift from the mindset of the passive victim observing things from the sidelines to that of the athlete playing the game. Anything you can do to keep them focused on the fact that we always have choices and that, although we may not always control the final score, we do control how we play. If we play with integrity, stamina, optimism and intensity, we can often surprise ourselves. Even if we fall short of our expectations, we can be proud of our performance.
It starts with a look in the mirror. You are the role model. You set the tone. If you are positive, confident and optimistic, your people are likely to behave the same way. If you display focus and determination, they are likely to follow suit. Remember, just as panic and despair are infectious, so are energy and enthusiasm. In the words of Gandhi: “be the change you want to see in the world.”
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If you would like a copy of the full article, send an email to lorraine@acceleratesuccess.ca
Acknowledgements to: Martin Haygood and Hodge Golson