As a leader in today’s workplace we need to acknowledge that we are undergoing rapid rates of change and unprecedented uncertainty. You may find yourself feeling overwhelmed and even like you’re failing. We all want to be successful leaders, achieving our KPIs while ensuring our team feels supported and valued. We also want to do this while having time to spend with our families, friends and ourselves.
So, the big question is how? How do we accomplish this daunting task?
Can we meet the needs of today using the approaches of yesterday?
Do we need to update our thinking around leadership, stress, change and success?
This post will explore 7 strategies that you can use to support your success as a leader, decrease your stress, create an empowered team all while supporting your wellbeing.
I have included some of the tools, approaches and concepts I learned from a variety of training programs that I have attended over the years as a coach. I have used them with my clients and myself, when encountering stress, change and in leading teams.
7 strategies to meet the needs of our volatile, uncertain and changing environment:
1. Know your biology
This is the first and most important strategy, as we cannot engage in anything, in a meaningful or successful way when we are stressed.
Our brains see change, ambiguity and uncertainty as a threat which makes us feel overwhelmed, anxious, stressed or even angry. To make an informed choice, we first need to regulate our nervous system.
Operating from a place of regulation ensures we have the cognitive capacity to decide what the viable next steps are and take them.
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Try it: The next time you feel stressed, anxious or frustrated:
Give yourself a moment to breathe and regulate your heart rate. This is one small exercise that can have a significant impact on your health. Need more resources on how to manage your experience of stress? |
We all have different lived experiences. What one person experiences as stressful, frustrating or overwhelming may be very different from someone else. Working with a coach allows you to reflect on your current response to different scenarios. Through coaching you can create a mindset that supports you in your experience of stress and change.
The plan that is created in coaching offers the opportunity for you to build new neural pathways and over time, a different experience of change, stress and overwhelm.
One of my clients describes her experiences as follows:
“I spent 11 years in a negative, no way to go forward place and her ability to get to the core problem has changed me and my approach entirely. “ – Vicki
What would be the impact of creating a different way of engaging with life and with people, and achieve the success you desire?
Schedule a no obligation call with me and let’s get you the tools that are right for you, so you can support your wellbeing and create the changes you want.
2. From Doing To Empowering
Our businesses exist because of our people, we are successful because of our people, and we need to take care of our people.
We need to know their strengths, areas of growth and what motivates them. We all want to do important work, feel valued and be seen by our organization and leaders. Getting to know your team, the parts of their responsibilities that excites them, the learning that they are interested in and their goals and aspirations allows us to ensure we support them in doing work that matters to them.
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Try it: What opportunities (situations, conversations, processes) can you share with your direct reports so they are learning and growing? |
3. Create psychological safety
Psychological safety is an emergent experience. It is developed over time, through experiences that support feelings of safety, openness, acceptance and validation within a group. The challenge for leaders is creating the experiences and facilitating the dialogue so that everyone has an experience of safety and empowerment.
It takes time and skill to create a space that welcomes diverse thinking. It also requires authenticity and vulnerability from you, as well as team members.
The benefits of such an environment include:
- Open sharing of important information,
- Opportunity to make changes in response to changes within the environment, from stakeholders or customers
- Increase in innovation
- Increase in feelings of support, engagement and comradery
Being authentic and vulnerable may be new for you and may feel uncomfortable. Coaching is a perfect partnership to get the support you need as well as create actual team building strategies and conversations that you can use during your next team meeting.
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Try it: What is the experience of safety within your team? During your next meeting, observe! Who is sharing? What ideas are being generated, new or status quo? How engaged is your team in the dialogue? Think there is more to this? Might you be missing things that are simply blind spots to you now? How would you like to feel comfortable as a leader and confidently create a feeling of safety and support within your team? Schedule a no obligation call with me and let’s process through your team’s strengths for even greater insights. |
4. Use an experimentation approach
As we discuss processes/workflows we need to take less time between discussion and implementation. If we take too much time then we run the risk of the environment changing and our approach no longer being viable. Today’s world requires frequent feedback conversations so quicker changes can be implemented.
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Try it: How are processes implemented within your team currently? What are your thoughts about implementing a different approach? Do you know that changes need to be made but not sure how to proceed? Are you being asked to make changes? Schedule a no obligation call with me and let’s think about who needs to be involved, the processes that need to be optimized and the questions that we need to ask. |
5. Create a systemic team approach
What is a systemic team approach?
It’s the creation of a team around a common purpose. Everyone is involved in developing the plan to achieve the purpose and empowered to raise their hand for:
- the part they want to play (the work they want to do)
- the support they want to give
- the stakeholders they want to liaise with
Everyone on the team is aware of what each team member’s role is (a, b and c).
Every team member is encouraged to provide any information to the team that they believe will impact their progress in supporting the team’s purpose.
Regular check-in meetings for feedback are implemented.
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Try it: What is your current team approach? How well is it working? What changes would you like to implement? What would be the impact of creating a team approach that supports organizational goals, increases the support available, improves team motivation, engagement and wellbeing? Schedule a no obligation call with me and let’s create a plan that ignites a systemic team approach. |
6. Leverage collective strengths
In the past, people were promoted into leadership because they did the job well and could guide others in learning and optimize their performance. Usually this meant doing things the way the leader did. After all, the leader proved to be great at the job and would have learned from their experiences and so could support others in adopting best practices quicker and with less mistakes.
Today, although this may be one facet of leadership, we need to acknowledge that we are moving away from the belief that leaders hold the most knowledge/expertise. In today’s volatile, uncertain, global and constantly changing world, we need to rely on all of the expertise within the team; each team member’s knowledge, experience and network needs to be leveraged to meet the challenges we face today.
The leader’s role is to create a team that is communicating and together creating new and innovative thinking. Thinking that is built upon everyone’s ideas.
Today’s leader needs to be open to:
– not knowing
– asking for help
– developing the skill of asking questions
– seeking feedback
– creating a container for innovation and constant feedback
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Try it: What does success as a leader mean to you? Ready to explore your mindset behind how you show up as a leader, discover your leadership style and feel confident and successful? Schedule a no obligation call with me and step into a space just for you, where you can gain clarity on who you are and how you want to show up as a leader. |
7. Take care of your team
As a Leader we need to model, support and discuss strategies to support individual wellbeing. Supporting the wellbeing of your people ensures the financial and competitive advantage of your organization.
As humans we have finite time and resources setting up your schedule for optimal productivity is vital
– use your circadian rhythm to schedule blocks of time for focus work, communication, administration
– schedule breaks – what that can look like, duration and cadence
It is important to take time to check-in with your team, individually and as a team, not only on their progress with work and KPIs but also regarding their management of time, resources and wellbeing.
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Try it: Create a schedule with blocks of time for focus work, communication tasks, administration and breaks. Help your team create a similar schedule. What would be the impact of increasing productivity while increasing time with your family and supporting your wellbeing? Schedule a no obligation call with me to create a schedule that is personalized to you and your needs. |
Your changes lead to big impact
Leadership today requires a people centered approach, that we are authentic and vulnerable and that we leverage emotional intelligence. We need to reflect on what is needed from us in this moment, how we need to evolve, and create a supportive and sustainable plan to achieve that growth.
The leadership training programs of the past will not support success and wellbeing in today’s workplace. Leaders need to be ready to change their mindset and approach to leadership.
Coaching is a unique experience that allows you to reflect on where you are, the steps needed in moving toward the leader you want to be, all in partnership with a qualified individual.
Together we can create the small changes that will impact our world.