Tighten the core - Caring, Leading and Coaching

Breath

For the past few months your team members have had their eyes on you and you’ve been able to stand tall, and show off your leadership qualities. It’s time now to take stock and see how your team members are doing, and to check in on yourself. Give yourself the opportunity to reflect - it’s been a hectic few months, so as we move towards Summer, award yourself with some thinking time, as you dip your toes in the paddling pool and lick the ice cream dribble from your cone (with a flake, sauce and all the toppings). The following are some of the things that may be useful to keep in mind as we take a breath, and consider what’s next for our teams and ourselves.

 

Calm Leadership

At your core, as always, are the 4C’s (care, courage, count and capable). I mentioned these in my earlier articles - “Stand Tall” and “Shoulders Back”. Keeping these in the forefront of your mind, as you move forward, will help you through the next stage, and will demonstrate to your team members that you are still taking good care of them. The kindness that the 4C’s allows you to demonstrate means you are trusted as a leader, and that you have the backs of the people you lead. You will protect them, no matter what. This strong core is essential as you focus on your next steps. If you haven’t taken the opportunity to lead from these values, then it is not to late – examine what they mean in practice to you and your colleagues and manoeuvre your leadership in a different way. Start small, ridiculously small, and then you’re off. For example, if you want to ensure a team member feel valued, choose a specific piece of work they have contributed to, and let them know how much you appreciate its quality. Bring your core values to life.

 

Revisiting Purpose

Remaining calm, and focused on the future, will help ground your team. It is a good time, right now, to paint a compelling and vivid picture for your team of its purpose, and how each person can contribute. Involve people, ask them what they can do to help achieve this. Revisiting and sharing the team’s purpose will act as a reminder and will create a solid base, where your team members can feel proud and confident because they know how their role makes a difference. Keep positive, and look to the team for solutions. Find a message that helps you, such as, “all will be well” and it will. Being calm and optimistic will bring hope to your team members.

 

Trust

Trust in your self – you are doing a great job of leading through a crisis and you are caring for all of your team members. Trust in your team – you know by now what a wonderful job colleagues have been able to do since lockdown – achieving goals and objectives and remaining productive, despite unprecedented times. In fact, you have been able to challenge many assumptions about how we work over the past few months. So, make sure you continue to give your team members autonomy and freedom. Hand over the control you may have held onto previously, and your team will not disappoint you. As I have said before, focus on outcomes and what has been accomplished, rather than presenteeism. Know when to step away. It is hard, I know, but it is necessary and will pay off. No-one enjoys a leader who micromanages. It is a style that just does not work in our environment.

 

North Star

As an outstanding leader, you will already have been working all year round, appraising and guiding staff, culminating in their annual appraisal. This means that you will have worked alongside your team members to set goals and targets, which you will be continually checking, offering support when needed. You will be able to use this system to keep an eye on outcomes and accomplishments achieved. It is important to carry on setting goals and objectives, together with each team member, ensuring they are clear and specific.

 

A Deluge of Information

There is so much information flooding our brains, and this can create anxiety and overload, and it is coming in from a variety of sources. Try to keep it in one place, and perhaps divide it up into formal and informal. Check that the information you are sharing is reliable and trusted. Appraise how you give out information, who you give it to, and how often. Is it clear and simple to understand? There are many power and equality issues here too, that you certainly don’t need me to go on about, but just take exquisite care with information, setting aside time to plan what you want to say and how you want to say it. The words you choose to use can make or break a message, a situation, a person.

For you, as leader, keep gathering data, and analyse it to see how successful your interactions have been in helping your team, for example with the 4C’s. Ask your team for feedback (as we love to say in People and Organisational Development – feedback - it’s a gift!), highlight areas, and tweak. Turn towards trusted colleagues and ask for their advice.

 

Yapping On

It’s good to talk so keep doing it. Tell the truth and be transparent - you know you can’t fool your team. But take time to plan what you want to tell them and consider the words that you want to use carefully. Address and respond to all questions. Involve your team members in developing ideas, exploring solutions, and making decisions. Maintain the yapping, and the structures in which you and your teams yap – one to ones, meetings, informally and formally. Even if you have no news to pass on, you soon will have, as you turn your thoughts to a tentative return to campus. If you haven’t been meeting with your teams, and individual members, regularly and often, then please get stuck into this. It is important. Recognise how things are for people. And... when you are not yapping away, listen very carefully. Listen for what is not being said. It might mean people need some support. Pay careful attention to the quiet times.

 

Massive Misfires

Yep - it won’t all have gone swimmingly. It is not supposed to, in a crisis, so take heart in the fact that you have done your very best. Continue to acknowledge issues that arise, discuss openly with your team, and answer any questions they have. Throughout this time there will be lots of your leadership misfires. Revel in these and think “personal development!”. Explain this to your team, more than once, and they will understand that we are all in a new situation, learning how to move through it. Because of this you will need to be responsive, amending, fine tuning, and reconfiguring what you do and how you do it. Lean in to your team and ask them to help you. A positive approach is to focus on the strengths that individuals show - who in your team is shining their light? Are there new leaders emerging? Leaders most certainly won’t only be in senior management roles, so make sure you have your eyes open. Support these courageous individuals or “local leaders”. They are all around us. They can help make our lives easier and deserve to be seen.

 

Shelter and security

Now is the time to increase your leadership effort by strengthening the psychological safety of your team members. You will have already established an environment where all members of staff are able to speak up, share ideas and concerns – one in which people feel accepted, safe and respected. It is time to enhance that environment even further. By doing this you will reap the benefits as people speak honestly, offer creative solutions, and performance is honed. By being deeply human and truly caring of each member of staff your teams will know they matter, that they are valued and that you have their backs, no matter what. How amazing to be in such a privileged position.

 

Coaching approach

Complementing your leadership with a coaching approach can really help people to open up and tell you what is going on for them. Make time to check in with every person, and for those who you feel may have anxieties, ask open questions such as “what worries do you have” or “what is distracting you”. Give your teams time to chat too. This approach supports psychological safety and having a psychologically astute conversation as well, where people feel able to express themselves and know their concerns will be carefully listened to.

 

You can always get what you want

Check in to see that your team members have what they need to work efficiently. With prior booking and appropriate permissions, we can get onto campus to appropriate the goodies that would really help us have a great day at work. I know I’m desperate for my big book of ideas, my very important file, and of course, I clearly need my trainer inserts hat will help me lift very heavy weights! and don’t forget to ask what else people need – equipment, a virtual brew, or even coaching.

 

The sticky sun tan lotion of Leadership

You can never have enough of great leadership - it brings challenges, joy and energy, and here is your chance to race into the waves, with the sun on your back, enjoying this leadership venture. Keep it simple and you won’t go wrong: encourage kindness and be kind - we are all learning together. Be kind to yourself. Look after yourself, so you can be present for your team. Draw your attention to your diet, to exercise, to taking breaks. Make sure you take your leave and plan activities to look forward to. Look after your team so well, and they will strive to do their very best. People remember how you made them feel. Remind yourself what you stand for - your values and drivers and the 4C’s. Don’t worry about getting it wrong, we are all learning, and showing vulnerability is a true sign of an amazing leader. Be brave yourself and hand over the leadership to people in your team, share it and they will astound you with their own leadership gifts.

People and Organisational Development have your back, we hold you.
Stand Tall, Shoulders Back, Brace Your Core.
You’re doing a great job.

Helen Connor