THE TRANSFORMATION OF LEADERSHIP
The Three Traits That Every Leader Needs Right Now
Managing people who are working remotely requires a significant and specific skill set.
I am constantly preoccupied with how to remove distance so that we can all come closer together, so that we can all begin to sense we are the same, we are one.
— David Hockney
Mathematics and inverse equations would tell me that, then, as you add distance, we sense our dissimilarities from one another all the more; we begin to feel how vast the world is, and how enormous the possibility is that you don’t understand what it is that makes me up, my humanness.
Leaders in times of uncertainty are faced with a distinct but not impossible challenge: to push us together, gently, to remind us that we are all struggling through the same obstacles, and to show us how it can be easier when we come together in our confusion, frustration, and fear.
How good leaders do this could be (and is) the stuff of books, but for the sake of time and clarity, I’ve distilled it into three key characteristics that every leader should be utilizing as our country faces this global pandemic.
In the first quarter of 2020, we saw the workforce move home, schools and businesses shut down, social distancing and isolating practices introduced, and life as we knew it transformed completely. To say it’s been a hell of a year would be an understatement.
Yet, even in times such as these, capitalism trudges on, and so we go to work. Or, more appropriately, work comes to us, as we sit around our breakfast tables crunching Cheerio’s, as we debug distance learning courses for our young cousins via Zoom, as we meet with clients, as we fumble to unmute ourselves and then mute ourselves again, as we receive whole-staff emails while we’re folding laundry, or we’re coloring our hair, or we’re changing the baby, or we’re arguing over the grocery list, or we’re plain exhausted.
It’s different, when there is no demarcation between living and working, and it turns out we’re not very good at it. Not yet, at least, or not right away.
Thankfully, at times like these, we have leaders. Not managers, though they very much are managers, but people who have been designated to lead us. These are the three traits that every good leader is flexing right now.
Transparency
When there’s turbulence on a plane, serious turbulence, when you get that pit in your stomach for a moment, thinking, “something could be really wrong,” your fears are only exacerbated by complete and total radio silence from the captain.
We don’t want someone to pretend that everything’s O.K., and we really don’t want silence. What we want is someone who is going to tell us, “yeah, things are really fucked up right now,” and then, “but here’s what we know.”
Note that transparency only works if it includes, or is closely followed by, information. In times of uncertainty, what we want most is information. What’s going on, how we’re going to deal with it, what the plan is — it doesn’t really matter what your information is. Just tell it to us straight.
Perspective
At the same time, a good leader has perspective. This is a pandemic. This will, to the best of our knowledge, come to pass, and life will, more or less, return to normal.
Perspective requires vision mixed with practicality and a proactive spirit. Forbes says, “Times of uncertainty are often windows of opportunity, if we can remain calm enough to spot them.” While I’d venture that “windows of opportunity” is a bit of a stretch in our current predicament, it’s true that things are happening now which would have taken a really long time to happen otherwise.
In other words, businesses have been thrust into action as a response to the circumstances we find ourselves in, and good leaders are wondering not only if and how we can avoid this situation in the future, but also, what can we potentially learn from? What’s the takeaway? And how do we move forward?
Creating a solid contingency plan is just one task on a good leader’s to-do list right now. Considering what is within the locus of our control and how we can strategically win on that, that’s the big ticket item.
Empathy
This one comes last because, yes, it is the most critical.
Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.
— Theodore Roosevelt
When the going gets tough, a good leader shouldn’t also get tough. You don’t get any points for remaining stoic, and you certainly don’t get any points for pretending like everything is O.K. and nothing’s going wrong.
In order to have even the remotest chance of showing empathy to others — regularly and personally — during this time, a good leader first takes care of herself. No one’s giving out medals for being the most stressed-out.
Once you’re taken care of, take care of others. Not only is a good leader communicating constantly and transparently, but he is also communicating with compassion and understanding. Maintaining high expectations is great, but acting and thinking flexibly is better.
In empathy, may you find solutions you would have never otherwise considered. In empathy, your mission-driven mindset continues to show itself, even in the most trying of times. In empathy, you lead by example, and motivate others to follow suit. In empathy, we stand together.
