What any leader wants is for their employees to be happy and productive. However, we are now seeing increasing pressures on people’s mental health and overall productivity at work. The way you, as a leader, respond to this situation is key and should be considered mission critical.
Communicate For Integrity
Employees are being pulled in different directions, be it adjusting to working from home, caring for children or worries about elderly and vulnerable relatives or friends. All this before you consider any concerns they have over their own jobs. It is crucial for you, as a leader, to strengthen your communication with employees and show how the organisation is navigating these uncertain times. Employees will want to hear that you are doing everything you can to figure out how to support both the business and your employees – including the most vulnerable inside and outside your organisation. Ask yourself: once this is all over, how would I like to be remembered as a leader and as a company?
Transparency
It may be that your company is vulnerable or at least uncertain about its future and, for example, whether you can retain all of your employees. What is key here is that you keep people informed. This does not mean revealing every detail on the balance sheet, but it does mean sharing company updates on the challenges you face, such as clients who are not paying up, as well as any new opportunities. Often companies are needing to shift focus – moving into a more brand-building and awareness phase so that when this stage passes, your profile will be high and people will choose your products or services. It is vital you communicate your strategy and bring people with you.
Why Am I Talking? (WAIT)
With people having to make quick adjustments to working from home, and with new priorities being thrust upon them, it is vital that leaders listen and allow employees the space to work through how they deal with their challenges and make the best of this period. This can sometimes feel like we are stalling. In fact, we are actually helping people ‘reset’, so that their next actions are in their (and the organisation’s) best interests. As a coach, I help leaders regain their own productivity out of foggy, anxious or distracted times. In my coaching sessions, I am continually enlightened by the power of listening, which I emphasise with the acronym: WAIT – Why Am I Talking. It is a useful question to ask yourself, particularly if your intention is to help someone.
~Business Game Changer Special Promotion~
It is very tempting to start offering people advice but often this does not ‘stick’—usually because it does not address the real problem they are facing. They simply have not had time to express this real issue yet. However, allowing someone to solve their own problem means that they think deeply about it and ‘own’ the actions (so are much more likely do stick to their plans).
Asking simple questions such as: what are you learning about this situation? What question are you asking yourself? What do you think your first step could be? What action plan could you create here? (And then stopping and really listening in between). This allows people to do their own thinking and decide the best route forward. Often our own thinking is much more powerful than someone else’s advice.
As a recap, you should be asking yourselves two key questions:
- Share your integrity – how would I like to be remembered?
- WAIT – Why Am I Talking – to allow you to sit back, listen and allow someone to do their own thinking and problem solving so they can move forward.
About The Author
By Ruth Farenga, Mindfulness Trainer & Coach, Mindful Pathway offers her advice for CEOs
