The following are my thoughts on Leadership as I recorded them at the start of the COVID-19 shutdown in the US.
One of my recent pet peeves has been seeing calls for normalcy and some sort of return to “Business as Usual” (BAU). If there was ever a time to make a move to humanism, it’s now. Every organizational leader would be wise to check-in on how their people are doing and feeling, both as a way to gain more trust, as well as a way to recalibrate their priorities and agendas.
It's time to move from 'Business as Usual" to "Business Unusual". This disruption has shifted what normal means to most people and it's likely to stay, in some form, for a very long time.
Below are some qualities of people truly practicing Leadership, regardless of their authority, position or external situation. I’ve added some useful questions to ask ourselves to check-in on our own Leadership:
1) Leaders Take The Long-View
- How do you want to be positioned on the other side of this?
- What skills can be developed to push you ahead of the competition?
- Where are the areas you've been hesitating to adapt or change?
2) Leaders Are People-Centric
- Who most needs help? (Not for financial gain, just because its the right thing to do)
- Where are my people emotionally? Have I reached out sufficiently?
- How can I help to create more pyschological safety for those around me?
3) Leaders Have Skin-In-The-Game
- How am I leading from the front? How am I showing that I’m willing to take on the same risk that I’m asking my people to take?
- What sacrifices am I willing to make for my people?
- How do I want to be remembered after this?
If ever a time has come to recognize that the personal and the professional are intimately interdependent, it is now. By taking the long-view, being people-centric, and having skin-in-the-game, leaders will be able to forge stronger bonds with their teams and be better equipped to not only survive the storm, but to thrive in the longer term.
Be well and be good.
David A. Davila
If you’re interested in developing leadership for yourself, your team or organization then feel free to visit www.leapingkoi.com.