Leading in Uncertainty – creating Resilient Leaders
Growing leadership muscle at work and home, allowing you to bend during uncertainty but never break!
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader”
John Quincy Adams, sixth President of USA
Whether you are leading a large business, a small team or at home, making decisions, listening to others and guiding the way, when you don’t know what the future holds, it can be really hard. When clarity of direction is no longer clear, the goalposts are being moved, how can you make solid decisions that support both you, your people and the business/family?
Leading in uncertainty can be overwhelming and the key to ensuring this ride is as smooth as it can be is about understanding how you behave when you go from pressure to stress, having the self-awareness to know what takes you from pressure to stress and then how to rebalance. Everyone you are working with, whether that be colleagues or family, are going to be struggling in these uncertain, different and stressful times. Individuals will have different ways of expressing it as well as dealing with it.
To help build your understanding of self and those around you, here are two questions that could help you start to understand these differences and therefore how to offer support.
- When things get stressful and overwhelming, what are your coping strategies?
Some of you will need to get your ‘ducks in a row’ and write lists or draw mind maps to get your vision and next steps clearer. Others may need to put everything in order by going for walks or getting fresh air. Some just need to talk it through with a supportive ear. If you’ve never asked yourself, or those around you, this question, now is a good time to really understand how you cope best when under pressure. These strategies will now become tools in your armoury, next time things become a little overwhelming.
As a leader and by communicating your strategies and understanding the coping strategies of those around you, you can then support them in the way they need, rather than trying to apply your coping strategies onto them.
Please remember though, that your coping strategies can only serve a short-term purpose. Yes, you can keep pushing through and cope for long periods of time (some people can cope in pressured situations longer than others). Being able to rebalance is key so you can go back to high performance again, rather than performing under strain.
- When you go to pressure to stress, what strategies do you have to rebalance?
These will be different from those above. These strategies are to help bring you back to equilibrium again so you have the energy to make better decisions, find a different way, having time to think of new visions/strategies to bring the business/family forward, rather than constantly feeling like you’re on the back foot. Reactive rather than proactive.
These may range from reading, walking, yoga, meditation, challenging physical activities, socialising, watching a movie, eating healthily, time with family, doing a jigsaw or puzzle or just simply doing nothing. Depending on the type of person you are, your strategies of re-balancing will be different. Take some time, to note what these are. Sometimes you may think you’re rebalancing but actually you’re just adding fuel to the fire too!
My Story
I have always been someone who is always busy. I run 2 businesses, have 2 young active boys and husband and also love staying fit and healthy. I didn’t know how to relax as I was always on the go. I felt lazy if I wasn’t doing something, whether it be working, planning, sorting, tidying, washing up, cooking, running, swimming etc. If I wasn’t doing something, then I was failing.
How have things changed? I have now given myself permission to stop, have a cup of tea and read a book or magazine just for 30mins every few weeks without interruption and without feeling guilty. (I would love to do it every week, so it’s still a work in progress!) This relax time really re-energises me and gives me some forced downtime that I really need. My friends would always laugh at me because my ‘downtime’, used to still be accompanied by a plan and long action list, whereas they found stopping and relaxing so much easier to do. Sometimes, it just needs you to give yourself permission to stop and re-balance.
Being a resilient leader, in business and at home, gives you the tools to draw upon when you do get into uncertain times.
A request for help
As part of the work I do in developing resilient leaders, using Resilient Leaders Elements (RLE). I am working with a few RLE consultants to bring our online workshops focusing purely on women and the 4 transitional stages we believe we go through in our careers.
- Early careers
- Transitioning to more senior roles
- Women Returners
- Peri-menopausal / menopause
As consultants, we have all been through some or all of these stages and wished we’d had the RLE tools to guide us earlier in our careers. Before we launch these impactful and cost-effective programmes, we’d love to get some feedback from other women who are presently in or going through one of the above stages.
Our questionnaire will take you 2mins to complete. We’d love to hear about your leadership, confidence, self-awareness needs, to help direct us with our next steps, ensuring we continue bringing high impact programmes to leaders we work with. Complete the questionnaire here
For any other leadership development needs, whether it be for individuals or teams, then do let me know. alex@tlrdynamics.com (TLRdynamics is my company for middle managers and above, whereas Flying Start XP focuses on young adults)
