A different kind of leadership

I went for a walk with my children this evening. Instead of going to the same park or cycling on the same roads around our house, we wandered up to the village to see a different view 7 weeks after our lockdown started. It was some nice, quiet family time, time to chat properly which is more easily done when you’re walking and not distracted by a screen, the next meal to prepare or some other domestic, work-related or home-schooling duty.

As we wandered through the village, I felt sad. I looked at the shops and restaurants, people’s businesses, dreams and lives and I wondered how many would return after the government eases lockdown. How many will have survived and in what form? It crystallised a thought that I have been mulling over for a couple of weeks now. That when we return from all this, what people will need is support rather than training or development.

I speak as someone who is offering coaching support to our frontline NHS workers because it’s what I can do to help. When this started, and much of my immediate team coaching work evaporated, I thought I should find ways to keep busy. Volunteering seemed like a good way of putting my skills to use and doing something useful. The reality is that I have rarely been busier. I am not doing what I thought I would be doing through April, May and June but nonetheless I have found many new areas of work to explore. I am enjoying the steepness of the learning curve, working through a very different medium, meeting new people from around the world and, importantly, creating community.

But when we return to whatever the future holds, in our new Covid-19 world, things will be different. The teams that come back to work will be different. They will be touched by grief and guilt. They will need a new kind of resilience, creativity and entrepreneurialism to rebuild and to grow the businesses, public services and organisations they work in.

There will be grief for the loss of life – as a nation and where we have lost colleagues, family members and friends. The grief will also be for the old life we all knew that was so abruptly taken away. And there will be guilt because wherever there are job losses the survivors will feel guilt.

Navigating these emotions will require acceptance, support and encouragement. The businesses and organisations that recognise that their employees have felt fearful and overwhelmed during this period will come through stronger because they will have a more healthy, engaged and motivated team. These businesses, services and organisations will stand a better chance than most of not only succeeding but thriving.

I would like to end by giving you my top tips for navigating seismic change and uncertainty but that might suggest that this will be easy. It won’t. Instead, I will say a couple of things. First of all, think not only about what you say but also what you do. Resist any urge you have to introduce multiple new practices or initiatives to better overcome adversity. What you stop doing will be just as critical as what you do. And if you recognise that your people need compassionate leadership then you will be doing well already.