As businesses move forward during this unknown time, it is important that you and your team are able to connect and think collaboratively together—there are many external drivers not only impacting your business, but the very fabric of the world. These impacts may be affecting you and your team personally. That’s why now more than ever, moving through change as a team is important. You and your team need to lean in to support one another.
Collaborative Leadership
Creating and nurturing a psychologically safe environment is key to being able to show up—not only for the needs of the business but for one another.
As more and more businesses shift away from the old top-down authority model of leadership and move into a more collaborative environment, business owners and leaders will begin to learn and accept that each member of their team is a whole individual inside and outside of the needs of the business. That means that there is ample space for everyone on your team to show up as whole and complete humans.
Self-Protection
But when we are moving through great change, it can be more challenging to show up as our best selves and in Self-Leadership. We are each human and it is normal to naturally react in self-protection especially during so much change and these unknown times—we haven’t been here yet. We don’t know what we don’t know, and there’s really no way to predict what is going to happen next. That is why we need to be even more mindful of any impulse to react in self-protection so that we can best consciously choose, as much as possible, how we interact with one another on our teams and with clients. What makes all the difference in a company (in this, or any, climate) that is thriving versus surviving is that the thriving company knows how to best interact. You can have the best system in place, but if you are not communicating and interacting from a place of transparency, then you are missing a key ingredient—it's the people part that makes the difference.
These times call for considering our own impact on each other and offer us an opportunity to lean in even when we want to contract.
Self-Leadership
But first, you must be in your own place of confidence as much as possible and showing up in Self-Leadership helps you be able to do that. When you do the work that helps process any difficult emotions from challenging situations whether at work or in your personal life, it is easier to show up in Self-Leadership. Our CCORETM process is a way to help you move through any difficult situation and get back to a more neutral place.
When you are able to accept and own your part and reactions, it’s easier to be present for others when they are having their own experience and reactions to what is happening all around us. This allows the space for a strong, psychologically safe environment—we can better foster secure relationships when we are confident that what we say is safe to express and how we show up won’t be judged harshly.
Vulnerability
As I consider my own impact on my team and with the clients I work with, I am asking myself, “How can I be more vulnerable and share what is happening for me? How can this help strengthen our relationship and model how to first own my part and be able to express my own experience during these times?” I have to be willing to lean in if I want others to do the same. Building trust and being able to support one another starts first with how I am supporting myself to move through my own process and what is up for me during these unpredictable times.
My team needs me and I need them. We have to feel safe enough to lean on each other. We need each other, not only for support, but to tap into our best collaborative thinking so no matter what external drivers may be impacting us, we can count on each other to find the best solutions—together.
Practice
Here are a few ways (beyond practicing our CCORETM process above) to help you show up in Self-Leadership, not only for yourself, but for the people on your team:
- Accept what is. It is easier to make choices once you fully accept what is happening right now. It’s not a matter of it being right or wrong, but accept that it’s happening.
- Take quick breaks that help you recharge. The more you are able to do this, the better chance you have of returning to your center and a place of peace before any potentially challenging thought or situation has a chance to spiral into anything bigger.
- Talk tentatively when interacting with your team and clients. This demonstrates your willingness to consider other people’s perspectives and build positive collaboration.
- Take the risk to share with others. Be willing to lead the way by being vulnerable and transparent when approaching any challenging situation that needs to be addressed.
- Lead with curiosity and lean in with a compassionate lens when approaching your team and clients.
We each have an opportunity to make a greater impact on our team and with our clients when we move together during these unpredictable times with kindness and compassion.
-Barbara
