“Leaders in Lockdown” A Personal Manifesto for Business Leaders Through Covid-19 Gareth Chick How to describe this emergency? We’ve used every cliché in the book, and no doubt created some new ones along the way. Let’s just agree that these are very challenging times. Such times call for exceptional leadership. And you are ‘it’. So in this paper, I’m giving my perspective on what we as Leaders will be experiencing, and what we should be doing, and I’m providing some practical tips, guidance and advice. The critical difference for Leaders in this crisis We are used to leading people through change, even if we’re a bit clumsy sometimes. But this situation is wholly different. We have to be way more disciplined and methodical in our strategies, whilst at the same time being more compassionate. In ‘normal’ times leading people through change, we have a clear vision, goal or new situation that we are leading people towards. And we probably have a reasonable time period to shepherd our teams through the Cycle of Ownership©. But this crisis has no clear end state, and no luxury of extended time. So while we can use the Cycle of Ownership© as our guide, we must be much more flexible, patient and creative than we’ve ever been before. A quick reminder of the Cycle of Ownership© The Cycle of Ownership© is my own version of the change curve. Many of you will be familiar with it from the work we’ve done together. It describes the 5 separate stages of the emotional and psychological journey that employees go through when change is imposed upon them. It also gives practical guidance on the leadership strategies and coaching approaches we should use in each of the stages. The cycle is inevitable, predictable and inescapable. It is therefore essential that leaders are aware of it, and become ever more practiced in using it. www.ceq.com The 5 stages are as follows: 1. Uncertainty = Fear 2. Denial = Resistance 3. Engagement = Assuming Control Again 4. Reflection = Acceptance 5. Action = Ownership An amended cycle for this crisis In this crisis there is no point in trying to take people beyond Stage 3 – engagement. No one knows what the new world is going to look like, and no one really even knows when we’ll emerge back into some sort of normality. The other major difference is that we’ll need to take people through the 3 stages of Uncertainty, Denial and Engagement every single day. Every day feels like we’re waking up in a bad dream. Every day brings a new and different reality. So it is simply not possible for us to move people into engagement and expect them to stay there for more than a few days at best. Uncertainty Uncertainty equals fear. People are genuinely scared at the moment and when people are scared, they don’t think straight and their behaviours are skewed towards self-preservation. When people are scared, they are capable of destructive and divisive behaviours. The aberrant behaviours we see of panic buying and stockpiling are not being carried out by bad people, but by scared people. Do not expect your employees to step up automatically; do not demand that they are rational, collaborative and creative – until you have led them into ‘engagement’. You cannot take the uncertainty away – and you should not make false promises. What you can do is to help people to be calmer, and to create certainty for a short period. None of us can predict what the world will look like in September, but as leaders we can get people focused on what they can do this week. Denial The easiest way for people to navigate change is to pretend that it’s not happening! So we’ll either bury our head in the sand, or we’ll do something to stop the change. Denial becomes resistance – either the passive resistance of simply not doing what the leaders have asked of us, or the active resistance of doing things to thwart them. There are two important things leaders must do in this stage. First of all, celebrate that people have moved out of stage 1! So don’t get angry or frustrated with people www.ceq.com when they resist; smile, accept and then ‘roll with the resistance’. Use the energy that people have for listing all the things that can go wrong as a positive. Because if people can be persuaded to list all the problems, then it’s going to be a lot easier for us to overcome them together. A full inventory is a very useful piece of analysis. Engagement This is a joyous phase as people start to regain a sense of control over their lives, and an enormous positive energy and creativity is released. This can be an invigorating and exhilarating time, with people experiencing the liberation from their fears, and the community and excitement of co-creation. Since we as leaders will be hugely rewarding in this phase, we really do achieve a state of organizational nirvana. A word about the last 2 stages - Acceptance and Ownership In ‘normal’ times, leaders need to embed the change, otherwise it can only really be supported by constant leadership attention and thus remains at risk. It is not yet fully ‘owned’ by everyone. So in ‘normal’ times we take people through a phase of reflection, maybe even slowing the pace down, to allow people’s sub-consciouses to catch up. Acceptance is personal and private dynamic. It is that moment when our body says ‘ok, I’m in’. And we commit. But there is no change without action, and so leaders must complete the process by encouraging ‘irrevocable’ actions; in other words getting people to do things that mean there is no way back. Taking a step off the bungee platform is an irrevocable action. So is scrapping a much loved excel spreadsheet. But since these are not normal times, we should not even attempt to embed change – after all what change would we seek to embed? We should stop at Engagement, and then put the first 3 stages on a repeat loop. Tips for Stage 1 – Uncertainty Ask people how they are. Ask them how they are feeling. You are looking for emotions not thoughts. Use the following questions: • How are you? • No really, how are you? • How are you feeling? • And how else are you feeling? • What are you noticing in terms of your anxiety levels? • Who are you most concerned about? • What’s stressful for you at the moment? www.ceq.com • What’s your biggest worry for how this situation plays out? And as a reminder, these are the emotions that people are likely to be feeling - anger, frustration, guilt, sadness, anxiety, stress, fear, worry, loss, sadness. In this crisis, people are feeling equally anxious, frustrated and bereft. It is a part of the human condition to get our fears out of proportion when we’re isolated. It is also part of the human condition for us to feel better once we’ve had a proper chance to be witnessed and accepted for our worries, and once we’ve realized that everyone in our community is pretty much feeling the same way. If you allow me to express my worries and my frustrations and my sadness; if you accept me and don’t try to rescue or fix me, then I will feel better and be in a position to move forward. For I don’t want to stay in those feelings if I don’t have to. I want to feel better. Tips for Stage 2 – Denial Likewise people don’t really want to be in resistance. It can of course become a cause in itself, but people do not desire to be in conflict with their leaders. They want to move forward; they realise the change is both inevitable and ultimately desirable, even if they won’t admit it publicly. So leaders must move the open questions off emotions and onto thoughts. Ask people the following questions: • What do you think? • What problems will we have to overcome? • What obstacles will there be? • What barriers will we have to get over? • What could go wrong? • What difficulties have we yet to even think about? Leaders need to welcome this discussion, rewarding people for the completeness of the inventory and not cutting the discussion short. As you take people through this stage, you’ll notice an energy shift from resignation to possibility; from challenge to opportunity. And when the inventory is complete; when you have the fullest and most detailed list of the problems to be overcome, the next part is easy. All you have to do now is divi up the list! Tips for Stage 3 – Engagement Ask people to consider the inventory of problems, obstacles and barriers. Now ask them these questions: www.ceq.com • What could we do about this? • What could you do about this? • How might we overcome the current problems? • How might we prevent the anticipated problems from arising? • Which problems must we prioritise? • Which ones must we tackle first? • Who has the skills to best tackle each of the first wave of problems to solve? • Which one could you work on? • Who else would be good to collaborate with you on solving that problem? • Which ones will you need me to attend to? • Which ones can we afford to leave for now? Divi up the problems and get everyone engaged and into action. Get a commitment from each person to work on one problem with something they can achieve within a few days. The steps we must take now In the current crisis I am advising that we adopt a new 3 stage Cycle. A new 3 stage Cycle: 1. Calm Calm people down; take the fear away momentarily; accept their feelings 2. Curate Get the fullest possible inventory of problems to be solved or overcome 3. Create Divi up the list; set priorities and very short timescales; park the problems that cannot be solved quickly And repeat – put on a loop! Some do’s • Run every 1:1, team meeting and All Hands on this new 3 stage cycle • Over-index on stage 1; show your people that their physical health and their mental wellbeing is the single most important thing to you • Do expect to have to start at the beginning every time you engage with people • Massively increase the frequency of your communications • Role model everything you are expecting from others – go first with vulnerability; go first with actions • Once you’ve ensured everyone is ok, then ask how are our customers www.ceq.com Some don’ts • Don’t start a 1:1, team meeting or All Hands with a falsely upbeat message. This will only increase the fear (now I’m expected to be all positive!) End with the upbeat stuff • Don’t tell people you know how they are feeling – they won’t believe you. You have more money and greater job security than they do (in their eyes) • Don’t crack jokes; don’t use humour as a distraction – be warm and human • Don’t worry about being accused of being insincere, patronizing or manipulative – as long as you are being genuine and sincere you’ll be fine. • Don’t be afraid of overtly following a process. There is nothing wrong with using a technique that comes from a book or a consultant or a training course. You will not be rejected for trying your very best to lead • Don’t talk about numbers unless they are factual for context; don’t talk about medium and long term targets; you’ll simply re-traumatise people back into the pursuit of arbitrary unrealistic targets A final appeal to your nobler self The vast majority of the leaders I work with are hugely focused on the achievement of targets. In most cases, in my humble opinion, those targets are arbitrary and unrealistic. In pursuing these targets, it is easy for even the most decent, honourable, ethical and human of leaders to slip into controlling and manipulative behaviours. For some the stress of chasing targets is amplified by the stress of having to act out of integrity. But here’s the thing about the current crisis – the number you have been chasing is gone! It is no longer even remotely achievable, and the best thing about this fact is that you cannot be blamed. In ‘normal’ circumstances saying the following to your boss, or your investor could well get you fired: “I have no idea what the numbers will be at period end” “We all doing our best” “I’m not sure what I’m going to do about that!” “I don’t know how to solve that problem” “I’m not on top of the detail, but I trust my people” But in this crisis, you can say these things (because they’ll be the truth) and you will not get fired. In the current crisis, with 2020 targets now off the agenda, the only thing that you need to be guided by are your principles. What is the right thing to do? www.ceq.com
Enter the password to open this PDF file:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-