"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."
-- Albus Dumbledore, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"
This week may be especially challenging and dark for many of us, globally. Stress, especially when sustained, directly affects your immune system. Stress manifests in different ways for all of us, and we cope in different ways, especially when we feel like things are out of our control.
And, dark times lead to important insights and power we maybe didn't even know we had. I love the quote from Harry Potter above because it reminds us that, especially when things seem hard or out of our control, we do have the power to find happiness if we can remember to turn on the light.
Especially now, how you turn on the light -- how you manage and reduce stress, how you take care of yourself and the teams you work with, is really important.
Last week I shared my Self-Care Checklist for Everybody with some categories I think about to make sure I'm caring for myself.
Broadening this out beyond you -- how you care for the teams you lead and the people in your orbit is really important.
Four Ways to Find Your Power and Light The Way for Others
(1) Be hyper conscious of how people act and engage on video conference. Many of us are spending hours a day on Zoom or something like it. Ask people to minimize distractions and ask for full participation. Make sure to reach out individually in a separate chat or conversation to people who seem withdrawn or agitated. Now is the time to be more sensitive to the nuance of how people engage and communicate. Here are some tips on managing Zoom and tips on video conference etiquette for everybody.
(2) Over communicate. Especially if you have to share bad news, as many of us are right now. Make sure you are sharing early and often what you know, what you don't, what your motivations are behind a decision, and communicate key points often and regularly. People are more distracted than ever and have a lot on their minds right now, so don't take for granted that you were heard the first time. Above all, communicate empathy and understanding. Here are five tips on how to communicate in the time of Coronavirus.
(3) Find and shine the light. Use this as an opportunity to find new ways to lead, draw out creativity, re-think and re-position. Ask questions. Build in more brainstorming opportunity. Provide more creative thinking space for your teams. AND -- don't miss the opportunity to shine a light on others. A small amount of praise and recognition and engaging your people as culture leaders means you keep people interested, committed and motivated.
(4) Find and use support. There's only so much you can do on your own or glean from inspirational quotes and LinkedIn articles as a leader in hard moments. We are all in this together, and we all need help. We all need people to lean on and bounce ideas off of, to re-think and re-imagine plans for the future -- especially now.
I'm offering special coaching sessions for individuals and groups.
Coaching is about turning on the light in the darkness. In these sessions we will:
Generate healthy habits
Provide clarity, structure and direction;
Create a structured way to reflect and re-assess what is really essential in your life; and
Develop a plan for the future.
This is invaluable work for all of us. And all of this, whether individually or through team-building together, can be done virtually.
Now through the pandemic, I'm offering special coaching packages and sessions on a sliding scale for two categories of people:
Small business owners, self-employed individuals, and any employee of a company working through a hard time finding your way in this new world of shelter-in-place working.
Medical and health care providers and first responders.
If you or someone you know is interested, please reach out to me directly. I am here to help, especially to support those who need and want support the most.
Three resources I appreciate this week:
When we talk about excellent leadership communications, Queen Elizabeth's speech to the nation over the weekend was a prime example.
A friend and mentor, Chip Conley, founder of the Modern Elder Academy, last week shared "I've Survived Two "Once-in-a-Lifetime" Downturns. You Can Too." Good food for thought for any leader or anyone in business.
Ariana Huffington's "The Coronavirus is Forcing Us to Ask: What is Truly Essential to Our Life?" poses the same kinds of questions many of my coaching clients and partners are wrestling with right now. I love her approach.
Don't let fear and darkness prevent your light and capacity for leadership shining. The world needs you. In doing the very thing that is so hard right now, you are doing something for the greater good.