Uncertainty reigns. What was predictable yesterday is ambiguous (at best) now. We’ve found ourselves in a spot none of us have ever been before.
Who’s leading? (How do you lead now?)
The human brain craves certainty. After all, it’s #1 job is to keep us alive. So, when life becomes unpredictable, productive behaviors plummet as seemingly irrational thinking surges.
If you truly care about the mindset of those you’re leading, now’s your moment of leadership. Move quickly.
Your team wants answers to questions: What’s going to happen? What will happen to my family? How adversely will our economy be affected? Will our customers come back? (What will happen to me?)
The boss who tries to answer those questions gives false hopes at best, and at worst, risks further eroding trust in leadership.
There’s a better response: The antidote for uncertainty is clarity.
Effective leaders have never been fortune-tellers (even though we want them to be). The best ones, those who have led us through the crises of our yesterdays, didn’t make any promises about what tomorrow would look like. What they did was ensure we focused on – and leveraged – our assets. They provided clarity about who we are and the strengths we possess in the face of the crisis.
Where do you have clarity right now? If you’ve been doing good work, here are 5 assets for your team’s consideration:
- The strength of your culture.
- The soundness of your financials.
- The might of your team’s collective skills.
- The resilience of the customers you’ve chosen.
- The strength of your agile plan.
Leading others has always been, and is even more so now, about effectively guiding focus. Where will you create clarity for your team? How will your values guide you now? What assets do you possess? What strengths has the team developed which have, upon consideration, prepared them for this moment?
Your team wants certainty right now. Acknowledge them – and then create clarity.
(You’re prepared for this moment of leadership.)
