Recently, Petra Coach presented a webinar, “PILOTING IN TURBULENCE – HOW TO EFFECTIVELY LEAD DURING TIMES OF CONFUSION” featuring business and leadership expert, John Spence.
The content is invaluable to leaders during this unprecedented time.
You can find the full recording here.
To augment the recording, we noted 9 takeaways from John’s presentation.
1. WATCH. LISTEN. VALIDATE. SUPPORT.
Be curious about your people, ask about their feelings and perspectives.
- Ask – How are you doing, what are you thinking about?
- Ask – What can I do to help you?
- Ask – What is on your mind?
This is a hard time on a lot of people. They will be emotional–and for good reason. Be able to watch, listen, validate and support your team members through this. You owe it to them as a leader.
*John mentioned a book during this portion. It was – I hear you by Michael Sorenson
2. PERSPECTIVE.
Some of the worst things that happen to you, are the greatest learning points in your life. John Spence lost everything in hurricane Andrew and was forced to live out of his car. Looking back on it, he recalls some of the largest learning opportunities that have framed his mindset.
Good things will come out of this uncertain and unprecedented time. Use this as an opportunity to learn more than you have ever learned before.
3. RELATIONSHIPS.
There are three main things we look for in relationships – Just remember SBA:
- Safety – physical, emotional, psychological.
- Belonginess – Feel a part of the tribe, family.
- Appreciation – People care about the work I do, I am valued.
Right now more than ever, leaders need to exemplify SBA to all their employees. Offer them safety. Let them know that everything will be okay.
Additionally, Trust and empower your team right now. AND allow them to make mistakes. None of us has ever been through this specific situation before. We will make mistakes but we’ll also grow.
4. APPRECIATION.
Praise people with genuine gratitude. Give meaningful praise when you catch someone doing something right. People need honest specific praise once every 7-10 days. Some ideas: Shoot a personal video for each of your people. Write each of them a note or send a small gift to let them know you care and are thinking of them.
5. REASSURANCE.
Your team needs to know that their leader is doing all he or she can to care for them. Make sure your teams know you have a plan and you are acting to protect and support them and their families.
6. AQ (ADAPTABILITY QUOTIENT).
This is the most important attribute right now – for leaders and team members. AQ is being agile and quick. Those who have a high AQ have the ability to take in large amounts of information, process it and disperse it to those around them.
7. BUSINESS SUCCESS EQUATION.
T – Talent: Protect your talent, you need to have the best possible people on your team. Support, help, empower and take care of them.
C – Culture: Lean back on the culture of your organization. Rely on your core values with a sense of urgency to change and move.
ECF – Extreme Customer Focus: Rely on your team to offer the most valuable service to your customers.
DE – Discipline to Execute: Act. In times like these you must act.
BE – Business Excellence: Get as close to your customers as possible. Zoom, call, text and email.
Add these together and you have business success.
8. MAKE A LIST.
Feeling overwhelmed? Don’t know where to start? Create two lists. A list of everything that you can control, and a list of everything you can not control. The list you can NOT control – get rid of it. You can not fix those items. Instead, start looking at what you can control. Take your focus to what you can control and start creating your focus around them.
9. BALANCE AS A LEADER.
There are two things as a leader you need to balance – The courage to make the company as stable as possible and the confidence that the company will prevail.
Additionally, there were several resources mentioned during the webinar. We’ve included them here:
