managing ourselves through uncertainty

With continued global economic and personal uncertainty, it is not unusual to experience a sense of anxiety.  Humans are hardwired to control as much as we can, so when we perceive a lack of control over our environment or feel overwhelmed, our body often stimulates a ‘survival’ response.  Right now, we are seeing this at its extreme.  As such, we need to make sure we put strategies in place to alleviate the impact of isolation, loneliness, and other potential mental health conditions we might experience.

Strategy 1: Self-Awareness

Attending to ourselves during this time is imperative – we often forget this and focus on caring for others without remembering we need the oxygen mask first!

Ideas:

• Introduce structure into your day – when you are in the office there is a natural structure to the day – ensuring you maintain some consistency at home can be equally useful. For example, by getting up at the same time each day, ensuring a regular lunch break where you switch off email notifications, moving away from your desk at times and finishing at the same time when possible

• Engage in regular exercise where you can – go for a run or walk, a quick midday workout or yoga session to return to your body and give your mind a break to refresh

• Practice mindfulness – if and when you begin to feel overstretched, or you notice physical symptoms such as shoulders or chest tightening, or a knot in your stomach, take 5 minutes to simply focus on your breathing, or even do some form of meditation if that is more familiar to you.  There are plenty of apps such as Headspace or Insight Timer to support you with this

• Forgive yourself if you feel or behave in less than ideal ways – it is natural to not operate at your best during times of stress; being conscious you have acted in a way you aren’t overly proud of can be a great opportunity for learning, but won’t happen if you beat ourself up!  Adopting a position of self-forgiveness and then being curious about what happened and why is more helpful.

Strategy 2: Achievement

We all feel good when we are achieving something and see the impact of our work.  Lacking the structure of the work day and feedback from others in real time can mean we lose sight of what it is we want or need to achieve, so prioritisation is key.

Idea:

• Try starting each day by dedicating 15 minutes to make a note of your win for the day – the one significant thing you absolutely want to ensure you achieve or make progress towards that day.  Ring fence another 15 minutes at the end of the day to reflect on how well you managed to achieve it and if not, consider it with a growth mindset rather than being self-critical – there is sure to be a reason (see above idea on self-forgiveness!)

Strategy 3: Systems Awareness

It is easy when we are disconnected physically to lose sight of the overall and/or longer term organisational goals/objectives and how our work is connected to that of others.  Remembering the community we are here to serve can be also helpful here.

Ideas:

• Check in to ensure you are attending to work that is highly important, not simply urgent.  Schedule a daily block of time during which you turn off all distractions and focus on the more meaningful tasks – this helps you to feel more effective and less overwhelmed by the minutiae of your day

• Consider the communities/stakeholders you serve – how connected are you to them?  What might you plan into your forthcoming days and weeks to connect to them more meaningfully? What might they need from you right now?

Strategy 4: Relationships

One of the challenges of working from home is that it impacts our ability to spontaneously or informally relate to colleagues. 

As a result, attending to our relationships more consciously is very important.

Ideas:

• Consider one person in your team or network you can simply ‘connect’ to for a catch up with no agenda – simply to check in on how they are and share with them how you are (try to do this once a week at least)

• Ask ‘how are you’ genuinely and listen to the answer before you get stuck into the ‘content’ of a meeting or focus in on the task at hand (try to share a bit more than ‘fine or good’)

• Allocate 5 minutes at the start of a virtual meeting to do a personal ‘check in’ with everyone sharing what is present for them right now – an emotional ‘temperature check’

• Build fun activities every once in a while into your meetings – for instance, share a story of something that happened at home with your pets or children, or wear something you can share a story about

Strategy 5: Authenticity

Remembering who we are beyond work and being true to ourselves is fundamental to a healthy sense of wellbeing.

Idea:

• Take time each day for a quick gratitude and appreciation practice, simply reflect on what you are grateful for today and who or what you appreciate in yourself or others

And finally, if you are working from home and don’t have the commute to and from the office, often this is a time when we decompress, reflect and compartmentalise the ‘work’ day. What can you do now to enable the transition between these two spaces, how can you ‘shake off’ the day, before you re-join your family or community? Allow yourself to be creative in how you might achieve this and perhaps share what you come up with.

Leadership on the Line

How is fear impacting your future?

Now more than ever, we are operating in an incredibly complex and highly uncertain global environment.  As the global COVID crisis has evolved, we are increasingly seeing leaders allowing fear of this uncertainty to drive their behaviours. Whilst acknowledging our emotions are important and fear is very understandable at this point in time, it is equally important to reframe our thinking to ensure we stay focussed on what matters to us, the people around us and ultimately our broader society.

Before exploring leadership further, it might be useful to consider the nature of awareness.  Awareness is defined as ‘knowledge that something exists or understanding of a situation or subject at the present time, based on information or experience’.  Having awareness means something is in our consciousness, we can acknowledge it is there.

Applying this thinking to your leadership, how conscious are you of your own behaviours and feelings and how these are being expressed?  Having a true awareness of ourselves might enable us to honestly picture where our leadership sits in terms of a metaphorical ‘line’.  This line might be akin to the surface of a deep lake; above it we can see clearly but the further below it, the murkier and less visible it becomes to us.

When we are operating below the line it is likely we are unaware – operating in habitual ways that do not always serve us (i.e. manifesting in self-sabotaging behaviours) and, perhaps not utilising significant personal qualities or unique assets to create greater leadership impact. Alternatively, seeing ourselves as an object to be studied openly and with genuine curiosity encourages us to operate increasingly above the line – where our thinking and behaviours are made explicit and conscious. In this way, we have far more control and flexibility in terms of approaching both challenges and opportunities within our leadership and life.

These two mindsets or ‘life-stances’ may be useful when considering how our leadership is currently being experienced by others and the impact we might be having.

Mindset 1: Below the Line 

This is a fear-based state, where we are seeking to protect or defend ourselves or something we value.  It is essentially our egos taking control and focussing our attention on what lies before us as a problem to be fixed. 

As a consequence of this, emotions such as anxiety, worry or concern increase (often this initially presents in our bodies – for example, our chest might tighten, shoulders tense, stomach flutters, a headache or some other physical response).  When this occurs, our thinking often becomes ‘stuck’ leading to habitual and reactive behaviours.  

Often but not always, the tendencies in this state include:

• Blaming others and/or ourselves for what is occurring

• Self-criticism, self-judgement and/or self-doubt

• A focus on where we have gaps or deficits in our capability or understanding 

• Avoidance – withdrawing for at least some (often precious) time from what we should or could be doing

• Controlling behaviours – often leading to micro-management

• Appeasing others, seeking approval or external validation

• Overly perfectionistic tendencies which lead to paralysis by analysis

• Lack of calculated risk taking and therefore innovation/change

These reactive responses can be useful to keep ourselves safe when we are truly under threat or need protection i.e. in flight or fight scenarios – however in reality, this is often not the case.  When in this mindset, we struggle to take purposeful action or make decisions that support us, as our energy is focussed on self-protection.  

We behave in response to the anxiety we are experiencing and as a result we are caught in the trap of maintaining the problem that is occurring, our focus shifts from the issue at hand to the emotion driving us – what do I have to do to rid myself of this feeling? The resulting cycle becomes a vicious and self-sabotaging one as the problem is rarely resolved, but merely expands or contracts. Others might experience our leadership at this time with a sense of confusion and despair.

Mindset 2: Above the Line

Thankfully, there is an alternative mindset we can choose as leaders. This is a very different state to the one described as ‘below the line’ – the core difference being the presence of a clear vision in our minds for a specific outcome or opportunity we have energy to create.  In this stance, it is not that we feel a lack of tension – in fact quite the opposite.  

The tension in this mindset however, is a creative tension – where we identify an opportunity for growth or development in contrast to our current reality.  To expand this further, we are able to see and understand the tension (if you like, a positive tension) between where we want to go and where we currently stand.  

Once we have identified a clear and compelling outcome we want to achieve, we often experience a more productive energy which enables us to take purposeful action and make clear decisions in pursuit of this vision.  In this scenario, we collaborate with and more easily mobilise others, as the vision has life breathed into it and our decisive energy demands to be shared.

This stance relies on some fundamental principles:

• A clear vision for an outcome or opportunity we want to create is imperative.  We no longer see something as a problem we have, rather, we consciously reframe it for ourselves as an outcome or opportunity for growth

• We take personal responsibility in this stance – we see our situation with clarity and in fullness; acknowledging how we mitigate any areas we don’t have strengths in through collaboration or drawing upon others 

• We fully appreciate our own and others’ personal leadership assets/strengths and empower ourselves and others to use them in pursuit of our vision

• Through this intentional attention, we are bolder, braver in taking calculated risks and more courageous in our actions in pursuit of our vision.

The choice to operate ‘above the line’ is deliberate and conscious.  Although the distinction seems simple, it is by no means an easy task to adopt this stance.  As humans, we are hardwired to be ‘below the line’ – to protect ourselves at all costs.  

Strategies to support leadership ‘above the line’

1.    Regular self-reflection:

Staying connected to yourself and what you are experiencing provides an opportunity to (re)discover your ‘why’, your areas of strength and development, your values, beliefs and desires. Notice what makes you happy and how you can increase your exposure to that and also what de-energises you.Keeping a journal can be a simple and useful way of better understanding ourselves.  To begin with, identify three areas every day where you have used your leadership assets in a way that had a true impact on others and then focus on one or two situations where you’ve noticed yourself below the line and how you reacted. This is a great way to build a more reflective mindset as opposed to a reactive one.

2.    Personal purpose and visioning:

Right now this might entail reviewing your purpose and vision in light of daily global challenges. Deliberate and regular attention on our sense of purpose has a massive impact on our mindset, subsequent behaviours and actions.  Why are you in this role?  Why do you work for this organisation?  Why does this matter to society?  How will this impact the world in positive ways?  This sense of leadership purpose then informs every vision and opportunity we want to create.  Beginning each week by reconnecting to this purpose and some personal visioning – what is it you want to bring into being this week? – will be time incredibly well spent.

3.    Self-compassion:

The reality is, none of us are ever above the line 100% of the time.  It is likely, if not assured that each of us will be pulled into a reactive state each and every day.  How we ‘hold ourselves in mind’ during these moments becomes important.  When we find ourselves below the line, constantly criticising ourselves or anguishing over our failure is reactive in and of itself.  At these times, an internal posture of compassion and non-judgement towards ourselves is imperative.  Simply noticing; ‘oh I have found myself here again – trying to protect myself’; and being reflectively curious about it – ‘I wonder why I’m trying to protect myself – what is the trigger for this and where does that come from?’; can lead to personal insight and learning allowing us to quickly return above the line.

4.    Mindfulness or meditation:

Given fear based states activate our sympathetic nervous system, strategies to encourage our parasympathetic system are paramount. This is most quickly and readily done by connecting with our breathing.  By focussing on our breathing our mind quickly empties of unnecessary thoughts. A regular mindfulness practice can help us build a habit here – starting with just 5 minutes a day.  Creating a greater sense of healthy detachment from our thoughts encourages us to focus on what we want to create with greater objectivity; less trapped by our habitual and automatic reactions.

5.    Seeking support from others:

This is hard work done alone.  Firstly, because we are often blinded by our own reactivity and secondly because it is not as pleasant!  Find trusted people at work and home to support you in working through situations where you’ve found yourself below the line – supporting one another in this development can provide powerful opportunities to learn with others.  An external coach who works specifically around leadership mindset can also expedite this process. 

So, take some time to consider where you are right now at this moment in time; how are others around you (your staff, peers, board, family) experiencing your leadership?  To what extent are your words and actions being experienced as thoughtful, and in pursuit of a clear vision or direction?  Or is it possible your own fear is currently guiding you in some way? 

Crises can bring out both the best and the worst in people. Thoughtfully slowing down to make sense of ‘me at my best’ (leading from above the line) and ‘me at my worst’ (leading from below the line) allows you to identify with the best version of yourself, so that when life reverts back to some form of normality, you will have developed and grown along the way - suitable for a world that needs conscious leadership.