By Florencia Romano, Country Manager at Grupo RUA Uruguay
There are several theories and authors that define what leadership is, what it takes to be a “good leader,” and what we should or should not do to help our teams and organizations achieve their objectives.
Everything seems simple and easy to apply until we realize that we are people interacting with others, and in this encounter with others, multiple factors come into play, determining the path we tread.
These factors, which tend to be very individual, become even more prominent when the context is in crisis. And by crisis, I don’t necessarily mean something negative, but rather a scenario of movement, change, and transformation. This is something that is increasingly happening in workplaces, regardless of their size or industry. No place is exempt from change if it wants to survive.
My invitation with this article is to reflect on what affects us as human beings working in an organization when the scenario is constantly changing, when employees’ expectations are diverse, and when uncertainty may be more common than usual.
Specifically, let’s ask ourselves: What do we, as leaders, do to ensure the proper functioning of our companies while also supporting and validating what our employees are going through?
Below, I share some practices that I have adopted from my experience after several months of working with my team in a unique context created by the coronavirus pandemic and a transformation of our company.
- Embrace and Foster Resilience: Resilience is the ability to navigate unfavorable situations as effectively as possible, or as I like to say, “turning crises into opportunities.” Not everyone will act in the same way, but I believe it’s essential for us as leaders to work towards making resilience a more prevalent skill in our daily lives.
- Recognize the Power of Communication: Communication is both a strategic process at work and a soft skill we can improve. Communication, by its nature, always has “noise.” This noise or bridge is what is created between what we intend to convey and what others interpret from their own subjectivity. So, the challenge is to improve our communication skills, making them more assertive and closing the gap to ensure our messages are clear and effective.
- Practice Empathy: Empathy allows us to position ourselves horizontally and with closeness. In times when virtual interactions have taken center stage, we need to make a greater effort to contextualize, ask questions, and enable exchanges that help us gather as much information as possible to understand others’ concerns and uncertainties. We may not always be able to provide all the expected answers or solve every concern, but by genuinely understanding and supporting, we can do a lot.
- Embrace Diversity: Now more than ever, we should be open to all kinds of expressions and personal life choices. In times of crisis, workplaces must be safe spaces where all individuals can express themselves freely without judgment or discrimination. Ensuring an environment in which an employee can feel fully themselves, without fear, is not only an ethical obligation but also likely to yield better results for everyone.
- Promote Collaborative Work: In times of crisis, everyone may feel somewhat “threatened.” In this sense, building work processes and interpersonal relationships that prioritize collaboration and synergy can be very positive. Emphasize the concept of “we’re all in this together” above all else.
- Be Honest with Ourselves: It’s likely that we, as leaders, share the same concerns and uncertainties as our team. Once we become aware of this and normalize the idea that it can happen to us, let’s try to create personal spaces or foster trusted relationships with our peers or superiors to discuss and channel our own concerns in a healthy way.
- Accept That We Are Human: Make peace with the idea that we will make mistakes, stumble, and perhaps show our most vulnerable side. We may have good days and not-so-good days, and it’s okay for our team to see us like that. It’s about being authentic and empathetic with our teams; we are not perfect machines.
Again, these are my experiences from my subjective position as a leader in an organization and as a person who wants the best for myself and those who choose to be part of our company.
They are not magical potions, but they are aspects that I try to put into practice in my daily life and see them as strong tools in this journey.
My invitation is also to constantly review our actions. Let’s accept ourselves as we are, yes, but let’s also be critical and adopt a constructive attitude to be the best versions of leaders we can be, regardless of the context we find ourselves in.
