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Apr
30
Written by:
SAN Employee
4/30/2009
There is an ancient Chinese saying, some say a curse, "May you live in interesting times." It seems safe to say that anyone reading this missive in April 2009 is living in interesting times! The current US and global economic situation is at a minimum "interesting," and for the many who are losing jobs or letting people go it can feel downright tragic.
Rather than spending time ranting about who to blame for the economic collapse, as is the popular national pastime, it is more helpful to consider how to positively deal with the impact that it has on people in our organizations. Mobilizing our people is more important than ever if we care about them and truly understand their importance in creating powerful results.
We clearly see more than the usual level of fear and frustration in most companies now, as many organizations that have never before had reductions in force are doing so now to be sure to survive the economic downturn. When compared to typical recessions over the years It feels different this time, and not in a good way.
The increased fear leads to three classic natural human responses: fight, flight, or freeze. Any of the three result in reduced mental agility and diminished cognitive ability to process data or objectively review options. This causes people to miss many opportunities to be part of the solution when it is needed the most.
So what do we need to do as leaders to mobilize people and maximize effectiveness in this environment? These are the times to engage people more than ever. It is easy and always useful to have team sessions when times are good, but when times are tough, we need to ramp up open and honest two-way communication to align people around a viable common cause.
Here's a quick list of seven important actions that leaders should be taking now to keep people as focused, positive and productive as possible:
- Increase the schedule of one-to-one sessions with your direct reports, talking through fears, giving and receiving feedback, and motivating them to stay focused on what they can control and influence. Insist that your direct reports also have more one-to-one sessions with their direct reports, so that two-way communication cascades throughout the organization.
- Have more leadership team meetings to discuss the current team and organizational dynamics, drawing out the tough issues (including layoffs and potential layoffs) and addressing them as clearly as possible. More than ever, employees are fearful and sensitive about mixed signals, so the leadership team must be aligned as one voice on key messages and decisions. This, as well, needs to be cascaded to all levels.
- Lead more frequent “town halls,” addressing the business results and key issues that are on everyone's minds in as transparent a manner as possible. Be open and honest about staffing issues. Treating people as adults goes a long way toward building trust in tough times, so do not sugar coat messages to make them easier to swallow. Do not overdramatize them either. It is what it is. Consider breakout sessions to discuss the issues, where possible.
- Lead and foster creative problem-solving sessions to generate involvement and buy-in from most if not all levels in assessing challenges and crafting creative solutions. These should lead to action plans that generate positive energy as people are engaged as part of the solution.
- Lead the engagement of people at all levels in a process to come up with inspirational goals. These goals may be in addition to the regular corporate goals, or they may be the same –the key is that people feel the goals are worthy, challenging, and exciting, and a real contribution to success for clients, employees, and stockholders. Track these goals in a manner that keeps everyone in the loop to maintain momentum.
- Send out "breaking news" alerts about positive developments and setbacks as they occur, to keep people involved. Highlight people who are rising to the challenges at hand, including those who are transparently talking about mistakes and responsibly addressing them. Find ways to recognize the quiet performers who do great work and who aren’t necessarily working on a high-profile project or client.
- Increase the good old Tom Peter's MBWA practice (“Management By Walking Around” for youthful readers) to increase casual contact with people. Listen, share and generate a feeling of oneness, "we're all in this together," and "he/she cares about me."
If we do these seven things effectively, we will increase the likelihood that we will generate enough positive human spirit to profoundly impact results as people work through fears more quickly and find their inner strength and commitment to the overall effort. Wisely led companies can gain market share in times like this, and generate fun and satisfaction in the process.
Of course, the option not listed above is to bring in Stop At Nothing to work with your leadership team and organization to help drive effectiveness and results. (Gratuitous commercial!) Seriously, we’re always happy to help, even if it is as simple as answering a few questions on the phone.
After all, it's how we handle ourselves in “interesting times” that makes the biggest difference for all of us. Enjoy the ride.
Best wishes!
Barry
Copyright ©2009 Stop At Nothing, Inc.
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28 comments so far...
Re: Seven Key Leadership Actions For Challenging Times
Barry,
I'm picking up a theme in your comments ... "more face time" serves as a prescription for managers during these interesting times. I couldn't agree more. The great thing about face time is that it may come in many forms - some obvious such as the increase of 1:1's as you suggest - and some more subtle.
Here's an example of face time of the subtle kind: I was facilitating a training session yesterday for a group of market leaders; their leader (who was not a scheduled attendee) made it a point to come in and join the group periodically throughout the day. Not only was he demonstrating support for the topic, but he also took advantage of observing his folks from the sidelines. How were they interacting? How were they treating each other? How were they talking about their workload, their concerns, their frustrations? Whenever possible, but not excessively, he succinctly linked the subject matter to how it applied to their roles as both leaders within the bank and in the community. From a facilitator's perspective it added to the quality of the material and to the quality of the learning. Who knew he was also taking the pulse of his key leaders??
By Susan Hengel, Regions on
4/30/2009
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Re: Seven Key Leadership Actions For Challenging Times
The more challenging the times, the more important the communication. First on my list of guidelines for 2009 is "over communicate". And when you do, avoid PR speak. Be transparent and write/talk in a conversational tone that speaks to the individual.
I'd also add three additional suggestions to Barry's excellent list:
Team building - Don't cut those off-site sessions from the budget. We're headed to our local climbing wall facility next week. Nothing like having your team members hold the rope that's attached to your belt to help you build trust.
Continue to invest in personal growth - We will send more people through SAN experiences this year in the Southwest than ever before. Taking time to sharpen your saw, intellectually and spiritually will be critical to your ability to survive and thrive in these "interesting times".
Make time for fun - We have a Fun Committee in our shop who is always looking for ways to bring some positive energy into the workplace. Whether it's organizing a potluck or spear heading an appreciation-day where we celebrate the contributions of a particular department, pursuing joy during an otherwise strenuous work day can strengthen the entire organization.
By Scott Westerman - Comccast on
4/30/2009
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Re: Seven Key Leadership Actions For Challenging Times
I couldn't agree more, Barry. It's interesting how counter-intuitive this is in organizations. When times get tough, we senior executives and functional VPs tend to want to pull back from opportunities to communicate, meet and/or team build due to cost, time and related considerations. Development and training is also often on the chopping block. Yet, these are the things that we should be doing more of in difficult times, not less. The parallels to our personal journeys are many. As you have often noted, reaching our full potential as human beings sometimes requires us to take the more difficult path (e.g., facing painful memories and exposing related emotions), and so too does reaching the full potential of an organization require us to avoid the "quick fix" solutions that may be expedient in the short term but undermine our long term organizational potential and those of our teams.
By Rob Ward, Crown Castle on
5/4/2009
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Re: Seven Key Leadership Actions For Challenging Times
Barry, as usual this is yet another great messgae from you. One of the things I wanted to add on to this was recognition - a pat on the back, an acknowledgement of a job well done - which goes beyong formal certificates. As organizations cut budgets, Recognitions tend to get reduced. However, they have an enormous power to boost morale and get people to do more proactively.
Similarly, managing personal stress is very critical. We can't soothe others' nerves if we ourselves are stressed out. Thus, a network of associates or buddies is very useful to talk things out.
By Ashish Chatterjee, American Express on
5/4/2009
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I have always felt that during times of stress people not only need guidance, but also reassurance. Now is the time to increase the communication on why your team is important to the goals of your company. Remind people how there individual job is connected to the whole of the organization. If you have a vision statement, it is a good time to reconnect to it. Don't let the the stress and confusion of tough times provide an excuse why there is no time for communication. Three critical things a leader can provide during chaotic times are, clarity, motivation and support. Providing these three lets your entire team settle down and get back to being productive. If the leader is calm and collected and has time to "be there" for the team, then the teammembers feel a sense of order and believe things will be alright. As hard as it may be to believe these days -- these times are actually an opportunity. An opportunity to find out if your team is really focused on what is important and if your communication style is motivating and connecting with individuals. Everyone is a leader during good times. During tough times, a separation is made between leaders and managers. Leaders get people to move mountains - managers let you know the mountain is still there and accounted for. Happy holidays to everyone and best wishes for a healthy, happy and successful 2010.
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