31. Leadership Lessons From Covid

Hi, everyone. I’m Saralyn Hodgkin. And this is the podcast to practice your leadership.

Hi all. Leadership lessons from COVID. It’s been on my mind. I had a conversation about what do these leadership lessons look like? What are the the gifts of these lessons? From this time of COVID? What are they for me? What would I pull out as leadership lessons? And I came up with five. It’s what I’ve learned, I’d love to hear what you’ve learned. Because we’re all learning something different. There’s no doubt about it.

But here’s my take for now anyways, is one of the leadership lessons I’ve learned during this time of COVID is don’t assume. There is a requirement of having generous assumptions about what’s going on in people’s lives because you have no idea. And when we assume and we infer and we start making up stories, it can get really dangerous because you do not have all the information. Nobody does. And there is a percentage of truth in everybody’s story that they’re making up about whatever it is.

And I feel like the number one tool that I turned to, is a) my breath, always take in a deep breath, but b) is putting on my generous assumption glasses, looking at situations, something that somebody said in emails that’s been thrown my way, or a lack of an email that’s been thrown my way and just think, okay, what’s the generous assumption I can make here? Because I don’t want my little gremlins in my head making up stories about what is or isn’t and are they going to do that or not? And do they like me or not, but like whatever it is, or going on social media and making up stories about how perfect their life is, blah blah blah.

No, no, no, no, no, I am not going to start making up assumptions about why they didn’t call me back in the time that they did, or why they showed up late, I am going to put on my lenses of generous assumptions and start from that place. Of course, this couples beautifully with putting up boundaries. Hey, I’m noticing that you’re coming in late all the time. And that’s really hard for me. My experience of that, is da, da, da, da, right? Can we have a conversation about this, of course bring in your boundaries, bring in those conversations. But in that moment of making up a story of what’s going on and how it’s affecting me and the judgments I start to create, slow myself down, take that deep breath, what are some generous assumptions that I can make right now. That’s a leadership lesson that I’ve learned.

Number two, relationships first. Humanity first. That if I were to provide a leadership lesson for those in managerial positions, director positions, in working relationships of any kind, that the relationship, the human in front of you comes first. Not the job description, not the key performance indicator, not the goal, not the get shit done task list. It is about putting the human in front first. And of course holding conversations that might be challenging about trying to get some things done and being productive or having reflective time, whatever that might be. But man oh man, leadership lesson, especially during COVID is putting the human first.

Couples well with don’t make assumptions about what’s going on, right? But this is not just during COVID. Putting humans first before contracts and job descriptions and, and trying to get that meeting time done, that… you know. It’s let’s put the relationship first, the human first, and have a conversation from there. Of course it sparks into what works for me and what’s not working for me, what’s working for you or not what’s not working for you. And it can open up some really challenging conversations and that’s okay. But putting the human first for me is a requirement.

Number three. This all comes to a place of holding the tension, a clear tension of empowerment and accountability. And that tension of empowering people while holding them accountable while empowering myself in holding myself accountable. Understanding the context, having generous assumptions, not putting the task list first but the human first, the relationships first of course. But there is a tension, a continued tension during COVID and otherwise, of empowerment and accountability, how do we navigate that tension? How do we see that tension? Part of what comes up for me is, am I asking for what I need? In order to feel empowered? In order to be accountable to getting things done? Do I know what I need? Do I know what I need to thrive? Do I know what my colleagues need to thrive? The tension of empowerment and accountability.

Number four, communication, practicing communication. And I use the word practice deliberately here – active listening, providing feedback, receiving feedback, using rumble language as Brene Brown talks about, she has a great worksheet on her website, using the ladder of inference, which I can talk about till I’m blue in the face, right. But it’s around practicing communication, using skills of active listening and feedback, using skills of common language that helps you get through vulnerable tough conversations. And being able to manage the stories you’re telling yourself in what you’re inferring and assuming to come back into clear conscious communication. What is your practice of communication?

Number five, for a leadership lesson for me, is to keep your window of tolerance, your resilience, to keep that open. You need to invest in your own self care, you need to charge up your battery, fill up the tank, get off the fumes, use whatever analogy works for you. But this is no longer a conversation. This is a requirement to invest in the refuelling of yourself so that you can show up for others. If you are not fueled and resilient, it is very hard to practice communication, it is very hard to hold the clarity of the tension of empowerment and accountability. It is difficult to put relationships first, and it is easy to assume and get into negative places. And so to me, the foundational element here in these leadership lessons, especially during COVID, is to invest in that self care as a requirement to show up for yourself and for others.

So this is part of what I’ve learned in terms of leadership lessons from COVID. What have you learned? Take a moment, grab a pen and a paper, what are your five? You can share them with me, share them with others. But the most important thing here is when you look at COVID, what are leadership lessons that you’re holding? That are important to you? What are your five? They may change, that’s fine. But what are your five?

And even more importantly, from those leadership lessons, what are the practices or tools that come out of those five for you, maybe it’s these five, take them, use them. No problem. But whatever your five are, in your column beside, when you write them down, write down the tools or practices that are really useful for you to keep practicing these lessons COVID or not, because this is a rich time for learning and calling forth that learning into 2022, into your own leadership practice. Well done all, you’ve got this.

Thanks all. I’m Saralyn. You can find me at holonleadership.org. I walk alongside you as you practice your leadership.