This year brought dramatic changes in our lives. And, stress is usually directly related to the change. So, in this Expert Insight Interview, performance coach and business psychologist Sue Firth discuss how leadership can manage its stress.
This interview explores:
- How right leadership reduces stress
- Practical things to do
Reduce Stress with Right Leadership
Leaders tend to be more open to the things that are out of their comfort zone, thus they approach many things with less stress than other people. But this Covid19 situation affects them significantly and differently than other people. As very goal-oriented people, the best thing they can do is to create short term goals for the business considering that nobody has long-term answers yet. Leaders are the backbone of the organization at this moment and the ones who must show the resilience to their employees. Many companies became virtual and leaner during a pandemic, thus the internal communication is the key now. It is very important to send more personal messages to the employees rather than a generic email. Also, it is important to stay open and honest with your employees, but at the same time sensible enough not to worry them. The communication needs to be constant. Virtual work became the norm for many businesses which allowed for more flexibility regarding the workplace and hours. Measuring performance by the results is still the same, thus as long as employees produce the same or better results there is no need to worry about their productivity and efficiency. Managing and leading people still have the same fundamentals.
Things to Embrace
Considering that our reality changed, we must change as well. Leaders should pace their day to have enough time to devote to the exercise and rest because having constant Zoom meetings will cause an overwhelming feeling. They should also meet with other leaders to discuss the tips, situations, and just to get a feeling that they are not alone in this. They should also model their behavior to the employees. Staying positive, accepting the change, and taking control of what we can at the moment are great models for the employees to follow. A moment like this call for resilience. Coming up with a one-line mantra such as “we will get through this” will help the overall team to embrace the resilience they have in themselves. If the business does not go well, there are many options to diversify the business. For example, if you produce plastic, you can start making much-needed plastic visors. In conclusion, there is always a silver lining for everything that happens in life. Thus, this is a great time to reflect on what is important for us and what makes us happy and to continue to do those things even when the pandemic finishes.
Our Host
John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.
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