Hey GLC readers! It is December 2020, and what a year it has been. Total craziness!
I think it’s safe to say that all of us are tired of social distancing, washing our hands countless times during the day, and deciding when we walk into a grocery store if having to wear a mask is an infringement of our First Amendment rights. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly required adjustments and flexibility on how we live, how we do business, and how we act around each other.
…leaders will have to rely on their personal courage to step up and make major decisions that hopefully will be in the best interests and safety of their company, workers, shareholders, and families.
Many businesses continue to suffer, and many workers continue to be unemployed. Effective communication and accountability practices and principles have also suffered. But in some cases, companies have flourished during the pandemic. And why? The most common explanation is that leadership adjusted their ways of doing “business as usual” and modified their production practices to serve the demands of pandemic survival better.
In a past blog, I wrote about how the instructors in SEAL training repeatedly put the officers in the class into uncomfortable scenarios to see how they would lead under duress and test their courage to step up and take charge of the situation. Their standards were formidable and relentless, much like the ongoing pandemic. But there were two things I repeatedly told myself that helped me better understand why the instructors were so demanding of officers. They were: (1) I volunteered for this program, so if I didn’t like it, I could ring the bell and quit anytime I wanted, and (2) knowing the instructors were testing us to make sure that if/when we graduated, we were ready for the daunting demands of being a leader in the SEAL Teams.
You asked to be a leader…make the call.
So, as we approach the new year, the need to remain flexible and adjust accordingly because pandemic disruptions will continue. And as leaders, there is still little to no existing business models, theories, or previous experience to draw upon…leaders will have to rely on their personal courage to step up and make major decisions that hopefully will be in the best interests and safety of their company, workers, shareholders, and families.
Are you up to these leadership challenges?
Coach’s tip(s) of the month: 2021 will require those in charge to adhere to good, common sense leadership fundamentals. Specifically:
– Lead from the front. Do not hide when things get tough, nor refrain from making the hard decisions. You asked to be a leader…make the call.
– Be visible. Workers need (and want) to see their leaders making decisions, especially in times of uncertainty. You asked to be a leader…make yourself accessible.
– Be accountable. Hold yourself accountable first and foremost. You asked to be a leader…the buck starts and stops with you.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Leadership: Accept it, attack it, make it happen!
