Radically Present Leadership: This is Your Moment, Leader.
Anyone can be a good, even great leader in good times.
Great leaders are born in days like these, where complexity + the unknown and unknowable can lead to fear, and spiral us away from what we know gives us comfort and hope.
You call yourself a leader? Now is your moment.
Be the leader people can and want to identify with, and follow.
How?
Show up. Be radically present and available on slack channels, for hangout meetings, virtual lunches and check-ins. Check in on the people you serve as a leader, the people entrusted to your care.
Talk about your most important values and beliefs.
Share what brings you hope, and gives you energy.
Acknowledge people specifically and publicly for their contributions, fresh thinking and commitment to others and to the work.
Try on a sense of humor- it’s okay to be funny as a leader- people need it right now. (Avoid joke-telling, no one likes your jokes, they just laugh cause you’re the boss.)
Spend time teaching and coaching people.
Offer insight about the future and draw a picture of the future that is compelling, and inviting.
Share continuous improvement outcomes, your learnings and your own plans to improve.
And listen, ask then listen carefully to their joys, worries, fears, hopes, aspirations- and act accordingly.
Today: Make sure you have a good supply of notecards for handwritten messages. Send one note a day to people across your organization, acknowledging (with specifics) their contribution and its impact on you, and on the people around them.
Be the human being who inspires followership because of what you do, who you are, and how you are showing up for the people in your care during this time. It’s never too late to Lead.
