Breakfast Bite: Five ways to instantly lift your leadership in uncertain times

You’d have to be living under a rock not to have noticed the US election this week. As senior leaders, our commitment to those in our care involves being aware of how it has impacted them, whatever their political leanings.

We’ve found there are a number of things on leaders’ minds at the moment:

• How do you rally the troops when there’s an air of division?
• How do you eschew opinions without turning everything into a political debate?
• When emotions are running high, how do you diffuse rather than dismiss them?
• When dark nights draw in how do you lift the mood in the pre-Christmas slump?

When workflow provides its own pressures and demands, elevating the atmosphere makes sound human and business sense. Get the best out of everyone’s cognitive, rational and creative capabilities by facing gnawing problems head-on and then experimenting with solutions. We’ve come up with a few here.

Five instant ways you can lift your leadership

1. Boost a sense of belonging, safety and mattering. People naturally want to trust and they’ll thrive when they feel like they’re heard, recognised and valued. For something uplifting, check out our quick-read how-to here.
2. Be authentic and don’t sweep whatever mood is prevailing under the carpet. Go out of your way to ask people how they’re feeling and show you care about their answers.
3. Change your location and get out with your team if you can – that means leaving the office and going outside for a walk or to a coffee shop. Experiment with ways of doing this with those working remotely so nobody is left out.
4. Start every meeting with a round of good news from everyone. Tiny wins of the work-related or family and personal kind can be celebrated and shared, elevating everyone’s mood.
5. Thank somebody – and not just for the obvious gestures. Look out for the small things that may otherwise go unnoticed or the day-in-day-out efforts that have become so commonplace they’re invisible.??

Treating your people with genuine kindness, compassion and empathy will drive performance, inspire loyalty and inspire your people to go the extra mile. Of course, these aren’t our only reasons but if you need a business case, they’re pretty compelling.