How to Lead Through Uncertainty (When Your Team Still Hasn’t Recovered)

—This week on the SPARKED Podcast—

Is it possible to maintain peak performance 24-7 for months or even years, without ever needing to step back, recover, and refuel? The truth is, no, it's not. In fact, this belief is a dangerous myth that often leads to personal and professional disaster, and it's especially damaging as we navigate our way through uncertain times.

With insights from Charlie Gilkey , a strategic advisor, executive coach, founder of the Productive Flourishing consultancy, and author of the multi-award-winning book, Start Finishing, we'll dive into three main points from our recent podcast conversation to help leaders and team members not just survive, but thrive in today's unpredictable world.

1. Recognize the limits of human capacity

As humans, we simply cannot sustain elite-level performance constantly. Pushing ourselves or our employees to maintain such a standard will lead to burnout, physical and mental health issues, and decreased productivity. Acknowledge and embrace the fact that we need recovery time to maintain our well-being and perform at our best.

Advice: Set realistic expectations and encourage regular breaks for yourself and your team to prevent burnout and maintain a healthy work-life balance. Build mechanisms for recovery and refueling into any project, or process of growth, knowing that the space to recover will actually let you move “net faster” by avoiding intermittent meltdowns, along with the far harder to recover from damage that is done and time that is lost from pushing past a humane breaking point.

2. Lead with compassion and empathy

Charlie emphasizes the importance of compassion and empathy in leadership, especially during times of uncertainty. By acknowledging the challenges and hardships faced by your team members, you will foster an environment of trust and support that is essential for success. You cannot address something that needs attention, until you acknowledge it exists. Pretending it doesn’t just makes the problem worse.

Advice: Don’t assume your team members are okay. Make time to check in with them and genuinely listen to their concerns. Offer support where needed, and be willing to adapt your leadership style to meet their needs, and also the needs of the moment.?

3. Embrace innovation and adaptability

In an ever-changing world, flexibility and innovation are crucial for success. Rather than clinging to old ways of doing things, embrace change and encourage your team to think creatively and adapt to new situations.

Advice: Foster a culture of experimentation and learning within your organization, allowing your team members to explore new ideas and strategies without the fear of failure. Most important, don’t punish well-intended exploration that doesn’t work out. Learn from it, celebrate the initiative, then integrate the intel into the next attempt.

It's time to shatter the myth of relentless, unending peak performance. Instead, prioritize recovery time, lead with compassion, and embrace innovation to ensure the well-being and success of both individuals and organizations.?

For even deeper insights and powerful strategies, tune in to our full podcast conversation with Charlie Gilkey . The lessons we learn will not only help us navigate uncertain times, but they will also redefine the way we approach work and life in the long term.

#innovation #management #culture ?

— This week’s SPARKED Tools & Resources —

Do you ever find it hard to trust yourself and the decisions you make?

You're certainly not alone in this boat. Whether you’re struggling to trust yourself with your next career move or with setting new boundaries around your work, making decisions is hard, especially when your choices affect more than just yourself. But here's your reminder that building trust with yourself and the people you work with takes time, and that's okay!

There's always going to be something you could've done better, something that could've gone differently, and so on. But hopefully, this week's roundup below helps you remember that trusting yourself first is the key to unlocking your full potential. So go ahead, take a peek, and check out the resources below!

Consensus decision-making is surprisingly effective in both communities and workplaces. Voting might seem like the most democratic way to come to decisions, but in reality, this method leads to silencing voices that need to be heard. Unpack why consensus decision-making might be the new strategy to adopt in your workplace and learn how psychology professor and department chair Mel Rutherford makes the tactic work under his leadership style.

What to do about a boss who's pinging you at all hours. These days, it's a miracle if you can leave work at work if you know what we mean. If you could use some help setting better communication boundaries with a manager or boss, learn some tricks right now to start taking back your control (and life).

Making the time to job hunt while working full time. We all know that searching for a job can feel like a full-time gig on its own. So look to this guide for a complete job search timeline broken down into four key phases to help you manage your time wisely and efficiently.

— Let’s Stay Connected —

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