Lifting the mood in times of crisis

The demeanour of leaders in times of crisis has a significant impact on colleagues and staff, a point worth bearing in mind whilst we battle the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

I was reminded of this during yesterday's Galvanise Virtual Summit for business leaders in Northern Ireland when fellow speaker René Carayol repeated the famous quote attributed to well known American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou;

"People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel."

Lifting the mood in times of crisis is not easy, particularly when some of the challenges appear insurmountable and the burden of leadership has never felt heavier. It is well established that mood affects cognition, memory and performance, so it comes as no surprise that in high performing teams we find leaders who personally contribute to the success of the organisation by maintaining a more positive and constructive demeanour.

No matter how you may feel inside, a more optimistic countenance will inevitably affect those around you and help set the mood and tone for the organisation.

Six times Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton discussed this with me during our session at Experian's Vision 2020 conference in Singapore at the beginning of February. Given his leadership role within the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team team he recognises the importance that his demeanour and energy level has on his colleagues.

"What I notice, is that when I come to the garage I have got to be positive," he said. "Everyone is (asking) 'How is Lewis this weekend, is he on it mentally?' If I come in and I am low, with low energy, that translates to everyone else and it brings the team down. There are times when my number one engineer or second engineer are not feeling well (about things) and I say 'come on man, let's pick up the energy.' So that's the culture that we have. We try to shine as brightly as we can and lift the team."

Hamilton will undoubtedly relate to the Angelou quote about the importance of how you make people feel, having adopted one of her most famous poems Still I Rise. He carries its title across his racing helmet and as a tattoo on his back.

My own experience of the importance of demeanour in leadership came after a 360 degree review twenty years ago when staff gave me the feedback that I too often appeared preoccupied, concerned or distracted by my responsibilities and that this had an adverse effect on how they felt. It was a lesson well learned. As someone who inherited my father's rather serious facial expression when at rest, I realised that the external perception was very different to how I actually was feeling - and certainly how I wanted the team to feel.

It's hard to lighten up, throw a smile, ask someone how they are and remember to say 'good morning' but it makes a difference to the people we work with; the same people upon whom we are reliant in these uniquely turbulent times.

ends