Navigating the leadership pressure test this pandemic

I've been dreaming a lot lately. Mostly about my unending To-Do list. So maybe its just stress playing out as dreams. Like many women entrepreneurs, with the pandemic, I find that the pressures seem to be mounting!

This past year, I got the chance to get to know quite a few incredible women across Asia who have all been fighting for their dreams to keep their businesses going. The global pandemic threw wrenches in many of their plans. From having to completely change their models, to going months without revenue, or trying to respond quickly to new opportunities with tight cash flows all while dealing with the challenges of managing remote teams and keeping everyone motivated. There were a couple of weeks back in May when we had gone a little past the one-year mark for the pandemic lock downs, on every single call I was on with women entrepreneurs (and there were more than 10), tears were shed, emotions were running high, frustration was palpable.

For many, coping with the lock down was hard enough with increased responsibilities at home; figuring out how to rebuild when the uncertainty that seemed never-ending made it harder. On top of that, the toll of having boundless optimism and exhibiting a calm demeanor to keep team spirit up as a leader, was starting to show.

Leading through uncertain times, you are expected to demonstrate strong empathy and take decisive action, while being the strong pillar for everyone. You have to stay motivated and engaged even if your team experiences lack of motivation and low productivity from time to time. One entrepreneur told me after a particularly stressful few months, "I am tired of being strong for everyone, others (team members) get to be disengaged for weeks, not meet deliverables or deadlines, go through extended low productivity periods but I can't do that. Sometimes that gets to me, since it's one additional thing I have to not fail at."

It's been a hard year, and as entrepreneurs, we get so caught up in running in our day-to-day life, often we don't have the time to reflect and even focus on working on ourselves. There is too much going on that taking time out to build our own skills especially to be a better leader in these uncertain times has been close to impossible.

Early in 2021, the team at Unlock Impact joined hands with GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) India's Her & Now program, to launch a learn-at-your-own-pace curriculum focused on unleashing strong leadership for women entrepreneurs, SHELeads. The virtual modules includes core leadership competencies like mind frame: playing to win or not-to-lose to gender specific themes, dealing with impostor syndrome and negotiating for what you want, topped with essential like getting investment ready. Through this 8-week curriculum, women entrepreneurs reflected on each topic with video or written testimonials. We had more than 50 women sign up to the program, though only a smaller percentage completed the entire curriculum.

As a young mompreneur told me on one our SHELeads check-in calls, "I loved sneaking a few mins to record my reflection video, gave me a chance to gather my own thoughts about my evolution as a leader. But I had to really push myself to make time for it." It's one thing I've been trying to practice personally too, to pause and reflect on my changing and challenging role as a leader in these unusual times. It's not easy, life just seems so much more hectic these days.

As leaders, you get tested everyday. Your character, values, personality all come into play. I find myself having to course correct, half way through a call sometimes, when I'm providing feedback or pulling someone up for slacking, sometimes my style is just not working. We have to deploy far more empathy, as team members don't get to see your body language or sometimes even your facial expressions when the video is off, thanks to low bandwidth. Every action, word and tone is either exaggerated or too subdued. Or on days when you don't win a contract that the team pulled hours and hours for, you have to find the strength to keep everyone going, even if you feel pretty down yourself. In small startup teams, even if one or two people are out of action or feeling down, it affects the morale of everyone.

Empathetic leadership is an absolute necessity today. In this virtual world, when we are mostly working on our own, everything feels bigger or deeper than ever before. We have to find ways to be actively listening to ensure we can prevent burnout of the teams. Which all means, we need to have the tools in our leadership toolbox to truly be an empathetic leader.

Of course, trying to find time in the middle of all this, to build your own competencies and invest in your skill building is tough. For the last six months, I have taken time every week to read, watch videos or listen to podcasts on communicating better as a leader. Its a small step but I have been testing the tools I have picked up on managing my team and working on my personal challenges, and I am starting to see some of the changes. But its a work in progress.

I am excited to share that we are running the second round of our SHELeads program, starting September, that focuses on many of these leadership tools. If you are a woman entrepreneur located anywhere in India with at least one year of operations, join us on this journey to reflect on your leadership style, pick up some new tools to deal with impostor syndrome or even improve your negotiation skills. And of course, you get to meet and share with women leaders who are on this journey. It's a safe space to bring together the collective voices of women entrepreneurs. Empowering yourself is the best step forward to be stronger, empathetic leader. If you read this and thought, maybe I could find the time, don't think twice, sign up now.

#SHELeads is a virtual programme that aims to empower women entrepreneurs through a series of videos, self-learning exercises and discussions designed and developed by Unlock Impact with the support of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Her&Now. Read more at about the program here. Apply before August 31 2021.