What Leaders Can Do Now

My friend Andrea is a nurse on the front lines for the upcoming battle with the Covid-19 pandemic, already working long hours to prepare for whatever is coming. She sent me a note recently saying she was inspired by the stories of the World War Two nurses in my novel, Blame the Dead. Those women pulled long shifts and worked amid uncertainty, supply shortages, chaos, the fear of imminent death and an ever-present flood of casualties. Andrea admits the analogy is not perfect, but it does buck her up to know that others have made it through challenging times.

For people on the front lines of this crisis, war is an apt metaphor. What Andrea is doing probably feels like fighting an elusive enemy. The entire nation of France, to quote President Macron, is at war with this pandemic. Leaders in every walk of life – from medicine to politics to business – are fighting against unprecedented challenges. 

For all the work in front of her, Andrea is happy to have a job that allows her to do something; she can play an active role in helping others. Psychologists tell us that social interaction—scary as it may be—and the opportunity to take action will help people cope with a looming catastrophe.

So what can leaders do that will serve the team and the organization and give people the satisfaction that comes with acting?

Communicate: If your team is working remotely, especially if they are used to being together, people will experience an increased sense of isolation at the exact time when they want to feel like they’re not alone. Give people the option to talk about their fears and how they’re coping.

Practice transparency: No one knows how this will play out or where we’ll be a month from now, so don’t pretend otherwise. Few businesses will be unaffected. It’s your job as a leader to think about possibilities and contingencies, to prepare for different scenarios. There may be hard choices ahead, and it’s possible that not every business will survive. All you can do is be honest and pledge to do the best you can.

Acknowledge that people have different ways of coping. The other day my wife said to me, “Well, at least we’re in this together, right?” And since we’ve always been a strong team, I guess I thought it was a rhetorical question. I’m not sure I even answered. Only later did I realize she wanted a response. She had reached her worry threshold before I reached mine. It would have been wrong to downplay her fears just because I wasn’t there yet. Recognize and respect that people have different coping strategies.

Find something to do. There may be things way down on your To Do list that can move to the top now that your team is not traveling or having meetings. Is there training you can do remotely? Can you try a new tech platform for group work? Can you host a virtual happy hour?

Share your suggestions. What are you doing to help your team, to maintain productivity, to allay fears, to feel connected?

Ed Ruggero is the author of Blame the Dead, historical fiction set in World War Two, and the creator of The Gettysburg Leadership Experience, where leaders walk the ground of the Civil War battle to gain insights into how they can better lead modern organizations.