I had a fascinating discussion with a Senior Executive this week. She mentioned to me that she had noticed that many of their leaders had stalled. “It’s as if they are frozen in time.” she remarked. As we discussed their behaviour it was very clear that many of them had stopped leading. They were so uncertain of what to do that they were just having everyone on hold without any forward progression.
So rather than looking for opportunities and areas to grow or capitalise on, they were stopping new initiatives and having their people slow down and do the same things that they were doing before the pandemic hit. If you look back to previous economic times of uncertainty, most of the successful leaders and businesses were the ones that increased their activity and created new opportunities, rather than stopping to wait for things to pass.
So are you frozen or are you leading? Here are a couple of thoughts to get you to reassess your recent leadership:
- New Opportunity Initiatives. In the last 30 days how many new opportunities have you explored? Was it 5, 10 or 20? Are you actively looking for new ways to do things and new activities that could create positive momentum?
- Your Internal Innovators. Many staff are extremely good at innovating and creating new ideas. The challenge is that often, many managers just want people to stick to the core areas and not explore new ways of thinking. How many of your internal innovators have you spoken to in the past 30 days to get some of their ideas?
- The Voices in Your Head. What are you telling yourself during this time of transition? Is it positive and full of opportunities that are everywhere if you look for them? Or is it negative and full of, if we can just get through the next 90 days we will be fine? If you are focusing on the negative you will hold yourself back.
To help leaders during this time of uncertainty, my online Leadership Academy Program is designed to help you in your pursuit of opportunities. Click here to find out more about my online Leadership Academy Program. Remember to create your future and be the Leader you are meant to be!
