Carolyn Stern, Author at EI Experience

Leading Effective Virtual Meetings

by Carolyn Stern | Oct 16, 2020 | Management Skills

The dynamic of our workforce is continually changing. The current situation of COVID-19 has many organizations making quick, on the spot decisions. For instance, it is no longer safe for employees to work in their usual office spaces. So how are businesses adapting? Thankfully, many companies can offer remote work options – meaning that group operations, such as team meetings, are conducted virtually.

As companies navigate through these unpredictable times, at-home offices and virtual meetings have become the norm. The sudden shift from in-person meetings to virtual meetings require organizations to quickly find a solution – from finding a reliable platform to upholding productivity. Both employees and employers always need to be flexible and adapt. When faced with significant changes, it is crucial to utilize emotional intelligence. Using emotional intelligence enables one to empathize with others and is also the key ingredient in recognizing an individual’s own emotions to make better, informed decisions.

Leading Effective Virtual Meetings

Whether virtual meetings are the favourite or most dreaded event in the workday, the question of “How to lead effective virtual meetings in times of uncertainty?” remains. Let’s be honest – when living in unprecedented times, it’s normal for employees to feel unmotivated and disengaged. To combat this, we put together our top three emotional intelligence tips to help kickstart productivity, engagement, and, ultimately, lead effective virtual meetings!

1. Schedule Connection

The first step is to ensure that your employees are set for success for virtual meetings. Utilizing a meeting agenda is excellent at outlining purpose, updates, topics, and decisions. However, leaders need to ensure the schedule sets aside time for connection and collaboration. It’s easy to deliver a task over email, but purposeful conversation and direction happen face-to-face. Although teams cannot meet in person, leaders can put aside time each day for check-ins, recognition, and sharing positive news!

Set allotted time slots for each item to ensure employees are not losing opportunities to connect with colleagues. A leader can act as the gatekeeper to keep everyone accountable and ensure everyone gets a chance to be heard during the meetings. Even though there may only be one individual leading the discussion, that does not mean that it is a solo mission!

Connecting is essential and helps employees build trust in the organization. When leaders can bring a level of trust in the organizations, they feel obligated to participate since they genuinely care about their opinions. Therefore, building trust is the most significant step towards effective meetings and a productive work environment.

Furthermore, your workforce likely spans across multiple generations, all with varying skill levels. Leading effective meetings means everyone has to participate. Leaders need to ensure all employees have the resources to participate in virtual discussions. Encourage younger generations to meet with older generations and help them through the challenges of setting up virtual meetings. By understanding the different levels of skill in the organization, leaders can provide the proper support to all generations. Leaders will eliminate stress and supply employees with the new skills and knowledge required for the upcoming virtual meeting!

2. Flexibility and empathy go a long way

Working from home proposes a unique situation as professional lifestyles and personal lifestyles blend. You do not know what is happening behind the scenes of your employees’ lives. Therefore, it is critical to act and lead with empathy and flexibility.

When leading virtual meetings, remember that everyone has a different work situation. For instance, some employees may have a nice, quiet space, ideal for working, while others may need to prepare a meal for their kids first before attending the meeting. As a result, remember to be patient and kind towards all team members. Make it an effort to check in and learn more about their situation and then ask how best to support them. Try incorporating check-ins at the beginning of your virtual meetings to understand the team members’ emotions better even though apart.

Once leaders understand the different circumstances each of their team members are in, they will adapt meetings to be more effective for everyone. For example, maybe before virtual work meetings were at 9 am, but now half of your workplace has to homeschool their children during that time. Leaders need to be aware of their team’s schedules, so they can make meeting accommodations that benefit the entire team. Not only do leaders need to improve on flexibility, but team members need to as well. It is time to be patient and understanding! If a team member is five minutes late to a meeting, invite them with open arms. Similar to leaders, team members also need to trust that their colleagues are doing their best.

When leading virtual meetings, be empathetic and flexible. Remember, everyone is not in the same boat, but rather the same storm.

3. Set Rules but Be Open to Change

As mentioned above, team members may be unfamiliar with virtual meetings; it may even be their first time attending one! To help the team ease into virtual meetings, layout the guidelines in an email and delegate time at the beginning of the meeting as a reminder. Examples of online etiquette for consideration include having cameras on, punctuality, and dress code. Once these norms are established, virtual meetings will become less intimidating as the team members know what to expect.

In return, leaders should also be open to feedback regarding meeting structure and logistics. Encourage participation whenever possible to keep team members engaged. As team members are participants of the meeting, their opinions should be equally, if not more, valued like their leaders. Cultivate a culture of open communication. After the virtual conversation, discuss (if time allows) or send out a follow-up email requesting their thoughts and feelings on how the meeting went.

Like acting with empathy, be mindful of how to tailor meetings to best suit employees’ needs. For example, if team members feel that they are experiencing screen fatigue, dedicate a few minutes throughout the session to take a quick stretch break. As a leader, do not be afraid to ask for help from your team members. While operating through times of uncertainty, take this moment to collaborate and learn together; leading effective virtual meetings are a collective effort!

Benefits of an Effective Virtual Meeting

Leading effective virtual meetings allows people a chance to feel connected, appreciated, and fulfilled at their job. Right now, everyone is struggling to feel genuinely connected to their workplace, and productivity is at the lowest it has ever been. When leaders embrace the importance of connecting their employees, their productivity, innovation, and overall positivity will significantly improve. Emotional intelligence gives leaders the tools to communicate with their employees on a deeper level and run meaningful meetings for everyone in the workplace.

If interested in learning more about leveraging emotional intelligence to lead remote teams in times of uncertainty, check out either of these workshops, Leading Remote Teams with Emotional Intelligence or Leading Effective Meetings. Also, check out our Virtual EQ Retreat, specifically designed to assess and develop a team’s emotional intelligence through a remote learning platform!

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Embracing Change with Emotional Intelligence

by Carolyn Stern | Oct 8, 2020 | Change Management

Change is intimidating, but nothing good ever comes easy. Experienced leaders translate change into a possibility they should embrace! Organizations need to reverse the view that change is an obstacle to overcome, rather than an opportunity to improve and do better. Take reorganizations or mergers, for example. Organizational changes can create new positions, divisions or departments, or a chance to create a new job title.

The mindset of change needs to alter. Becoming more aware of the communication, relationships, and emotions will bring trust and clarity to the organization. Not only will employees feel more connected, appreciated and fulfilled, but teams will excel in engagement, productivity, and innovation. Leaders are too focused on the negative impact of change; they miss out on the rewards of embracing change and utilizing their emotional intelligence to get there.

Embracing Change with Emotional Intelligence

By embracing change with emotional intelligence, your employees will be more positive, present and productive. Organizations that manage change with a positive mindset are finding new ways to work and interact with each other to adapt to the “new normal” that is 2020. When people embrace change, they stop pointing fingers, the stress uplifts, and employees have more time to spend on work than worrying about what will happen.

The big question everyone is wondering: How are leaders lifting the stress of uncertainty? It comes from removing blame and replacing it with acceptance and patience as everyone adjusts to the change at a different pace. Accepting change comes from a place of understanding and empathy for people’s various positions. Once leaders open up communication within the organization and take the time for genuine, honest conversations from the top-down, employees will feel more comfortable and committed to getting through the changing conditions.

As Brene Brown says, “realize that everyone is doing their best.” If leaders can learn to tune into their emotions and manage change with the mindset, everyone is genuinely trying to do the best they can, the stress of change lifts. If a leader is continually blaming departments for their profit losses or nagging on employee’s productivity, the negativity will spread top-down, resulting in decreased productivity. People cannot separate their workplace feelings from what is happening in the world. Leaders need to accept, appreciate and spread a positive message of change.

Boosting Productivity

Right now, organizations are facing exponential drops in productivity. Often, organizations get caught up in the numbers and forget there is a valid reason behind the decrease in motivation. Change is not easy for employees, primarily when the change affects their work and personal lives. Leaders of organizations need to realize the importance of embracing change in their workspaces. Organizations that are already focusing on the importance of culture and communication come out of change more resilient.

How organizations are engaging with their teams is a large part of their overall productivity. In How to Engage Your Virtual Workforce Using Emotional Intelligence, it outlines the different tactics leaders must take to lead effectively, and it is the same with change management. The best way to engage with your team to alleviate their fear of change is to communicate with them. With the change in the workplace, leaders need to find new ways to engage and collaborate with their employees. When employees feel heard and supported in their work, they will spend less time stressing about their job’s uncertainty and get more work done.

Below are three ways emotional intelligence can increase productivity in the workplace during change.

1. Help Others

Help others get through this change. You are not the only one feeling the pressure of change in the workplace. Offer your support through open communication. In You Can Count on Change, it focuses on communication to bring people comfort. Everyone handles change differently, so a one-size-fits-all solution will not fly. Leaders need to stimulate conversation between their employees and offer resources to help when your own hands are full. It takes a village to help create a culture of embracing change!

2. Maintain Relationships

During a significant change, it is crucial to open up your empathy circle. Collaboration and “water-cooler” talk are that of the past. Instead, leaders need to find new ways to engage their employees. Engaging employees stems from a supportive conversation, communication outlets like Slack, and allowing casual conversation. Building relationships helps build trust in the organization, making it easier to get down to work when you have people relying on you.

3. Active Coping

Avoid escape coping and acknowledge the changes happening. Problems that are put under the rug develop a deep level of distrust and uncertainty within the organization. Active coping allows organizations to take on the problem head-on and keep employees in the action plan. When employees know their role in the change, they are more inclined to offer help, work harder, and take on more responsibility.

Embrace Change from the Top-Down

Leaders need to recognize that their employees may be in the same storm, but they are all in different boats. In Leading Change in the Workplace, it emphasizes the importance of communicating the vision for buy-in. For leaders to breed a culture that embraces change from the top-down, they need to ensure people understand the changes to come. Internalizing the vision helps employees embrace change more effectively and also connects them to the process.

Embracing change is not an overnight task. Organizations should not be saving their emotional intelligence tactics when change or uncertainty strikes, but rather embedding it into their culture. Emotional intelligence can better help organizations manage stress, communicate compassionately, and build more productive workplaces even in the storm of change. Change is always around the corner; if organizations do not embrace it, that may have a rude awakening.

To learn more about embracing change with emotional intelligence or leading during these changing times, check out our Leading Through Change workshop. For more, keep up with our latest blog on effective change management – You Can Count on Change!

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How to Lead Through Change with Emotional Intelligence

by Carolyn Stern | Oct 6, 2020 | Change Management

Never has it been more important to engage with your staff in ways that work for them. In these times of uncertainty and change, Emotional Intelligence – the ability to connect with people on an emotional level – is crucial to maintaining strong and resilient teams.

With all of the economic hardships facing the world, collaboration challenges working in remote teams, not to mention increased worker worries and anxieties, organizations are forced to lead differently through these unprecedented times. Strong leaders realize the impact emotions have on making decisions, communicating effectively with others, and coping with stress and unfamiliar situations.

Even before COVID-19, the World Economic Forum had ranked Emotional Intelligence as one of the top ten skills required to succeed. The Future of Jobs Report showed that Emotional intelligence, leadership and social influence, and service orientation are also set to see a particular increase in demand by 2022 relative to today’s current prominence.

Now, months into the new normal, EI has become the top skill required to succeed post-pandemic. The companies who survive will be those who understand the importance of emotional intelligence and recruit and develop teams who excel at using this crucial skill in their work.

In fact, when tested alongside 33 other workplace skills, emotional intelligence was the strongest predictor of performance, explaining 58% of success in all types of jobs. Therefore, investing in emotional intelligence training in the workplace will improve employee morale, emotional well-being, as well as productivity.

Check out our newest video to learn how to use Emotional Intelligence to lead your team through change effectively!

Video Transcription

Today’s leaders need a completely new skillset.

You are managing the most complex workforce in history. It’s made up of people from multiple generations, across different ethnicities, religions, genders, sexual orientations and cultural backgrounds.

The work environment has also drastically shifted, thanks to a combination of technology and the aftermath of COVID 19. We no longer have to be in the same country as our colleagues, never mind the same office! And today’s employees are less willing to spend their lives commuting to crowded offices and are demanding options for remote work and virtual teams.

This all makes your job of managing even more difficult. Is your organization struggling with all of these changes?

The truth is that the way you were previously taught to manage employees doesn’t work in this modern world.

Tuning into emotions is the key to effectively managing today’s multigenerational, diverse and virtual workforce. Emotional Intelligence is the leadership superpower today’s managers need to boost productivity and employee engagement.

Let’s face it; people are complicated. And our ever-changing workplaces make leading even more challenging. But one thing hasn’t changed.

Every person, no matter their role, age, or background, wants three very important things in their workplace.

CONNECTION.

APPRECIATION.

and FULFILLMENT.

When people feel connected to their team, appreciated for their efforts, and fulfilled in their job, it improves how they feel and perform at work.

Research has shown that Emotional Intelligence is the critical skill exceptional managers use to get the best results from their teams. Try this simple exercise:

Ask one person on your team, “How do you want to be recognized for a job well done? “
Then, listen attentively to their responses
At least twice over the next week, act on the feedback and show appreciation to them in the way they suggested.
Notice what happens.

At EI Experience, we help you build a productive, profitable organization with happy, engaged employees that make a difference in the world. We teach you how to lead with emotional intelligence so that you naturally improve your communications, strengthen your relationships, make better decisions and cope with stress more effectively, building your employees’ confidence along the way.

Effortlessly watch personality conflicts melt away and position your employees to work together to take on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Emotional intelligence is quite simply, the magic ingredient for connecting authentically, communicating effectively and thriving collectively. Book a call or email us to find out how.

For more blogs on leading through change, check out our blogs How to Embrace Change with Emotional Intelligence, and Leading Effective Virtual Meetings.

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How to Engage Your Virtual Team Using Emotional Intelligence

by Carolyn Stern | Sep 1, 2020 | Emotional Intelligence, Engagement

The year 2020 has thrown us all a massive curveball. COVID-19 has transformed the dynamics of how companies operate, offering more flexible work schedules, and understanding the benefits of remote work and the impact it can have on our productivity with more of our attention on completing tasks. As well, we have learned that having virtual teams helps us attract the best talent and build a team that brings a variety of backgrounds and perspectives together — which makes a company stronger.

Many people are stressed, tired, and overall feeling disconnected and disengaged, especially at work. According to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, 41% of employees feel burned out from their work, and 44% feel used-up at the end of the workday. Employers are struggling to maintain morale and keep their teams enthusiastic and committed from afar.

One of the biggest challenges has been connecting and communicating effectively with your virtual workforce. This isn’t an easy task for leaders to manage, especially those learning to use technology. Employers are struggling to keep employees engaged, with employee engagement at an all-time low, and 35 percent of employees are struggling with mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety.

We have seen many tactics to keep employees engaged, like virtual happy hours, casual meetings, and regular Zoom check-in calls. Although nobody will complain about getting paid to have a glass of wine, leaders need to recognize that engagement is built on trust, not impromptu meetups.

Building genuine connections and developing a positive work culture are vital elements in developing meaningful engagement. How does one connect authentically, communicate effectively, and thrive collectively? This is done by learning how to engage your virtual team using emotional intelligence.

How to Engage Your Virtual Team With Emotional Intelligence

Leaders recognize that they have to go above and beyond to engage teams using emotional intelligence. Fun activities and spontaneous team meetings are light and fun, but the deep root of engagement stems from emotional intelligence techniques.

Every employee, virtual or not, wants to feel connected, appreciated, and fulfilled in their workplace. In our newest workshop, Leading Remote Teams with Emotional Intelligence outlines specific techniques to keep build trust and empathy within your teams with the ultimate goal in mind: employee engagement.

All emotional intelligence competencies are essential; however, there are specific competencies you should emphasize with engagement.

1. Emotional Self-Awareness

Emotional Self-Awareness is the ability to be aware of your emotions and triggers.

A leader needs to be aware of their own emotions and how the external environment impacts their mood; how a leader shows up to a meeting impacts how they communicate and connect with their teams. The better the leader is at identifying how they feel, the better they will put themselves in other people’s shoes.

2. Emotional Expression

Emotional Expression is the ability to express how you are feeling constructively.

A leader needs to be able to express themselves and share how they feel. Using more emotive language like” I want, I feel, I hope” will lead you to be seen as more of an inspirational leader who can share a compelling vision. If your team is inspired, they will be more engaged.

3. Interpersonal Relationships

Interpersonal Relationships is the ability to build and nurture mutually satisfying relationships.

A leader needs to build connections and have good social skills to build trust, gain buy-in and leverage the resources you need to reach your teams’ goals. Your ability to form healthy relationships in your team is essential, immensely to help weather difficult times.

4. Empathy

Empathy is the ability to appreciate and understand how another person feels.

A leader needs to build strong interpersonal relationships, and having high empathy makes a leader approachable and allows your team to feel safe and share their thoughts and ideas. This connection can take your organization to new heights. Leading with empathy enables a leader to grasp what another is feeling, even if it is much different from what they feel.

5. Reality Testing

Reality Testing is the ability to be mindful, present and attuned to a moment or situation; to see things objectively.

A leader who has a high level of reality testing is seen as grounded, objective and in touch with the work environment. They do not let their subjective personal views and experiences cloud their judgment. This is incredibly important when it comes to engagement and employee experience, as employees feel seen, heard, and respected for where they are, not just where you want them to be.

6. Flexibility

Flexibility is the ability to adapt and cope well with change or the unfamiliar.

A leader who has high flexibility can modify their thoughts, emotions, and behaviours in response to change. These kinds of leaders embrace change and view it as a springboard for progress in the organization. They can accommodate and approach communication and learning from different perspectives and tactics and offer their team alternatives or innovative approaches to work.

The Return on Investment of Engagement

With the continuous level of engagement falling, employees need more support in remote work environments. Not only is engagement falling, but the return on investment (ROI) within your organization is declining. Even if you aren’t familiar with emotional intelligence as a leader, you should be aware of the impact of ignoring it.

A 2017 study by the Engagement Institute uncovers that disengagement can cost U.S. companies between $450- 550 billion a year. By acknowledging your employees’ emotions and acting on them effectively, you can keep a healthy culture and stay financially competitive. The motivation is clear: engage your virtual team using emotional intelligence or face the consequences of going even further into financial turmoil.

3 Tips to Engage Through Emotional Intelligence

By diving deep into your virtual team’s emotional needs and being aware of your feelings, you will be able to maintain a high level of engagement and have a more happy team.

In our latest blog, Communicating Together Apart, we outlined the importance of effectively connecting with your employees and working together. There are some small yet powerful moves leaders can make to build a more engaged virtual team.

1. Personalize Recognition

Even though you see your team on one screen, you need to recognize each team member’s individual needs and motivations. Remote work has made it easy to identify the introverts and extroverts in your virtual meetings. Leaders need to accommodate their meetings to benefit both types of team members, allowing the introverts to speak, and the extroverts to sit back and listen. A productive team meeting fosters an opportunity to connect with participants, offers direction and purpose while creating space for others to step up and share their knowledge.

The lack of face-to-face communication can make us forget to put the time and effort into employee recognition. It’s not as easy to give a simple thank-you because so much is getting done without us under the same roof. Therefore, leaders need to find effective ways to make sure we do not miss this critical step. Leaders need to give recognition regularly, but they also need to do it the right way. Calling someone out for a job well done in front of the entire team may fulfill some employees, but embarrass others.

In the book The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, Gary Chapman outlines five different ways to show authentic appreciation and encouragement to employees, co-workers, and leaders. It’s a must-read, and it contains a free access code for taking the online Motivating By Appreciation (MBA) Inventory, where it identifies a person’s preferred languages of appreciation.

2. Set Work Boundaries

Just because you are working all hours of the day doesn’t mean that your virtual team’s expectations should be the same. Remote workers are balancing homeschooling, personal and partner stressors, and maybe even financial setbacks. As a leader, you need to respect your employee’s boundaries and try your best to avoid adding more stress.

There is nothing worse than receiving an email at 1 am or end of the day urgent requests, with little time to complete the task. It not only takes a toll on their productivity, but it also impacts how they feel about the job, and possibly how they perform on the task.

With employees learning to work in new environments or conditions, there is pressure for employees to make sure they are staying on top of everything. Therefore, as leaders, you need to focus on not adding more angst to their already overloaded 40-hour workweek.

3. Create Flexibility

The 9-to-5 workday is now a time of the past, and remote teams need a more flexible schedule. Virtual work has forced employers to be open to flexible working arrangements. Nobody wants to be told HOW to do something, so allowing employees to do their work on their terms gives them a sense of freedom. This flexibility level also instills a sense of confidence in your employees that they know you trust them enough to get their work done and meet deadlines in the most productive way for them.

In Daniel Pink’s book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, he shares that motivation can be broken down into three aspects: MAP – Mastery, Autonomy, and Purpose. Autonomy gives people the freedom to do their work in a way that works best for them.

If you want an engaged workforce, you, as the employee, need to adapt that each person on your team has a different set of circumstances and put your trust in your people to direct you on how best to support their needs.

To learn more about virtual team engagement using emotional intelligence, check out our Leading Remote Teams with Emotional Intelligence workshop, where you will learn how to connect authentically and engage effectively with your virtual teams. If you are interested in learning emotional intelligence at your own pace, we provide a deep dive into the 15 emotional intelligence competencies with our Online Courses.

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Leading in Times of Uncertainty

by Carolyn Stern | Aug 1, 2020 | Change Management, Emotional Intelligence

Leading in times of uncertainty is critical, especially during the global spread of a deadly virus and the current economic meltdown. How emotionally resilient are you in times of instability? On top of the burden of managing your own internal emotions around the pandemic and the unpredictability of the future, managing an entire team and their fluctuating feelings and varying needs can feel overwhelming for a leader. How well are you handling the unpredictability of COVID-19 and the pressures of leading a stressed-out and anxious team?

None of us know what is coming next or can control what the future may hold, and that uncertainty can be paralyzing. However, as leaders, we must buckle down, make decisions and move forward even in the face of ambiguity. The main question is, how?

Let’s be honest; no one can ever completely understand what the future has in store for you and your team, and what the aftermath of COVID-19 will have on your organization and the world economy.

The best way to manage ambiguity and have the courage to make decisions is to find ways to cope and try your best to lead your team through the uncertainty by using emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the magic ingredient to lead in uncertain times. One of the critical components of emotional intelligence is learning how to make decisions when emotions are involved and teaching your people to do the same. As leaders, you need to give up the belief that a perfect solution will come to you if you wait long enough. Taking too long to make decisions until you have the complete information at your fingertips can be costly; therefore, leading in times of uncertainty requires leaders to take risks and act.

The following are four vital coping mechanisms to help you lead in times of uncertainty with grace and composure.

1. Lead with Core Values

Instead of formulating a contingency plan for every possible unknown, leaders should turn to the anchors of their business – the company’s core values and purpose. When the world is shaking, grab hold to the things that bring stability to your organization. Your corporate values are your guiding principles that dictate your behaviours and actions. Roy Disney once said, “when your values are clear to you, making decisions become easier.”

Our values can serve as our internal GPS and steer us to live and lead each day, even amongst the murkiness. Columbia University professor, Paul Ingram, has studied the role of values within business organizations for many years and argues that values can serve as our internal control system.

A collective prioritization of values helps employees and teams work through the uncertainty. Once leaders can find solidarity within their organization through their core values and the company’s vision, their teams can come together and stand behind these guiding principles, which will make them stronger.

2. Focus on the Learning

Try not to only focus on the disruption COVID-19 has brought into our lives, and try to find the learning you are gaining from the crisis. What has the uncertainty about our future made you realize about yourself? How do you show up for your team or family in stressful times? How has your emotional state impacted how you lead and make decisions personally and professionally?

Take some time to reflect on the learning you have gained during the pandemic, and decide what you need to work on to be a better employee, leader, life partner, parent and human being. The more you know yourself, the better you will be at adapting to life’s challenges healthily and successfully.

Besides, what can your company learn from the pandemic? How can you create new products and pivot your services to address the changes the epidemic has brought upon us? How can your organization better engage employees while they work remotely? How can you innovate how you design your products or deliver your services to meet people’s newly defined needs? There is always a lesson to learn amongst the most profound tragedies. British writer, C.S Lewis said it best, “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” How can you learn and grow as a person and as an organization?

3. Mental Toughness and Emotional Resilience

Productivity is one of the many obstacles that come with dealing with uncertainty. Highly distracted or stressed people don’t and can’t innovate and change. As leaders, we must develop our staff to take risks, spur ingenuity, have autonomous thoughts, and innovate when change is upon us. The first step towards encouraging innovation inside your teams is to value knowledge and lead by example, seeing challenges as learning opportunities.

COVID-19 has undoubtedly been a challenge for the world, but as a leader, if you model the way and develop mental toughness, you can help people get through these challenging times. Mental toughness is a term used in psychology to refer to the grit and strength that people possess to soldiers through struggles and success. It is having a positive mental attitude, coping skills, and the emotional resilience necessary to overcome life’s challenges.

Mentally tough leaders don’t let stress or distractions prevent them from continuing the march towards their vision, and make a habit of building up the people around them all of the time. Encourage your staff to always think of better ways as the world is continuously changing. Though crises and global shifts are unpredictable, we can learn to predict and manage how people respond emotionally. How? Check-in with your people regularly and coach them through their emotional barriers. The key here is to make sure your team feels cared for, acknowledged for the current challenges in their lives, and supported by you as their leader. When people feel a sense of connection to the company and appreciated for their efforts during these challenging times, it will improve how they feel and perform at work.

4. Foster a Positive Work Environment

When leading through uncertainty, one of your significant duties is fostering a positive work environment. Strong leadership that encourages open and honest communication is vital to creating a positive feeling in the workplace. Put yourself in your employees’ shoes. Remember that every employee has a different tolerance to ambiguity. Having empathy for those around you that don’t cope well with change or the unfamiliar is essential in leadership.

Giving them time and space to share how they are genuinely feeling will go a long way, making your employees feel understood, heard and seen. Demonstrating empathy doesn’t require you as a leader to have the answers. Just acknowledge and feel with them. Empathy is feeling with, whereas sympathy is feeling for someone. As a leader, if you give your employees a platform to talk and share how they are coping with all of the changes, they will end up feeling more engaged and motivated to be part of the solution.

Your staff is in a place where stress and emotions are consuming not only their work life but also their personal life. Leaders need to practice self-management and stay focused and composed when times are difficult and try to create a positive work environment. If you lose your calm and controlled demeanour when situations turn challenging and chaotic, your team members may feel and internalize your energy. Inevitably, this could create a tense work environment and stressful situations that will make your job as a leader even more challenging to manage.

Preparing for Uncertainty

Even before the global pandemic, rapid technological change, growing economic interdependence, and mounting political instability had conspired to make the future increasingly murky. The reality is: there isn’t a direct solution to prepare for uncertainty. Uncertainty is all around us. But, once the pandemic hit, the ambiguity of our futures went into a tailspin. However, the good news is that leaders can use emotional intelligence to help lead during these challenging times.

Being aware of how you are feeling, and being attuned to your people’s feelings is critical. Then, use that emotional self-awareness and empathy as data to make sound strategic decisions. Focus on your core values and use those as anchors to guide your decision-making process and employees in the right direction. Creating an in-depth contingency plan may also prepare you for recurring inconveniences within your organization.

Determine what the pandemic can teach you about yourself as a leader and what your company can do better with the new and emerging needs and trends. Model the way and be emotionally resilient and mentally tough for your employees. They are watching how you respond during these challenging times. Offer them the time and space to vent and share how COVID-19 has impacted their personal and professional lives. When people feel cared for, it’s incredible what they can and will accomplish.

To learn more about building emotional resilience in your workplace or leading during these changing times, check out either of these workshops – Improving Emotional Resilience or Leading Through Change. Also, please check out our three new special packages to help your team connect and cooperate, decompress and deliver, and sharpen and succeed, whether they are face-to-face or working remotely!

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