Leadership for 2009 - Supporting Others

As we watch the current economic situation and see businessestightening expense budgets, some people are looking for the mosteffective ways to lead in these times.  There are, of course, manythings that one needs to stay aware of to best navigate these times,but one of the most important is to understand how to support thepeople who are sharing the journey with the leader.  People tend tohold on to each other during times of stress, more so than when timesare more relaxed.The role of a leader here is crucial.

 I often talk about the “emotional leader” in a group, who is veryoften different than the formal leader.  This person provides thesignals to the group as to what direction to go.  This is a primalfunction of our brain, and happens whether anyone is aware of it ornot.  When the group is experiencing fear of any sort, whether it isanxiety, apprehension, or downright panic, the primitive responses are“flight, flight, freeze, or follow”.  When the group is experiencingopenness, the response is more typically curiosity and engagement. This mental state (self-realization) allows for a much broader range ofthinking and is much better at creativity and finding possibilitiesthan the state of fight/flight.

When a group gets into the self-preservation mode of fight/flight,they tend to become adversarial as a predominant behavior, and canoften lash out at everything and everybody, simply because they feelthreatened and there is no clear enemy.This can result in some reallydestructive behaviors, and can disrupt business as people alienatetheir customers, their suppliers, and one another.

The keys for a leader are in understanding that people need to havedirection in the storm.  They need a heading, a place that they allwant to be, and a burning desire to get there.  The more turbulent thetimes, the shorter the time horizon needs to be.  When people areworking really hard, they don’t want to think that the end is yearaway.  They need months, weeks, or days.  This requires an ongoingexercise of setting short courses of action, coupled with optimism,enthusiasm, and commitment from their formal leader.  If theestablished leader of the group can provide these and establish properrapport with the group, it is very difficult for another person toassume the emotional leadership of the group.  So, provide a focus, acompelling reason to be there, stay calm and assertive, and hangtogether with everyone else.  2009 will be a stellar year.  Enjoy theride.

 Jeff Evans is an executive coaching consultant with The Gaian Group, anorganization dedicated to helping organizations grow and develop through transformational change