How to Create Resilient Leaders During COVID-19
COVID-19 is disrupting the way people live and how workplaces work around the world. This is a challenge that requires the support of resilient leaders to weather these troubling times.
Returning to the status quo will be almost impossible. As a result, the uncertainty of of the pandemic has heightened employee emotions.
The biggest challenge management face is finding a balance between being empathetic and authoritative.
Employees are the most valuable asset of a company. If they want to survive and succeed in this crisis, they must invest in their managers and employees’ development.
The Statistics
Companies worldwide spend $ 365 billion on employee training and education. Meanwhile, US companies alone spend $ 160 billion, yet employees struggle to put what they are taught into practice.
63% of millennial managers said they have not fully developed their leadership skills. At the same time, 71% of them expect to leave their company in the next two years.
83% of organizations believe that it is important to develop leaders at all levels. However, only 5% have fully implemented leadership development.
Why Don’t We Have Resilient Leaders Yet?
Managers lack the confidence to lead their team during a crisis. Pandemics, organizational changes, crises, and telecommuting require specific skills that don’t come naturally. Additionally, managers need support and guidance to learn and implement these new skills.
A Guide to Building Resilient Leaders
Learn how to develop and equip your managers with the leadership skills they need to thrive during COVID-19.
1. Create a mastermind of management
As Covid-19 affects businesses and workplaces sink into telecommuting, management needs a support system to feel empowered.
A management mastermind’s goal is to create a safe space for all managers to meet through video calls. Eventually, everyone gets to share challenges and best practices, seek advice, hold each other accountable, ask questions, and support each other.
2. Establish a channel to share resources
Free resources are abundant to both companies and employees. What may be obvious and known to one is not so to another. Establishing a communication channel like Larksuite allows managers to share resources they find beneficial.
3. Bring a virtual coach for individual or team development.
Traditionally, the mindset around self-help resources and training was for those who considered themselves weak. This stigma may cause discouragement for those who are striving to become resilient leaders.
However, that mindset has changed today after leaders like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Sheryl Sandberg, Sundar Pichai have praised the results of having a coach. Our coaches provide 1: 1 and team workouts that we can do remotely.
Coaches have trusted confidants at the service of the individual and the company at all times. By asking powerful and thought-provoking questions, coaches help managers identify innovative solutions, leverage strengths and improve weaknesses, and establish new habits.
We can empower employees to implement new strategies to improve their time management, communication, relationships, and hone their leadership skills.
Many could be reading this rolling their eyes right now as they take a reduction approach during the COVID-19 crisis. However, in times of crisis, the stability of a business is under pressure. If managers lack the skills to propel their team forward, their poor leadership will hold back their employees and the company.
When managers are well equipped and confident to lead their team, their employees are happier, more productive, and high-performing—also, job satisfaction and retention increase.
4. Have weekly learning sessions
Virtual learning sessions are events focusing on developing managers’ skills to help them be more effective leaders for their teams. These sessions are similar to lunch, and I learn that each session has a defined theme with a guest speaker leading it. Departments or figures like human resources, managers, and external experts can help organize them.
Some training topics to consider are time management strategies while working from home, stress management, emotional intelligence, endurance, effective communication, employee engagement, health and wellness practice fittings, positivity in the workplace, and more.
Contact us if you have any questions.