Be The Leader

In a recent conversation with a client/friend, we were talking about leadership during a crisis – as evidenced by the current state of our country during the COVID crisis.

Leaders need to stand up and demonstrate a perspective of stability and realistic optimism because that is what people need at a time like this. Especially amidst the storm of constantly evolving and questionably inconsistent information about current issues and future projections.

I’m not a big fan of flying, partly because it’s still a bit disconcerting to me, despite all logic about the safety of flying.  Whenever I’ve flown in the past and there was heavy turbulence on a flight, the first people I would look toward were the flight attendants. Why did I look to them? I figured that if they weren’t freaked out, why should I be? They know a lot more than I do, and they’ve been through a lot more than I have. They should know and I should take my cue from them.

And that’s the key during this challenging and uncertain crisis. We need to be the leaders that others are looking to, showing that stability and hope.  Otherwise, what else are people looking at – social media, 24 hours news, rumors, hearsay – who knows what’s really accurate and true? But leaders demonstrate confidence, courage, stability and strength in a crisis. We need more people like that. We need to be those people. Our teams need it. Our families need it. Our community needs it.

According to a Gallop Poll referenced in the book Strengths-Based Leadership, 10,000 followers chose the top 4 qualities that drive them to follow specific leaders. They are trust, compassion, stability and hope.

Let’s give people a sense of trust, compassion, stability and hope in these days. We’ll come out stronger for it.