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Over the past two months I have attempted to navigate my Executive Coaching clients through the emotional and financial vicissitudes of COVID-19. I have seen some client’s gripped by anxiety and doubt and others stay incredibly grounded and focused. The business challenges are as complex as the emotional ones; however, whereas the business focus is survival and continuity, the psychological need goes beyond survival.  I believe leaders must strengthen two important psychological skills more than ever: to make meaning and to tolerate immense ambiguity. Although the economy is re-opening, we will not magically feel better–we are not in a post-trauma period, but rather still in the midst of it. And although the deadening effects of social isolation will lessen, we will have to navigate new anxieties in this new socially-distant world. Creating meaning or “finding purpose” in the rubble of trauma is considered to be the end-stage of the grieving process. However, I believe leaders must learn…

Managing virtual and remote teams present a number of challenges including maintaining employee engagement and cultural consistency. Early, seminal studies 2001, 2005 showed that teams were not meeting goals, client requirements were not met and that employees struggled with the learning curve of collaborative technology. Focused leadership is essential now as the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing many businesses to now build out these teams quickly. Simplify the Tasks and Processes. In order to ease the coordination between team members, make sure that the tasks are abundantly clear, labor is divided, and processes streamlined. The contextual and emotional cues that typically signal to employees if something is working or not are now absent. It is also important to use small subteams if possible–research shows that teams under 10 employees are more effective (and less effective over 13 people). Finally, select a model to use in managing your team. There are multiple models including the popular X Team…

When guiding teams through significant organizational change, a common first step is to assess employee readiness for change. The COVID-19 pandemic however blindsided most businesses, leaving teams completely unprepared. Rather, teams have been forced to adapt and develop new habits, goals and systems in a very rapid way. As suggested in my previous post “Leading Through Chaos”, it is important to have an active Communications Plan to guide your team through the coming weeks and months. In my Executive Coaching practice, I find that teams are now in the midst of a very difficult period known as the “valley of despair”, marked by struggles with motivation and apathy. Good leadership during crises is the ability to reframe the crises for your team. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s five stages of grief (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance) is a helpful tool for employees to make sense of and keep perspective on what they are feeling as they adjust to…

As of mid-April, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than 100,000 deaths worldwide and the infection rate has not even peaked in many communities. Many employees have already and will continue to experience the death of a parent or loved one as a result of the pandemic. Employees will be accelerated into a grief process while battling other stressors including financial hardship, social isolation and managing children at home. Perhaps more than ever before, it is critical for organizations to re-evaluate how grief is handled in the workplace.  Healthy organizations support and acknowledge major life transitions including marriage, the birth of a child, and retirement; bereavement should be no different. Grieving is messy and any grief expert will tell you that the traditional stages (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance) are non-linear and shaped by personality and culture. Healthy organizations–including its degree of psychological safety, the meaningful relationships with co-workers and customers, and its alignment with…

In 2019, I wrote a piece on Leading Through Change, outlining simple change management strategies to help guide your team through periods of uncertainty. However during a massive disruption such as as the current coronavirus pandemic, additional and often more robust guiding leadership principles are important to follow.  Develop a Communications Strategy. Fast. Communication about massive organizational change needs to be clear and repetitive about what changes employees can expect, what is expected of them and how their responsibilities will be impacted. Work Across Department Heads. You will need to get buy in from your top leaders, source employee concerns, and act in full alignment with your leadership team. Do not work unilaterally or in an uninhibited manner. Demonstrate your ability to value different perspectives and then execute a clear plan that everyone can own and work through the layers of the organization.  Full Transparency. Your organization will also serve as an information resource for…

If you want to see a good leader in action, observe their behavior when there is imminent danger and catastrophe. As South Florida anxiously waited to see which direction Hurricane Dorian would turn in early September, Governor Ron DeSantis demonstrated solid leadership: he actually read the 300-page hurricane preparedness plan, deliberately took action, communicated calmly and consulted with state and local officials, empowering them to make decisions rather than using a top-down messaging style as seen with his Republican predecessor.  Unfortunately, this type of steady leadership is not always the case. Rather, the tendency for many leaders is to exhibit certain negative behaviors under extremely stressful circumstances including avoidance, poor judgement, unclear communication and setting inconsistent expectations.  Change and instability in a business can come in many degrees and forms–when business slows down, negative PR blind-sides a brand, good talent leaves, and cash flow dwindles.  I would argue that all organizations need to expect and…

“What specific harmful behavior is this person showing and what has been the impact?” is typically my first question when an organization inquires about my Executive Coaching for employee in a leadership position who has been acting destructively. I want to get a very clear sense of what the negative behaviors are that needs to be addressed immediately and what messes need to be cleaned up. We often characterize different types of healthy leaders (e.g. transformational, visionary, affiliative, pacesetting, etc.) but we should be aware that there are also different types of negative leadership. For a helpful categorization of these styles, I recommend this review of harmful leadership styles. (W. Burns, 2017).   Overall, harmful leadership behavior often ranges from unpredictable and explosive to self-promoting and demeaning to discriminating and dismissive; more attention now is also being given to absentee leaders which has it own deleterious effects. In general, harmful leadership often results in direct reports and…

Many companies thrust employees into new leadership roles without equipping them with the proper tools and training. This transition can heighten anxiety and stress for that individual, resulting in them under-performing or reverting to only what they know. Transitioning into a new leadership role often requires aligning bigger teams (and therefore more personalties), managing “up” to senior leaders/stakeholders and working at increased levels of operational and strategic complexity. Ideally your organization has an on-boarding process in place to ensure a successful transition. But if it does not, it is imperative that you are pro-active about this transition. Tools to get you started: Set Critical Milestones. Create a 30/60/90 plan with clearly defined milestones for you and your team. Call them Rocks, OKRs, or KPIs, etc–just be sure you and your team knows the big priorities. Commit to an effective time management system. As you step into increased responsibilities and demands on your time you will need to have…

Great hurdlers know that they must clear the obstacles while maintaining their speed. The same applies for good leaders: you must overcome barriers—both externally and internally—while maintaining your focus and energy. In my previous article “Time Management Principles To Live By”, I suggested a number of tools for leaders to test and practice. Delegation is one of the most difficult time management skills for two reasons: a) when done well, delegation involves multiple steps (often referred to as “Realization/Observation/Collaboration/Evaluation/Delegation”) that can derail at any stage and b) it tends to trigger internal barriers (i.e. limiting assumptions and beliefs) for leaders, often resulting in sabotage of the delegation process. My clients and colleagues know that the Enneagram Personality Tool is the primary personality assessment tool that I use in my 1:1 Executive Coaching work. I won’t describe here the details of how the Enneagram works (I refer you to Mario Sikora’s excellent articles on this) but it is…

Time management is one of the most common and daunting challenges for busy executives. In my Executive Coaching practice, I find that many leaders either never learned a time management system, resulting in reactivity and lack of focus, or they have learned an overly rigid system preventing them from fluidly adapting to the realities of their organization and shifting challenges of the marketplace. In fact, there is no universal time management “system” that works for everyone. Rather, I suggest that leaders test and practice specific time-management principles to see what actually works depending on the demands of their business and jettison those that do not. Clarify your Intent.Start by asking yourself: if I had a more time, then what would I do with it? What would I actually spend my time on that I would both enjoy and drive the business forward? Clarify what you want to do, why you want to do it and…