Care more

Corona Divorce. That term is trending on Japanese social media sites as couples in lockdown grow fed up with each other. “My husband’s loud voice. The television is on loudly all day. My husband snoring as he lays in the middle of the living room,” wrote one Japanese wife on Twitter. “I’ve put up with this for 10 days. How many more days will it last? Will my spirit hold?”

Life in lockdown has changed almost everything about the way we live and work. Life has changed like never before. From struggling to keep a business afloat to the experience of redundancy or furlough,  from the effect on your children to your work-life balance, cooking habits and entertainment under lockdown, all of us are having to learn to adapt.

There has never been a more crucial time for strong leadership than at any time in history. With anxieties on job security and an unscheduled crash course in 100% remote leadership, the impact of disruption affects different people–mentally, emotionally and operationally–in different ways. Four weeks ago, we would never have expected that our meetings, our conferences would all need to take place from our home offices or our kitchen tables.

I'll say this simply: how you treat people when times are good and how you treat them when times turn bad will define your true measure of wealth. A major part of my 2020 has been spent trying to understand what it really means to be a virtual leader - particularly under conditions of adversity and ambiguity.

Leadership isn't a punch-in/punch-out position, it's a privilege. When you sacrifice for your team, it gains loyalty, which is again a privilege. The people I have the opportunity to lead do things because they care, not because they have to.

You build influence and forge genuine relationships when you put their needs before your needs. You want to be the type of leader who walks into the room and says, "There you are!" instead of "Here I am!"

As a leader, I gave more and got much more in return. In order to be a true leader, you need to have a deep passion for helping the people you're leading. Of course, I am in no way saying I do things perfectly, or that I always get things right with our people. Sometimes I blow it completely. But no one will tell you I don't try.

Under extreme pressure, the ability to lighten up, celebrate and laugh can make all the difference. It can break a spirit of depression and stimulate creativity.  It can cut through fear and tension. Finally, it can enable a team to refocus, renergize and surmount daunting obstacles. When times were not so bad, celebration came easily. What is most impressive, however, is that the spirit of celebration continued throughout these darkest of days, when cheerful rituals  could easily have turned to deep despair.

We meet virtually for team bonding games and activities. It creats an upbeat mood and a way of thinking about life that sustains us through these grimmest of times.

Optimism can be sparked by reframing tough situations in positive, empowering ways. It is important to note that the concept of reframing is not simply saying blithely that things will be all right. Rather, it is to take the difficult situation and envision all the possible outcomes, both positive and negative. We looked thought about what could be the most critical priorities, what are the key opportunities for action and what concrete things can we do to create a sense of momentum and forward movement.

People have an incredible B.S. screen. They know when you're smoking them, and they know when you are being real.

My team see me showing up via casual calls, messages, video chats, both individual and group. There are ways of showing up which do not take much effort and no money whatsoever. But they do take interest. Little things count. Sometimes little things count the most. Small deeds are far better than great intentions.  Everyone wants to know that their leader takes an interest in them for the long term and ants them to succeed. People don’t care how much you know. They want to know how much you care. 

Caring leads to trust. Care and compassion have an impact on the bottom line. Rainbows after storms. Never let a good crisis go to waste.