Marcia answers leadership questions

A. Fear drives people to take an emotional stance. Often people go in opposite directions based on their reactions and perspectives. Your role as the leader is to unite people with a unifying purpose. People split apart when they focus on either what they may lose or what they most hope for. You can create harmony by bringing the extreme factions together. Begin by acknowledging the perspectives of all of the people. They are both right as individuals, but they need to act as a team. Understand that now the team is looking at either/or, good/bad, or win/lose perspectives.

Leaders pivot and refocus the team on the issues that they care about and need to accomplish together—what are the problems that need to be solved? Together they need to work to find the answers. They need to also agree on who they are serving. When the people can work together, they can optimize the system and the results they need to achieve. Optimization is key and leads to improvement, innovation, and transformation.

A. Different people will pivot and find the opportunities during the crises that they face. They will make the adjustments in work or home that work for them. Those who struggle may put too many expectations and pressure on themselves. To support your team more, discuss with them what challenges they face.

Understand their workload and make sure they take breaks through the day and have the resources they need. Help them prioritize, and have a beginning and end to their day with distinct boundaries. Teams may want to achieve perfection. Reassure them that finding success, happiness, and customer satisfaction emerges from their happiness and the control they have. Keep them focused on what they control, and let go of what they don’t control or uncertainty.

Marcia joins The Drop in CEO podcast

Marcia joins Deborah Coviello on the The Drop In CEO podcast. They discuss the difference between motivating vs. helping emerging leaders self-motivate, redefining outcomes, and the value of making education fun.

You’ll learn why leadership complicates the message of service. Marcia will share tips on how to make simple changes in order to help team members understand and align with the organizational mission.

Have a great week!