Leadership & Self-Care

Congratulations!  Whether you are a business owner leading only yourself, 2, 10 or 1,000 employees, you are on an exploratory, fun, challenging and insightful journey! 

Leading others is a privilege, and you have the responsibility to support those in your ‘care’ and help them perform at their best.  While your employees need to bring their own attitudinal motivation and skills to their roles, leaders create the conditions – the workplace environment – conducive for employees to enjoyably and safely execute their own responsibilities to the standards set by the leader. 

In the context of leadership, standards are ‘characteristics’ that a person can readily describe about your business and how you deliver it, and perhaps even defines your reputation.  You set the metrics of the standards/characteristics and model the behavior necessary to achieve the results. 

Examples:

“XYZ business always gives exemplary customer service!” (Experience)

“I can always find what I need at XYZ business.” (Selection/Availability)

“The products I buy at XYZ business are always top-notch!”.  (Quality)

“It’s always done right!” (Accuracy/Completion)

Leading others is not a picnic (although there may be times when you organize the annual team picnic to show your appreciation of the team’s efforts)!  The intention of this section is to introduce three (3) integral Self-Care tools you’ll want to pack into your leadership ‘toolkit’ as you lead the way and model the behaviors with your employees.   As much fun as leading others can be, the journey is helped when we have awareness of these tools, and can draw on these skills, as needed. 

Self-Care Tools:

• Anticipating, planning, and managing change & transition

• Networking, collaboration, and leadership skills development

• Reflecting on your leadership ‘practice’

Anticipating, Planning, and Managing Change & Transition

We – our business, clients, and employees – are not static.  Everyone and everything is constantly in a state of change, sometimes openly transparent and often happening under the surface.  It is important to know what change is versus what transition is and how knowing just those this information can set you and your business apart (think ‘advantage’) from other leaders and other businesses. 

There are 3 main components about change that help to understand why some people may adapt more easily to change than some others:

• The Change

• Endings & New Beginnings

• The Transition

Example #1:  Your child starts kindergarten. 

• One day the child is at home with you to care for all day, and the next day is off to start kindergarten. 

• That change has a distinct ending:  you are no longer the primary caregiver for your child.   (Actually, there are many endings in this scenario but for this purpose we use this one situation.)

• The ‘changes that you will (or will not) adapt/adjust to include:

  • Other people will be influencing your child

  • You now have hours of ‘free time’ while your child is at kindergarten

  • You might now worry about how your child will ‘fit in’ within a different environment

• The ‘what’ (change) thrusts you into the ‘new beginning’ immediately because something has ended. 

• The transition – psychological shift – that occurs within us consists of 4 phases:

What’s so special about transition?

Transition is the key to understanding why one person loves the change and another seems to be stuck in the past. 

• It takes time for us to adjust to the ending and to grow into the new beginning. 

• Each person does transition uniquely.  No two people go through transition at the same rate or in the same pathway (as described in the above diagram). 

• We change as we adapt to the ‘new beginning’ brought about by the change:  It’s quite possible to feel acceptance at the beginning of a change and then, later, as the reality sinks in, to resist the new change.  It’s not as great as we first thought it would be (i.e. Having all of this free time is lonely; I miss my child.)

• Note that these 4 stages are about feelings the individual is experiencing (loss, loneliness, uncertainty about their place in the world).

  TRANSITION IS ABOUT LOSS. LOSS IS PERSONAL.

  In the example, some parents might jump for joy and scamper out to get a job outside of the home (if not already working), while other parents may take a long time to grieve the loss of their status as primary care-giver and protector of their child.  Suffice to say that transition is very much about acknowledging and dealing with the many losses that come about with change – even when change is positive (think about getting married). 

  How we move through the transition state – and the rate at which we move – depends on the support we need to help adjust to the new beginning. 

  So, what does this mean in the workplace, and for the leader of employees? 

  • The feeling of loss, uncertainty, joy, excitement – whatever the feelings are that employees are experiencing – are the same when change is introduced by the Leader or is forced on the business by external events. 

  • Each person will go through the transition at different rates and different paths, and

  • Each person will feel some degree of loss depending on how much they anticipated the change or had control of the change. 

  • The leader needs to be aware of how the change is impacting the employees (and the customers) and be able to provide support to help progress through the transition more quickly and return to the ‘new normal’ of business operations. 

• Tangible actions the leader can undertake to support employees and customers include:

  • Dispel/prevent rumours by communicating about the change early in the process, and frequently.  Share what you know when you know it.  Bring your employees along with you!

  • Clarify the ‘why’ for the change and talk about the benefits of what the change is expected to do/will do for the business, clients, employees.

  • Acknowledge the losses that will be experienced from the change.  Surfacing the losses gives information about how to help people move forward.

  • Recognize that productivity will take a dip when change is introduced to the business.  Help employees to get back to productivity and stability with deliberate support. 

  • Support the change with learning new skills and tools/resources.  Often, change provokes anxiety about not being competent for new tasks.

  • Change is constant.  Know that this is just ONE change; help your team to become change resilient. 

  • Celebrate achievements!  Set tangible milestones along the change journey and celebrate with the team when they are achieved. 

• Knowing how to lead, implement, and manage change is the best attribute you will ever possess.

  To learn how to increase your change skills, contact info@startuplloyd.com and/or s.leonard@pinnacleperformance.ca

  Networking, Collaboration, and Training Skills Development

  Very few people are born leaders.  Most of us can instantly think of leaders who have inspired us, and we admire. 

  Most leaders who become effective leaders – leaders that inspire others and who people want to follow – focus on acquiring skills and knowledge to help them relate and improve engagement with their employees and clients.  They set goals to deliberately enhance their leader toolkit. 

  Here are some tips to easily and cost-effectively (both time and money) enhance your leader skills:

  • Collaborate - With everyone who you can!  Create and/or problem-solve with other like-minded people and even people who disagree with you!  The gift of collaboration and conversation is information and being exposed to different perspectives and leadership styles. 

  • Network - Networking is different than collaboration.  Networking expands your normal ‘group’ boundaries and opens up yourself and your business to a wide variety of other entrepreneurs/leaders who willingly share how they have grown their success both as a business and as a leader. 

  • Acquire required technical skills - You may not aspire to be the controller of your business (but you may be a sole proprietor for a while!) but you do need to know the financial bottom line of your business; where you spend and save money and how to maximize your revenue.  Enroll in an evening course at the local community college to understand and interpret your business financial statements.  Work with your accountant or bookkeeper to set targets for increasing revenue and decreasing expenses. Listen to their suggestions: that is their area of expertise.  Your success is their success.

  • Coaching/Participate in Leadership Development Programs - Startup Lloydminster offers extensive training resources to support your development as a leader.  Find more information here.

  Your Reflective Leadership Practice

  We are growing into the leaders we will become each and every day. 

  A leader invites reflection about how their actions and communications impact others – and impact the self and non-work worlds (family, volunteer, future career dreams). 

  The leader’s actions are what the employees see regardless of what the leader says (“Actions speak louder than words”) 

  Some questions to reflect upon:

  • In what ways do you mentor, manage, or coach your team/employees?  Do you know what their aspirations are for their careers/role with your business?

  • What would your employees say about what they see in their interactions with you?

  • When you think about your interactions with your employees, what keeps you awake at night?  What do you feel proud of?  What are you grateful for within the employees who look to you for leadership?

  • Who are 3 inspiring people in your life, past and present?  What attributes do you admire, and why? 

  • What does your team need from you that you are not aware of?  Ask your team what they need from you.  It may be different than what YOU think. The magic is that you ask them with intention. 

• Contact us for leadership advice, guidance, and development support for yourself and your business.