I recently read a Business Insider article that outlined the 5 skills employees and leaders need to weather an economic storm.
Here is what they listed:
Open dialogue: Leaders and employees need to quickly recognize changes that threaten the status quo. When employees don’t feel safe enough to speak up about their concerns, the organization won’t be able to respond quickly and effectively.
Change mastery: Disruptive change is one of the most common challenges of a recession. Reorganizations, workforce reductions, and budget cuts are common and difficult to absorb. An organization that can quickly move from outdated habits and practices to new, more effective ways of doing things will be far more successful.
Productivity: Financial downturns require people to do more with less. As customers demand lower prices, staffing and resources are often cut. To compensate for the shortages, productivity must improve.
Universal accountability: Under financial pressure, leaders agree to difficult changes that will reduce expenses or improve productivity, but then fail to follow through on these commitments. When accountability fails, the organization is unable to respond to the changes wrought by the recession.
Leadership: Organizations need to respond quickly and as a unit in order to stay ahead of the challenges a recession creates. If leaders can’t keep people aligned and united as they move the organization in new directions, they won’t be able to make the changes the recession demands.
I found as I was reading the article, I was connecting the five categories above to various articles I have written that may be of use to people given the current economic climate. Below is a curated Tool Kit, I hope will serve you as you navigate your teams, your organizations, and yourselves as leaders, through this next season of change.
Transition Curve: This article outlines William Bridges’ Transition Curve. From his book, Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes, Bridges writes:
“In other words, change is situational. Transition, on the other hand, is psychological. It is not those events, but rather the inner reorientation and self-redefinition that you have to go through in order to incorporate any of those changes into your life. Without a transition, a change is just a rearrangement of the furniture.”
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Ladder of Inference: Challenge perceptions by asking, “What else might be true?” in any given situation.
“Remember that our reactions are a product of our perceptions and our perceptions are a result of what is at the center of our life.” -Stephen Covey
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Things Are Not Always as They Appear in Leadership And in Life
Decision Making Model: The Cynefin Framework is particularly useful during times of uncertainty and includes a table for how to use the framework today!
“The best way out is always through.” -Robert Frost
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How to Lead Through Uncertainty with Confidence: A Decision-Making Model That Works
The Information and Gift of our Emotions: This article will help you develop greater choices and options for heightened emotional intelligence. It outlines tools and exercises for identifying and acting from an informed place.
“Being conscious of, and naming our emotions can move us from being at the mercy of our emotions to being in control of ourselves and our impact on others.” -Alison Whitmore
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Developing a Feedback Orientation: There are tools and an assessment in this article that can help you answer, “Do you listen with the will to learn?”
“Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.” -Meister Eckhart
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Accountability Strategies for the Here and Now: Using the acronym OWN IT, this article outlines strategies for leaders to improve the culture of accountability today!
“The one who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.” -Lou Holtz
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5 Accountability Strategies Exceptional Leaders Use Every Day
How to Create a Structure of Belonging: Perhaps now more than ever, people need to know they are valued and they belong. This article explores 6 conversations and relevant questions essential to the Structure of Belonging.
“The shift we seek needs to be embodied in each invitation we make, each relationship we encounter, and each meeting we attend. For at the most operational and practical level, after all the thinking about policy, strategy, mission, and milestones, it gets down to this: How are we going to be when we gather together?” -Peter Block
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How Leaders Can Create a Structure of Belonging and Other Things I Have Learned from Peter Block
It has been more than one season now that has required agile leadership. I applaud you all. I hope that this Tool Kit can serve you over the coming months as I know you will be busy serving others. Remember, as Ralph Waldo Emerson once penned, “Bad times have scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.” You are true leaders and some of the best learners I have had the privilege of knowing.
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