The “5 Cs” You Need...Right Now!
As you might suspect, we’re spending a lot of time with organizations working on building a positive workplace culture as they begin to plan for a post-pandemic future (note: the researcher in me isn’t convinced we’ve entered a post-pandemic space, but that’s a whole different blog post).
The organizations in our current portfolio differ in size, location, and focus area, but a number of common themes have emerged during these conversations. It’s all made me reflect a bit about what I would be doing right now if I were still overseeing a large team of people. I’ve narrowed my list down to the “5 Cs.” Maybe they will be helpful to you as you continue looking forward to the days ahead.
Clarity – I’m talking clarity in your organization’s purpose and in your team’s passion. Clarity in purpose has challenged us all greatly over the past 15 months, but I’ve at least heard organizations talking about it (i.e. “we need to avoid mission drift”). It’s the second half of this equation that too often gets lost.
Leaders must continue to speak clearly about the purpose of the organization AND make sure everyone is still on the same page. But you can’t forget to help your team connect the dots between their passion and your organization’s purpose. There has been—and will continue to be—a reckoning in the workplace driven in part by the pandemic and in part by long overdue racial social justice movements, all of which are leading people to examine their personal passions and commitments. Are you actively helping people reconnect back to the organization and its purpose or have you (intentionally or not) watched them drift away?
Compassion – If we’ve learned anything during this pandemic, it’s that as leaders we need to be taking care of our people, not just monitoring their to-do lists. Leaders must pivot into the well-being business, not just the output business. Layered on top of clarity, compassion can make all the difference in a reenergized, reengaged workforce.
The traumas, plural, of the last year are very real. For many on your team, they are also very close to home. Empathy and compassion are necessary characteristics of a successful leader, especially right now. Take a temperature check of the team, but also of individual members. How and where can you step in to be supportive? When the team needs a break are you going to be willing to give them one? We’re seeing a number of our clients and partners take extended pauses this summer, some are even shutting down the office completely to allow people to recharge.
Where are the places you can step up and step in to offer support? Where might you need to step back and release some of the pressures and anxieties that are coming directly from you?
Certainty – With so much uncertainty in the world, how can you help your team feel like there are some certainties in the workplace? Jumping right back to the way things used to be or “the way we’ve always done it” isn’t the certainty I’m referring to here. In addition to some certainties about the company’s financial position and personal job security, the people we are talking to are expecting to hear direct reassurances from their boss that their work environment will remain flexible. Does that mean you are committing to a more flexible work week? Fewer meetings? A hybrid approach where staff spend some days at home? Different hours for different people? The answer is probably yes… to all of those things.
I read a quote recently from Stanford University sociologist Marianne Cooper (in a Washington Post article) that really put this all into perspective for me:
“Expecting people to just ‘return to work’ does not acknowledge the challenges and difficulties employees endured. Employers can’t expect employees to just pretend like we didn’t just live through a social catastrophe… employers need to understand the employees returning to the office are not the same people who left last March.”
Creativity – The last 15 months showed us, in real time, how creative and innovative all of us can be when needed. You made decisions more quickly and decisively than you ever have; you transformed the way you do business and deliver services in ways nobody could have thought possible; your entire team was uprooted from the office but showed incredible resiliency and figured it out on the fly. Let that all sink in. It’s unbelievable when you think about it. Yet, I fear that too many of us are positioned to lose those creative juices, forget the lessons we have learned, and fall back into some old, bad habits.
Carve out deliberate time to take stock of what has been working well for you (and for your team) during the pandemic. Maybe there are some things that don’t ever need to go back to the way we used to do them. A recent piece in The Chronicle of Philanthropy suggested the same.
We all need to recognize and remember that there are plenty of future challenges out there for us to navigate? Granted, they may not be as sudden or severe as a global pandemic, but they will still require creativity—in real time. In other words, don’t lose the muscle memory from all the quick, decisive, and creative moves your organization made over the last several months… you’re going to need it again!
Courage – This moment requires all of us to show a little courage, especially leaders. It may go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, the issues of the day are heavier than they have ever been. Every decision seems more crucial. Every relationship seems more tenuous. You need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable and show the courage required to not just manage this moment but lead your team through it.
Don’t confuse words like clarity, compassion, and creativity with weakness or a lack of focus. Be bold, be strong… and lead courageously. Your team is counting on you.
Written by: Forrest Alton, President
