Two Key Leadership Issues - is this you?

In my blog/newsletter a few weeks ago, I asked “how are you doing?” and invited people to reply and even to schedule time to chat about their current situation.  As you might expect, the responses were as unique and varied as we all are, but a few key themes emerged.

Here are two issues we're hearing consistently from business leaders:

#1 is a lack of confidence in continuing to meet their goals and objectives in this new business environment and

#2 concern is the ability to juggle it all amidst endless Zoom meetings, the demands of working from home and still having a slice of time leftover for “me.” 

Let's face it, these are uncertain times.  And unprecedented in our experience.  We've all had to learn new skills and adapt the ways we do just about everything.  And all that shifting and adjusting can be exhausting.  So how do you stay on top of it all, accomplish what you need to in the time you have, and still have a little bit of "me-time?" 

And, as for meeting the goals that you set or agreed to at the beginning of the year; they seemed realistic and important then, but how about now?  The landscape has changed, the market has changed, the level competition is different, and the priorities have shifted.

People --as in customers -- may not be focused on what you have to offer.  They have their own issues to deal with.  So how do you make sense of all this chaos and focus on what you need to accomplish?  And how do you help your team do that?

Goals and objectives seem to be a moving target right now.  Is what you thought was important on January 1 still important today?  And what about looking forward?  So many organizations have pivoted and shifted their focus -- is that what you need to do?  And how do you get your team members to understand that shift and realize how their roles have changed? 

These are all the questions leaders are asking themselves right now and sometimes, there are no concrete answers.  So, what do you do when you don't know what to do?

You go back to basics.  Why does your organization exist?  Why does your team exist?  What do you stand for?  What's important to you right now?  What's important to your customers right now?  How can you help?  How can you be part of the solution instead of part of the problem? 

It may be time to do a comprehensive SWOT analysis -- on yourself, your team, and /or your organization.  What are your current strengths?  What are your weaknesses?  What are the opportunities in the market or your world as you define it?  What are the threats? 

Putting a label to everything that's swirling around can be very helpful in bringing some clarity to the situation.  Once you do the SWOT analysis, you can go to the next step of defining the next step.  How can you leverage your strengths right now, while minimizing your weak points?  How can you take advantage of the opportunities that exist while minimizing the impact of the threats? 

It's helpful to follow a SWOT analysis with an activity to answer this question:  if this is an overview of the current situation, what do we need to start doing?  What do we need to stop doing?  What do we need to continue doing? 

The default for most organizations is to continue doing what you've always done, even when it stops making sense.  Now is a really good time to ask yourself these questions?  Is what we're doing still relevant?  Is it still important?  Is there a better way to focus our time, energy and attention - our resources? 

So, as a leader, you can contribute to the situation proactively and concretely by asking these questions and getting some answers and formulating some actions that make sense and will move the organization forward. 

And, by engaging your team in this conversation, you can give people something tangible and meaningful on which to focus.  What comes from the exercise may provide new goals and objectives and new strategies and tactics.  That will allow you to direct the activities of your team members and the sense and feeling that we are doing something that matters right now, instead of going through the motions. 

How much time can you give people to operate on their own instead of attending endless Zoom meetings?  People are burned out from the constant need to log into another virtual meeting.  Is there a better way to keep people informed and focused on the right things?

These are some of the questions business leaders are asking themselves as we begin to prepare for year end and a healthy start to a new year.  If these are issues your organization is facing, and you need to re-assess and prepare for still uncertain future, I invite you to have a brief conversation (15 minutes) to share your concerns, and explore how I can help you get on track for a strong beginning to 2021.

I invite you to use this link to schedule a brief call:  http://bit.ly/Cheryl15