How do you lead your team in times of uncertainty?
As humans, we don’t like change. Adjusting from the busy office everyday with colleagues, coffees and commutes to now working from home can be challenging.
Feeling possibly lost, anxious and nervous for the future, now more than ever, positive leadership is crucial for employees.
Many people anticipated that working from home would be a temporary measure, but for some - maybe many - of us, it will become the new way of life. And adaptation is therefore key.
Leaders can support, guide and help their team through these challenging times by being, pro-active, supportive and making working remotely a positive experience.
What is Positive Leadership?
Positive leaders enable people to thrive.
Positive leaders create a positive environment through multiple practises that helps teams and individuals to reach their maximum potential at work. This includes promoting team wellbeing, productivity, engagement, motivation, resilience, confidence and more.
Professor Kim Cameron, one of the foremost researchers on the practice and impact of positive leadership, defines Positive Leadership as going beyond the typical prescriptions for leadership by providing strategies and practices that enable exceptional levels of performance not normally seen in organisations [1]. He empathises that people flourish in the presence of positive principles. Cameron believes that gratitude, humility, generosity and compassion are the principles which ultimately can unleash people’s potential.
Cameron highlights four leadership strategies [2] including creating:
Positive relationships - Our relationships are fundamental to our overall experiences at work. When they are at their best, they allow people to thrive, flourish and grow. In contrast, poor relationships can negatively impact our mood, motivation and mindset at work.
A positive climate: Fostering a positive climate allows people to face challenges and failures head on, with a growth rather than a fixed mindset, enabling them to focus on what is working well rather than what isn’t.
Positive communication: Exchanging information in a way that is encouraging and supportive [3]. Being diligent and careful with the use of any negative and critical language and striving to present negative feedback in a positive way as a source of growth and development.
Positive meaning: Those that view their jobs with a positive meaning are motivated by their work and feel passionately about it. This increases job satisfaction and performance. Others who don’t or can’t find meaning in their work may see their jobs as more of a daily grind and something to be endured rather enjoyed.
Why is positive leadership important when working remotely?
In the midst of the global pandemic, Kim Cameron maintains that we need positive leadership principles and practices now more than ever [4]. Many of us are still finding our way when it comes to working effectively, efficiently and engagingly in remote locations away from physical contact and interaction with colleagues and co-workers. Building resilience and teamwork in the current climate is essential.
Enabling teams to work more effectively virtually and at the time finds ways of working that is more engaging and motivating for the individual and which at the same time can boost wellbeing. It’s essential that we do not shy away from problems, but we tackle them head on. In order to overcome these problems, we need to create clarity and confidence for team members. But how do we do this?
Bringing Positive leadership to life
We can all take steps to frame our leadership style more positively and building on Cameron’s research here are 4 ideas for you to experiment with.
1) Positive relationships – Create time during the day to fully connect and listen to colleagues.
People want to feel that they are heard and seen (this helps to create and sustain a network of positive energisers).
2) Positive climate – As a leader you can focus on encouraging and demonstrating compassion, gratitude and forgiveness to your colleagues.
Make the effort to recognise when employees are doing well, write them a little thank you note. Feeling appreciated at work is crucial for employees to feel valued.
3) Positive communication – Sharing positive feedback or giving some direct strength-based feedback can really help boost that communication between leaders and employees and help them grow and develop.
4) Positive meaning – Connect people to the purpose of their work.
Ways to do this include sharing feedback which demonstrates the impact of a colleague’s job or finding opportunities for them to see and hear from the people they directly support either inside or external to their organisation.
So, will you be a positive leader in times of uncertainty?
To learn more, see our website, or sign up for our newsletter, which will solely focus on positive leadership this month. https://tailoredthinking.co.uk/mailinglist
References
https://positivelegacies.com.au/positive-leadership-strategies/ [1,2,3]
