By Hall of Fame Speaker, Leadership Guru, and Award-Winning Author
Connie Podesta, MS, CSP, CPAE
If you thought leaders were stressed to the breaking point before, throw in a pandemic and some economic turmoil. It’s hard enough to climb the steep hill of adapting to the wild challenges of our new normal but try making that climb while carrying an entire team on your back. That can feel exhausting and, many times, impossible.
So, what’s the difference between leaders who can reach new heights during uncertainty with highly engaged, super productive teams versus those who leave workers scattered and floundering at the base of the hill?
Part of the answer is having the right tools for the job. In a world with Covid-19, leaders have to make sure all of their team members have the technology to work and communicate seamlessly from a distance. But there’s more to the equation. Much more. I always tell my audiences that great leadership involves 10% smart business strategies and 90% psychology.
Surprised by that? Many people are.
The truth is that the most successful leaders have a knack for understanding how other people think and react. They can read the room and anticipate the responses. They communicate in ways that naturally engage their team members and influence their attitudes about everything from collaboration to competition. In short, they excel at the psychology of leadership.
During times of extreme uncertainty (“Hello, 2020!”), you can gain a real edge by understanding what’s going on in the minds of your team members, colleagues, and customers. If your organization is struggling to keep up with constant changes in…well, pretty much everything, maybe your leaders need a crash course in the psychology of business success.
To be clear, I’m not talking about some quick-fix, rah-rah pep rally of motivational platitudes. Far from it. I’m referring to helping leaders gain serious insights into their mental capacity for adopting and adapting to change, quickly and professionally. Showing them how to tackle enormous learning curves with confidence. How to suppress that natural fight-or-flight reaction to whiplash-inducing strategy shifts. Most importantly, how to model all of that for their teams and get them on board with making (and even embracing) change.
When you have a thorough understanding of the psychology behind your own leadership style, you’ll be better equipped to tap into your personal reservoir of resilience and help your staff do the same.
Thankfully, there are convenient virtual options to make that happen. Since March, when the world essentially shut down for the pandemic, I’ve been working with leaders in companies across the country to help them build their psychology-based, pandemic -driven leadership skills. When they discover the secrets to breaking out of the uncertainty rut, they can move their teams forward to a breakthrough performance. Now how cool is that?
To find out more about Connie’s game-changing “non-virtual” virtual presentations and schedule one of her high-impact, online keynotes, Call me today at (972) 596-5501 or email her at Connie@ConniePodesta.com! I’m ready to help!
