PIVOT YOUR LEADERSHIP
Pivot. The dictionary definition: “The central point, pin or shaft on which a mechanism turns or oscillates’. A perfect word to describe what leaders must, with urgency, do right now. Pivot your leadership. The world has changed beyond all recognition. And today’s article is focused on giving you a few practical suggestions for how to shift both your perspective and your actions.
If you have ever attended one of my leadership programmes, you will be aware of how passionately I talk about the Four Energies of Leadership. It comes from the work of Steve Ratcliffe, in his highly recommended leadership book: Future Engage Deliver. The four energies of leadership describe where we get our fuel from. It’s critical that we access all four energies so that we show up in our best light.
I’d like to use this framework to help you see how to practically pivot your leadership.
ENERGY ONE: PHYSICAL
There are two aspects of physical energy I’d like to touch on. Firstly, your personal physical energy – this is the energy that gives us our resilience and our presence. When we haven’t got this energy, we feel tired and listless. We want to go and hide. Our brain seems to be full of fog. There are a million things we can all do to improve our physical energy. Right now, we must focus on building our immune system. Below I share a list of ways you can boost your immunity courtesy of my extraordinary mentor (and past nutritionist) Fabienne Frederickson:
- https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/foods-that-boost-the-immune-system#shellfish
- Colloidal-Minerals-Liquid – Amazon
- Green Superfood Powder – Amazon
- Spirulina Pills – Amazon
- Gunpowder Green Tea
- Jamie Oliver Superfood Family Classics cookbook
- 12 best essential oils for respiratory health
As leaders it’s important you show care and concern for the physical well-being of your teams. From a simple “How are you?” (asked twice so you can open up the conversation) to thinking more strategically about creating healthy cultures. Encouraging your teams to think about their nutrition, hydration, sleep patterns and exercise. These are usually the first things to go when feeling under pressure. It’s your duty to ensure you are bringing these items on your weekly updates. And above all, be a great role model to your teams too.
ENERGY TWO: INTELLECTUAL
This is the energy of debate, decision and implementation. It’s the energy of innovation, of persuasion, of critique. It’s usually the calm energy of strategy and planning, of looking over the horizon and creating structure, systems and processes. If ever there was a need to rapidly rethink our strategy and plans it is now. Within days we are working from home. Our modes of communication have fundamentally shifted. The rule book has gone.
We must and speedily develop new ways of thinking, of responding to the daily crisis hitting our to do lists.
Interestingly fighter pilots are trained to think in terms of OODA – Observe, Orient, Decide and Act. This way of thinking is to clearly identify the problem, establish options, choose your action and execute – all in the blink of an eye. As leaders we all have to get smarter at listening to different perspectives and exercising our intuition. The one thing this virus has taught us is that we have to become adept at leading with speed.
We must also rethink our collaborative working whilst we are based in our home offices. Here’s a great article from Business Insider looking at the best work-from-home tech tools:
I’d also like to recommend a new podcast from the World Economic Forum, on the coronavirus pandemic. A weekly focus on the ‘World v Virus’, tackling healthcare, science and economics.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/introducing-world-economic-forum-podcast
ENERGY THREE: EMOTIONAL
Right here and now, many leaders are faced with a heady mix of emotions from their teams. Not only do we have to show up in a bigger way (you might want to read my previous article ‘Leading Through Coronavirus’) but we have to be able to handle our own emotional responses to the crisis.
Yesterday I spoke with two CEOs. Both are incredibly positive individuals. Both are incredibly challenged right now. Their need to remain steadfast, positive, focused and motivated. But they are both well aware of that fine balance between cashflow and employee security. That yo-yo of emotions. Of being positive, humble and decisive.
There’s a particular tool I would highly recommend if you feel emotionally wobbly right now. Whenever I feel emotionally rocked this is often one of my first points of call. And it’s Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT. It’s similar to acupuncture but without the needles and you can do it yourself. There’s a school of thought that suggests our fears and anxieties come from old patterns of thinking that got ‘stuck’. And these patterns need releasing.
Brad Yates is an excellent resource on this topic and provides tons of free videos. You can find out more here: https://www.bradyates.net/eft.html
And he also has an excellent tapping for EFT and coronavirus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AmQ9ORSNds
ENERGY FOUR: SPIRITUAL
This energy focuses us on what is truly important. It is tapping into our inner wisdom, leading from our values, our mission, our purpose. It is about doing the right thing in the right moment. It is learning to trust and open up. It is about shifting the negative gremlins that control our mind and creating a positive space of connection and meaning in this chaotic world.
Once more I must thank my mentor Fabienne Frederickson for sharing these brilliant resources.
NASA Images: https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2020/03/03/coronavirus-nasa-reveals-how-cinas-lockdown-drastically-r educed-pollution/
Man’s search for meaning book summary: https://www.blinkist.com
Solfeggio 852hz: https://meditativemind.org/cleanse-your-mind-with-852hz-solfeggio-frequency-music/
Raise your personal vibration and stay in the vortex:https://thejoywithin.org/authors/abraham-hicks/the-22-abraham-hicks-processes-from-ask-and-it-is-given
God works through faith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AEHC8aflIw
Jeff Van Clute: https://jeffvanderclute.com/articles/a-message-from-the-coronavirus/
There are tons of resources and help out there right now. Let us all share tools and tactics that are working for us. Every aspect of what we know and what we are doing has been turned on its head. Start pivoting your leadership and get yourself in a strong, healthy place. Be the role model for your teams. Show your vulnerability and how you are choosing to respond. Life is too short to be in worry and anxiety. Step up and, please, stay strong.
