LEADERSHIP HAS NEVER BEEN SO IMPORTANT… BY LEANNE DONCASTER, BYRNES DENTAL LAB Leave a comment

Here we are today… six months on since the U.K were put into lockdown and although restrictions are easing, and more people are now returning back to work, organisations are and will face their own unique challenges. How do we as leaders learn to deal with the amount of change and what skills do we need to help us as leaders?
Leadership has never been so important and we as leaders need to develop our emotional intelligence to be able to give our teams the support they need.
As we are all starting to return back to work and adjust to the workplace, we are all still very much on our own journey of the pandemic and things will seem uncertain and confusing for a while so being able to understand that every individual will be experiencing different emotions is essential for relationship management with your team. According to Jim Hagemann, rather than returning to how things were before, companies must leap ahead into a better future: this could refer to a change in a company’s strategy and the leader’s leadership approach.
Since returning back to work, I know I feel we are all in a recovery phase and from my own experience I’ve had to be adaptable to the challenges and adapt my leadership accordingly, for example recognising that we can’t just go back to how things were before lockdown, but to adapt to what is needed for people in supporting them with their return to work. As a leader, you need to be aware of what is going on in your team, understand how they are feeling, what support each individual will need and be on the front line in the recovery phase. It is important to listen to your colleagues and show compassion when times are stressful. Showing that you care, and you are willing to help can go a long way.
According to Emotional Intelligent expert David Goleman ‘E.I is the ability to recognise and understand emotions in yourself and others, and leverage this awareness to manage your behaviour and relationships’. By developing your self-awareness and emotional intelligence, leaders will be able to make better decisions, communicate more effectively and are more relatable. You can develop your self-awareness and emotional intelligence by taking psychometric tests which will help give you a better understanding of who you are and what you need most from other people. Getting regular feedback at work is also a great way to improve self-awareness and emotional intelligence, and by talking with close friends always helps me too!
This is an area that I have been working on personally for a while now and by developing my own emotional intelligence I have been able to work on my own personal resilience which has helped me respond positively to challenging situations. Yes, it has been tough but I have learnt to take ownership of the challenges and step up, by doing this I have had a great sense of job satisfaction. Helping and supporting others is something I really thrive on so to know I’ve been able to give someone the support they need in a situation does fulfil me.
I have found by managing my own emotions I am able to give the team the support and time they need. I believe as leaders we are always learning from our experiences and situations at work and that there is not one size fits all approach to leadership but it is about applying the right leadership for the situation, and most importantly showing that you care and have empathy.
The pandemic has certainly brought a lot of uncertainty to the world and questions are being asked that have never been asked before. I think as leaders we should try not to put too much pressure on ourselves to have to know all of the answers to everything: we should encourage conversations to problem solve and recognise the fact you do not know the answer but let’s try and work out a solution together.
The world of work is changing, and as leaders we have to prepare ourselves for the future. It is likely that you already demonstrated great leadership pre COVID-19 but what might be different is how much more it matters now as we continue to adapt to the ever changing world around us.
As part of the RTW (return to work) team I’ve seen and been faced with challenges in the lab and I am certain there will be more. My advice to leaders throughout this current time would be to have more regular conversations with your team, find out how they are really doing, show them that you care and listen to them when times are stressful at work. Also, it is so important for you to look after yourself, make sure you are giving yourself enough self-care so you are able to give your team the support they need. As part of maintaining a positive and healthy mindset, I find listening to a good podcast and a great work-out can really help me: what would yours be?
Brene Brown states ‘Leadership is not about titles or the corner office. It’s about the willingness to step up, put yourself out there, and lean into courage. The world is desperate for braver leaders. It’s time for all of us to step up’.