What happens to your career — your leadership — when life throws you a curveball?
Recently, I was confronted with a family crisis. It was a time of extreme personal stress — an added layer of trauma to an already hectic schedule. As a fellow career-minded individual, I’m sure you know exactly what I mean.
These are the times in our lives that make or break us: Not just as leaders, but as individuals.
How you respond in a time of personal crisis is one of the toughest, but most accurate, tests of your true leadership abilities.
Six Steps to Maintain Your Leadership During a Personal Crisis
When the unexpected happens — whether it’s a sudden illness, a death in the family, or a flooded basement — thoughts of maintaining your role as a leader will likely go out the window. It’s in our nature to drop everything and deal with the situation at hand. And that’s okay. The situation at hand needs to be taken care of.
However, that’s no reason to throw out your hard work. You can still be a leader, even in times of personal duress. Here’s how:
1. Remain Calm, But Show Emotion
It’s our duty not to alarm or burden our followers. Take a moment to breathe deeply. Remain as calm as you possibly can.
As leaders — especially women leaders — we’re often taught that showing emotion is a sign of weakness. And, perhaps it is. However, weakness and flexibility are not always bad things. After all, the sturdiest branches look the strongest, but they’re the first to break in a storm. Don’t be afraid to bend a little and let those around you know that you’re going through an emotionally turbulent time.
Tell those you work with what’s going on. Don’t give them every detail (that would be unprofessional), but tell them enough that they understand why you need to take a break. Which brings me to…
2. Take Some Time for Yourself
Depending on what’s going on, you’ll likely need to take some time off. Do so. There’s no shame in needing to recuperate after a personal trauma.
3. Be Aware of Your Schedule
Whether you actively take time off during your personal crisis or not, it can be easy to lose track of your schedule. Time suck activities such as replying to e-mails or indulging in social media can become all the more consuming. Even moments we take for ourselves to read or simply reflect can drag on for longer than we intend.
Be aware of the time you’re spending — and what you’re doing with that time. Don’t get lost in your own pain, letting the hours (or days) slip by unnoticed.
4. Ask for Help
When you’re the leader, there’s an unspoken expectation that you’re to carry your burdens alone. That you and only you can perform the duties needed to keep a successful operation running.
That’s simply not true.
As a leader, one of the main arrows in your quiver is delegation. Use it wisely; and ask for help when it’s needed.
Let someone else take the reins temporarily. But, be sure to…
5. Keep Communicating
Resist the temptation to withdraw within yourself. Continue to communicate with the outside world — with your team.
Even a quick “check in” helps your followers to know that, even though you’re going through something right now, you still care about them and the project you’re working on together. That their leader hasn’t abandoned them.
And, most importantly…
6. Stay Positive
Learn from this moment. Reflect on this moment. And then move on.
Don’t dwell.
As hard as it feels, getting back to work — returning to your role as a leader — as soon as you possibly can will do you a world of good. Work can be a welcome escape after a period of pain.
And that pain? It will ultimately make you a better leader.
Leaders who have felt depression, who have gone through periods of personal crisis, are the best leaders of all. Going through this will help you develop empathy. And it will give you more realistic expectations of yourself and those you’re called to lead.
Being a great leader isn’t about never showing weakness. It’s about making the best decision for everyone involved in the situation at hand. Even if that decision is to take some time off.
In the end, we lead ourselves first and our followers second.
So where will you lead yourself today?
Image by trublueboy