Three Ways Loving Leaders Carry Teams Through Chaos
If you’ve ever finished a week so tired you forgot why you started, you’re not alone.
Leading is challenging in the best of times; that’s true for almost everyone. Leading is rarely a simple, easy gig.
But leading is exponentially more challenging when, every few hours, breaking news announces another cut or disruption, trauma or loss. All that uncertainty can make any leader doubt their ability to guide their team forward.
But what if, even with all the external chaos, what if YOU are exactly who your team needs? Not because you have it all figured out or because you have infinite wisdom and discernment but because you care for your team.
When so much is shifting and unknowable, the truth of your dependable Loving Leadership may just be the most important thing of all.
Leaders struggling in the chaos and uncertainty were on my mind when Simon Phillips and I spoke to Kate Blackburn on the Love Lead Change Podcast. Kate is the Director of Public Health for Wiltshire in the UK, a role she began in 2020, when she and her team worked 24/7 to respond to the pandemic. In that crucible, Kate (who confessed that the thing she is most surprised by is being a leader!) naturally intuited her way to lead her team with love.
In our conversation she shared three things leaders can do to Lead with Love in challenging times.
Leaders can create an environment of co-regulation. When the stress is overwhelming, a team that co-regulates each other has the advantage. Leaders ensure that people feel seen and known, that people notice and respond to each other with support. Such leaders create a team that benefits from co-regulation of their nervous systems and are better able to weather the storms.
Leaders can sprinkle joy across the week. We can’t eliminate all the hardships, but we can create moments of lightness. This relief isn’t a luxury but a necessity. Each person may take joy in different aspects of their work. Kate describes paying attention to what brings joy and then intentionally spreading those activities throughout the calendar to benefit from the delight they bring. Do this for yourself. Encourage your team members to do it too. And acknowledge and celebrate the joyful bursts as they happen.
Leaders can ground in purpose. Hold on tight to the “why” of your work. In the public sector and other people-oriented fields, love for the community is an engine for resilience. Truly, almost anyone can trace their work to how they are benefiting others. As a team, connect the dots of purpose to connect to what’s really meaningful.
The climate of support you co-create with your team, your ability to find joy, and your clear-eyed focus on purpose are exactly what your team members needs.
These tangible expressions of love will help you shift from surviving hard times to making them meaningful.
