Leadership support

Yes it is winter, but spring will surely come

Leadership will grasp at your heart and squeeze. It will test, challenge and set you ablaze. I have never felt more alive and conversely felt that life was over, than when I was at the top of leadership of my organisation.

• Those seasons of leadership difficulty when everything seems too hard
• You have good intentions but the consequences of your actions add to the fire
• You give love and get scorned
• You train people, develop them and they ignore your input into their career and join those who gossip.

Sometimes, we have to acknowledge that we are in the season of leadership winter and this season will have its say!

Advice?

When its winter, you don’t prance around in bikini or shorts. You dress and prepare yourself for the harshness of the season. Only a fool ignores the peril of frostbite from snow, so only a foolish leader would ignore the potential of a season of leadership winter.

Now is the time more the ever for the following –

1-     Listen deeply to colleagues- so you don’t just hear and then reply. You listen intentionally to understand before you open your mouth. “So, I am understanding xxxx from what you are saying, have I got that right?”

2-     The harshness of winter means priorities must change. There are things that you don’t bother with because the daylight is short and time is precious. Same with leadership. When things are difficult and the atmosphere is toxic. You need to ask, “What is the priority at this time?”

Is it a priority to nurture relationships?

Is it a priority to get this process finished or this system embedded, what has to wait so that can happen?

When you experience a leadership winter, focus deeply and don’t allow distractions. Insist on clarity from others to prevent misunderstanding or missed communication adding to the winter experience.

Above all, stay encouraged.

Yes its winter now, but spring will surely come

Diana