Tuesday 19 May 2020

Being Visible As A Leader

In the United Kingdom, our Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has just returned to work having survived a frightening, personal battle with the Covid19 virus that took him to the intensive care unit of a well-known London NHS hospital. In his absence, the ability of the watching media and wider country to absorb and believe the messages of those who deputized for him over three weeks, began clearly and inexorably to ebb away.

Now this is not a political post about my views on the UK prime minister, nor is it a comment in any way on how trustworthy he has been since his return to work. However, it prompted me to revisit a theme about which I have written earlier this year – namely our challenge as leaders to be seen as trustworthy, and I am minded to revisit it in the context of being visible.

We’re not seen in the way that we used to be. The world is working online and from home. We remain separated by distance and time-zones from our colleagues, our challenge is to control and educate our children, attempt to exercise to stay healthy whilst also trying to manage the range of emotions that might overtake us at any moment. It’s easy to fall into the tried and tested trap of showing visibility by being excessively responsive to emails, social media posts and direct messages. However, how strategic is this? Does it really prove anything? Other than you’re sending a tsunami of emails? I remain unconvinced, and see the stress, anxiety and pressure of this strategy playing out time and again across my clients. So the question to explore is this: as leaders, how do we meaningfully build trust by increasing our visibility?

I offer a five point plan:
  1. Show up and turn your camera on. There is clear evidence which reinforces the simple fact that we are more likely to believe others if we can see them and have made a clear effort with our appearance. So for the myriad of remote meetings and calls that absorb our calendars each day – we should be seen…no matter how much in need of a barber or hairdresser we might be.
  2. Catch people doing things right and publicize it. We know how easy it is to focus on what isn’t working, however this will become an overwhelming and never-ending list of impossible problems to solve - especially as our people start returning to work. As leaders, our role is to find what Dan and Chip Heath call the ‘bright spots’, which are early glimmers of where something is working, and our job is to find ways to scale and replicate it for more success. We should publicize those small chinks of light and share our learning, because it helps us all when we do so.
  3. Offer help and mean it. It’s easy to criticize and focus on why new approaches, projects and priorities are doomed. A paraphrased quote from Brene Brown that I love is ‘roll up your sleeves, get in the game and quit whining from the cheap seats’. How can we help? What can we offer? How could we contribute in a positive, useful context? This is not about overloading your diary with ‘to dos’, it’s about being thoughtful, intentional and helpful, and boy, does this build credibility and trust.
  4. Make time and get to know to your colleagues. Invite them to speak at your remote meetings; get an invite to listen and learn at theirs. Understanding what’s on their minds, driving their activity and absorbing their energy as they grapple with the uncertainties in front of us all. Identifying what’s making them tick, and encouraging them to do the same for us creates a powerful win/win for all concerned.
  5. Listen more and talk less in general, and with your team in particular. How are they really? What do they need at this exact point in time? What’s changed since we last spoke? Genuine, uninterrupted attention is one of the most exquisite gifts we can give our people and they will appreciate and respect us for it. It’s also essential to enable others to identify more choice and take more control of their situation. If we ask brilliant questions, they will find it.

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