What a strange moment we are living in. The pandemic is really asking us to show up in better ways. For ourselves. For our clients & communities. For our businesses. For the world. The world needs us right now more than ever.
Here are 7 leadership principles to help you show up & make even more positive impact for your clients, your communities, and the world.
1. Be honest with yourself & your community
One of the most powerful traits of an effective leader is having the courage to be honest with both yourself & your community. This means that if you are concerned about the state of the world, don’t hide it because you think it will make you look weak. This means that if you feel anxious, don’t hide it because you think it will make you look less “spiritual” or evolved. What your clients need right now (& always) is an honest, vulnerable leader who can show them – by example – how to handle emotions, concerns, and difficulties as they come up.
2. Don’t bypass your fears, or your clients
If you didn’t catch the FB post I wrote about this, please have a read here. There are too many gurus out there right now who are simply promoting “love & light”. Now, there’s nothing at all wrong with love & light, but it can often end up alienating and spiritually bypassing your clients and community if not done with care.
3. Do your own inner work
The only, only way to get through these challenging times (& any moment in time!) and to be able to deeply and with integrity support your clients through their own anxieties, fears and dark nights of the soul is to start with being committed to your own inner work. Commit to working with your own fears. Commit to facing your own Shadows. To Re-Wiring your own Thinking Patterns. To supporting your own Inner Child. Stressful moments are when we tend to put our personal work last, but don’t let that happen. Commit to your own evolution even more fiercely right now. We have a magical opportunity to go even deeper.
4. Be flexible with your plans & embrace the mystery
It’s just a fact that for the next few weeks – and probably months – our lives are not going to look as we had planned. More and more travel is being restricted. People are being asked to stay at home. And people are spending more & more time focused on the news. But here’s the thing: We’re actually always in the mystery. It’s just magnified right now, but the truth is that even when it’s business as usual, we never know what tomorrow brings.
That’s why a vital key to leadership is flexibility; being willing and able to change your plans, sometimes very, very quickly.
I’ll share with you that me and my team have been 100% in flexibility and quick-decision-making mode over the last week. We’ve decided to postpone a retreat that was going to happen in late April, and also, we are completely shifting our marketing plans for the Spring to be more in line with where everyone in our community is at right now. The truth is that it has felt tricky. It’s not always fun changing plans at the last moment and being in the unknown. But it’s an essential trait for a leader. The more flexible you can be, the more resilient you become.
5. Know the subtle difference between opportunism & being of support
Your community are smarty pants and can smell BS from a mile away, and they will absolutely know the difference between you running a big sale because you have a tool that will help them right now through this crisis and you deeply want to be of service versus you running a sale because you are capitalizing on this chaotic moment.
So of course, of course sell things right now. I am going to for sure. But remember: this is truly (now & always) all about intention and what’s coming from your heart. It’s AMAZING if you have a tool or skill or knowledge that offer a solution to what your community is experiencing right now, and it’s AMAZING if you want to make it more available to people during this time. Offer it from your heart, not from a sly place of making money off the moment.
6. Remember that your community is watching
In my book, perhaps the most essential quality of an effective, transformational leader is the ability….to lead by example. To be a model for how to show up and who to be in the world. At this moment in history, we need leaders who are in integrity, who are authentic, who show kindness, who model grace & generosity. Show your community on social media that you are helping those in your town who are in need, or show your community that even though you are not as risk you are hunkering down at home to protect others, or share with your community how you are communicating with your kids about the pandemic, or speak truth to power where you see it needs to be spoken,etc.
Lead by being an amazing example of a human being in this moment in time.
7. Know that sometimes rules are made to be broken
It’s important to have rules, protocols, systems in your business. Protocols for scheduling and rescheduling. Rules for when you’re available to your clients and when you’re not. Systems for how and when your team members complete their assigned work. And…sometimes rules are made to be broken. In a moment like a pandemic, reconsider your re-scheduling policies. Have more largesse when it comes to your team. Perhaps make yourself a little more available to your community. Honor yourself in knowing which rules are important for you personally to uphold, and reconsider the ones that you know you can handle shifting for a little bit.
There are some rules that really were made to be broken in extreme circumstances. Breaking them (when appropriate) shows your clients and your community that you are putting everyone’s best interest in mind above the rules.
Wishing you so much love. Hope you are staying safe and taking care of yourself, your loved ones, and your community.
