As we all navigate these unprecedented times, it does give us a unique chance to hone our leadership skills during a situation in which none of us ever served: a pandemic. However, it isn’t the pandemic that I’m going to discuss in this column. I’m going to poke and prod you with questions to see whether you will be able to look back over the pandemic and identify how it changed you: good, bad or indifferent.
As a leader, we always must be evolving, and if you can’t evolve during a situation such as this one, it might be time to take a hard look at yourself.
Self-recognition
The number one question that I have for you is, what have you learned about yourself? Have you learned that you can mentally adapt to an unknown situation and make the best decision possible despite incomplete and unproven information that first might be presented to you? That sounds familiar, right? This is when strong leadership and decisiveness is important. Don’t pass the buck on to someone else. Make the decision, because sometimes you have to, whether you want to or not. If you want the rank and the little collar pins that come with it, then do the job and make the decisions. Be the leader.
You serve your people
How about this question: Have you been serving your people during this pandemic, or have you been serving you? I hope that you answered that you have been serving your people, because that’s what you’re supposed to do. I saw chief executive officers of major companies forgo their salary just to ensure that their team members would get paid during these tough times. On the other hand, I witnessed companies furlough individuals or cut their employees’ pay while the members of the leadership team kept their full salary. I just can’t understand a situation like that. A leadership team is nothing without the people who actually do the work. Try getting a great leadership team together that never made a specific product and then let all of the employees quit. How many products would be made? Absolutely none.
Such a scenario is completely mind boggling to me. As a leader, you serve your people. Period. End of story. If you have a different opinion than that, I feel sorry for you, but I feel worse for the people who must work under you. They’re the ones who suffer, when they should be the ones who flourish.
Home team advantage
Another question for you: Have you been focusing on the time that you have had to spend with your family, or have you constantly been scanning social media, because you have been thinking that you are bored? Wake up! Put your damn phone down and spend time with your spouse, your kids, your loved ones, etc. What other time in history have any of us been able to spend this much time with the ones who we love? For me, it has been enlightening. I haven’t spent this much time with my wife in more than eight years, since I started travelling, and I must say, it has felt great. At the time of this writing, I went 71 days without getting on an airplane, staying in a hotel or eating at a restaurant, which is an anomaly compared with my typical circumstance, which finds me on the road for hundreds of days per year.
However, it also has been a time when I learned about myself and what I had been missing. I truly missed my family. Yes, I had countless classes that I was scheduled to conduct canceled or postponed, but every time that one was canceled or postponed, I just smiled and asked my wife what we were going to do on those newly available days together. If I wasn’t on my 24-hour shift, I assure you that I spent every moment with her, and, boy, did that feel good. People who are used to being home might take such a situation for granted. I don’t.
The lesson to learn here is, spend time with your family every chance that opportunity is afforded. The home team is forever. Social media is not.
Lend support
My last question for you: What have you been doing during the pandemic to help to ease the stress of the people who you serve? I hope that you talked to your team members and found out how they were doing along with their families. Did they need money, food or help with childcare or just someone to lend an ear?
When the pandemic went fully into effect, I went to a battalion in operations as a battalion chief with a new team. I was so excited to do this but also was aware that I had to fit in with the team and, hopefully, to help them be the best that they can be. As I began to navigate the waters, I learned so much about all of the team members in my battalion and was thankful that they welcomed me in, while also helping me in my transition to the battalion. They are the ones who are doing the job in the street. I am in my position to support their efforts and to make sure that they get what they need to be successful in theirs. Without them, I am nothing.
The lesson here: Please don’t think that because you’re the leader that you’re the most important. You’re the most responsible. Your team members are the most important. Don’t ever forget that, because when you do, it’s time to go.
In a nutshell, I hope that you have been learning during the pandemic. If you didn’t, you’re missing a great opportunity—an opportunity that I hope that none of us ever will have again.
But what do I know? As I like to say, the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know much at all—and you probably don’t either, but your ego lets you believe that you do. Confused yet? Good. That’s the point. To make you think.
