Remember that your wins, your successes, your accomplishments are always built on the effort of others. Those who have covered for you, who have supported you, who have motivated you, who have done what you didn’t want to do, who have kicked you when you needed a kick and hugged you when you needed a hug.
Do you know who they are?
And most importantly, are they the first you think of after you have achieved what you wanted?
This is an historical period that is completely out of the ordinary.
Exceptions are made, circumstances are raised, needs are shaped. Yet, we should be careful using all of this as an excuse to deviate from our path.
In most cases, we can still continue pursuing what we were pursuing before. The values, beliefs, rules we have set at the indivual level do not necessarily have to be questioned.
Unless of course those were just a convenient facade.
A good way to understand this is by counting how many times we say “considering the current circumstances” to excuse ourselves for what we are about to say and do. It could be telling.
The way companies communicate and engage with their employees in this time of crisis is going to have long term effects on motivation.
It is understandable that managers and leaders are focused on business continuity (no business = no employees). Nonetheless, if that is the only thing they talk about, the rationale behind every action taken, the excuse to ask people to give more in a time when there’s little to give, that can turn out to be extremely counterproductive. Not many are happy to work for top and bottom line only.
Few examples of companies that have taken corageous actions to signal they care.
Whitbread, a British hotel operator, has decided to not pay out dividends this year and instead guarantee full pay to the employees that are forced not to work.
Workday, maker of the popular HR and finance software, will pay two weeks of bonus to most of their employees (executives and VPs excluded) to make sure they have additional support during this difficult period.
Walmart, the American retailer, has implemented a number of measures to make sure employees who cannot work, and even those who are not comfortable working, can safely take the decision to stay home.
Buzzfeed, the new website, is going to cut pays in a progressive way, starting from 5% for lower salaries up to 25% for certain executives.
Yum! Brands, owner of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, had the CEO forgo their salary for the rest of the year, to support a bonus for 1,200 restaurant general managers and provide initial support for an employee medical relief fund.
And close to home, in Finland, also Mapon’s CEO decided to not be paid for three months so that the company can at least delay laying off personnel.
If you are a business, the fact you care and worry about cash, revenue and profit is a given. Now is a great opportunity to show what else you care about.
Two things about leadership I got reminded about in the past week.
First, if you want to start a conversation on a challenging problem, do not put your idea forward. Not in the beginning, not in the middle, not at the end. Sit down and listen instead, and see if some elements of your idea can support somebody else’s idea.
Second, if somebody comes to you with a question, a problem, something to share, listen to them. Saying that you are busy, that it’s not important, that you don’t care (right now) is equivalent to breaking the relationship. If you really cannot listen now, apologise and go back to it later. It will be worth it.
Leadership is tough job. Hope you are getting the support you need.
Why are you so involved in this quarrel?
It is an honest question to ask yourself, particularly when things stall and no progress is made towards a resolution.
More often than not, we discuss to feed our ego.
Of course, we believe our perspective is the right one (the people we are discussing with do believe theirs is too). But deep down, we do not know. And experience should tell us that minimum variations to a plan, to a campaign, to a project, do not return major fluctuations in the outcome under most circumstances.
So, why are you so involved in this quarrel?
Consider the scenario in which you win, and see if the impact on the context you are seeking to affect would be bigger than the time, the energy, the foregone opportunities you are investing right now.
Making a step back and giving way is probably the most productive thing you can do. That’s a way to cultivate the focus you need to change the world.
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