Leading Through Change: 7 Leadership Habits That Build Stronger Teams

We are living through a time of undeniable turbulence. Markets fluctuate unpredictably, supply chains are strained and technological change or political shifts mean that previously solid long-term strategies can be flipped on their head overnight. Political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental changes shake the certainties business leaders once relied on and crises strike organizations of all shapes and sizes every day.

Times like this trigger different strategic or operational demands and obligations inside many organizations and they trigger different emotional, psychological and practical employee needs and responsibilities too. Strong leadership matters more than ever and it’s important to test, assess and adjust your leadership style if you want to survive each challenge and ensure you come out stronger.

Here are your seven steps to successful leadership in turbulent times:

1. Be present

When a crisis strikes, your instinct may be to lower your head and focus on fixing the problem, but retreating alone to a darkened room is the worst thing you can do. That’s because crisis leadership is by its very nature a public thing and as your teams look to you for information, guidance, support and a sense of confidence, control or calm, everything you say (or don’t say) will be observed, analysed and interpreted for the conclusions that can be drawn.

If you can show that you are consistently present in your organization and actively leading the crisis response, you’ll be more likely to secure the trust and confidence of your people. And that means you’ll be more likely to secure the employee advocacy and support needed to strengthen for the future.

2. Hear all voices

Overcoming a crisis is a collective effort and that means that you need to hear, involve and recognize the whole team.

Listen fully without interrupting and let go of personal bias and defence mechanisms as you make time to understand different perspectives and points of view. Acknowledge that your team have different experience, understanding and skills to bring to the table and give them the space and autonomy to investigate and discuss organizational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and solutions in good times and bad.

Hearing all voices means you’ll not only be better placed to tackle problems before they cause harm, but you’ll also be better placed to support, engage and enable colleagues to fix them when they do occur. But fail to hear and you’ll miss important warning signs, aggravate the challenge and risk catapulting yourself into a different problem entirely.

3. Set the vision

Challenging times bring deep feelings of disruption and uncertainty. Your people need to know that you are ready, willing and able to guide them safely through whatever comes next and they need to know what you are asking them to do to get there.

In some difficult situations, both the path and the end goal are well defined, while at other times, the road to recovery is less immediately clear. This means that you don’t always have all the answers straight away. It’s OK to be open about this, but what you must do is quickly and clearly articulate what you do know and update your people when you have more to say. Frame the challenge as you understand it at that time, outline an approach to addressing it, specify the next steps, describe what a positive outcome might entail and commit to keeping people informed as the situation evolves.

When you set a vision and lead from the front, you give your teams the purpose and direction they need and you also help them make better decisions, stay resilient and keep on course to better times.

4. Set the standard

While the vision shows the way, it is consistent role modelling that keeps people on track, so successful leadership in turbulent times is as much about what you do as what you say.

People want to work for leaders who share their values, do the right thing and treat people fairly and your behaviour sends very powerful signals about all of these things. This means that if you want to bring people with you over the long term, you must set a consistent standard.

When you present yourself as a role model for the values, behaviours and activities you expect from others, it evidences your legitimacy to lead and encourages others to follow. This has a powerful effect not only on how your people think and feel about you personally, but also on how they think and feel about the issues they face and what they say and do next.

5. Embrace the challenge

Every organization faces setbacks and when the challenge is complex and evolving, things don’t always go as planned. The difference between failure and success is often as simple as not giving up. Great leaders embrace the challenge and evidence optimism, empathy, fairness and transparency as they keep everyone motivated to overcome whatever is on the way.

If you can confront the challenge and its opportunities with a will and an optimism to succeed that can be seen and appreciated by everyone around you and you’ll find that your energy and enthusiasm is catching, you will enable your team to stay engaged and resilient as they set out to overcome the difficulties they face.

6. Take accountability

As you present yourself as a role model of optimism, empathy, fairness and transparency in difficult situations, it’s also important that you recognize and take accountability for your role in anything that went wrong.

When leaders deflect or shift responsibility for the problems they face, it creates wider insecurity and a sense of danger within an already complex situation. Trust is eroded and people step back rather than forward for fear that they may be blamed, berated or scapegoated for the wider problem.

If you can own your own mistakes and evidence what you are doing to improve without pointing fingers at others, you will create a stabilizing force that builds back trust and a will to support.

7. Evidence learning

As well as difficulties, challenging times bring opportunity for growth, innovation and strengthened relationships – if you are open to them.

Help your teams explore the problems they face without judgment or defence and encourage them to talk about what they think went well or badly so that the whole organization can learn and implement lessons for the future.

If you can show how challenges are handled and communicated well, you will build up a lasting bank of goodwill within your team. Your people will come to recognize your leadership strengths and they’ll also come to see how they play a critical role in the company’s future success. By consistently evidencing, implementing and celebrating learning, you’ll build resilience in your organization and ready your teams for whatever comes next.

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