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Leadership and career development

How can I be a great leader through all stages of the change?

Leadership coach and business mentor Nicki Deeson shares her advice for managing your team's wellbeing during the COVID-19 disruption.

As a manager, you will be worrying about some staff, and others will be taking a lot of your time right now. Your team may be finding the workload relentless, juggling unforeseen household challenges and fearing for your charity's long-term sustainability and their jobs.

Follow three simple steps to show strong leadership through this crisis - whether you are a staff member or a current manager.

  1. Look after yourself during the crisis. Check in with yourself each day, and put your own wellbeing first. Set your direction, priorities and activities each day, and ask for support to do this. If you are not able to get support from your manager, peers or a trusted friend, contact nicki.deeson@gmail.com, a trained coach and mentor who has spent her career in charity finance and is offering you a free coaching conversation, which is a time and space for you.
  1. Create psychological safety for your teams and colleagues. Be visible and available. Communicate frequently about your charity's financial situation, your priorities, and how their work fits in with those. Assign time every day to ask:
  • How are things at home?
  • What are your biggest worries, anxieties, uncertainties?
  • What do you need from me today, to perform at your best?
  1. Support your team to achieve a positive work-life balance. Ensure they are using their holiday, in a positive way. Agree working hours in line with their personal priorities, and check they are sending messages only within those times. Watch for unusual behaviour in group conversations. Follow up where needed to encourage them to switch off during personal time, and to check in on how they are feeling.
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