It pains me to see talented people succumb to the challenges of dynamic work environments without a support system. I was once one of those people for which there was no support in my environment except my poor husband who listened for hours. I know everyone reading this article knows at least 1 or 2 people who are distressed and need some level of emotional support. However, leaders don’t always see the signs. If not dealt with early, they become potentially performance issues as shared by my recent podcast guest Anthony Casablanca.
The early signs may manifest in the individual:
- Pulling away from engaging
- Having low or no energy or
- Having unexplained delays or deflection
I implore you to not turn away and say it’s not your problem, because we rise and fall together. One weak link may not affect you today, but perhaps tomorrow when the person does not show up for work… ever.
Emotional support is becoming a conversation to have at the table and not behind closed doors. If you can help your team with their emotional support, more than likely a few individuals will highly benefit from simply starting the conversation. It all starts with you as a leader simply asking how people are feeling. Ask deep open ended questions about what challenges are they having and what is the impact. I often find that with increasing pressures, people don’t have good prioritization skills. In my article How to make better decisions we give our team better tools to prioritize their work and navigate complexity with confidence.
If you see that the team collectively is in need of support, there is good advice from Brittney-Nichole Connor-Savarda, editor of in Emotional Intelligence Magazine and also a past guest on my podcast, The Drop In CEO. She shares insights from the work of Laurence Lee in How to Release Built-up Emotional Energy we need to engage in more:
- Physical activity, like running, going to the gym, dancing, etc.
- Creative release, like writing, painting, playing, or listening to music.
- Time in nature: nature walks, grounding, time outside
- Surrounding yourself with positive people
- Meditation or prayer
Consider these leadership changes to get people more emotionally engaged vs. drained:
- Change the work environment for a meeting to standing in a new location or taking walks while meeting.
- Do something creative like having fidget toys or arts & crafts for people to use during ideation sessions.
- Consider changing the environment of where you meet
- Bring in guest speakers
- Engage people in thinking time before starting some meeting with a question prompt.
My wish is for every C-Suite Leader of today and tomorrow to navigate their careers with confidence. If this insight was helpful, share this article with others. If you have a unique challenge and wish to have a complimentary conversation, please reach out to me.
Your time is valuable, so I wanted to share a few quick links so I can be of service:
- I would like to chat with Deb about a Business Issue or Fractional Leadership
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