Leadership in Challenging Times: How Can You Motivate in the New Normal?
Leadership in Challenging Times: How Can You Motivate in the New Normal?
Leadership in challenging times can teach you how you can motivate in the new normal by allowing you to start looking at your Leadership Limit. But before we get to that, I wanted to do a brief check in with you.
Re-Entry from the COVID-19 Shutdown
So, how are you doing? As the United States, and really the entire world, starts the process of reopening for business after this spring’s Covid-19 pandemic shut down, I thought I’d check in to see how you’re doing in this new and uncharted time of leadership. How are you faring? How are your team members faring? How is everyone holding up?
These are certainly times that none of us could have foreseen at the start of 2020. I’m not sure about you, but all of this leaves me wondering what our work life, teams, and workplace relationships will look like as we move forward. What will the “new normal” look like? I don’t have that answer; however, one thing is certain, your effective leadership ability is needed now more than ever. Inspiring, world-class leadership matters!
“Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”
Like me, you may be too young to have heard President John F. Kennedy speak those compelling lines during his inauguration speech in January of 1961, but you’ve more than likely heard the clip of it many times. I think I most recently heard it played as part of a radio commercial.
Why does that line from a long-ago speech get so much playtime? What about that message resonates with us so strongly—especially now? And why do I bring it up in relation to world-class leadership during a very challenging time? From a leadership perspective, there is a reason why that line is so compelling. It is a call for us to be a part of something bigger than ourselves—a part of something greater than the sum of its parts. It urges us to stand taller; be better; achieve more. It puts into focus our vision of our higher selves. How can we be part of something bigger? How can we help achieve more and help others achieve more, too? The feelings this line generates inspired a generation then, and we can leverage those same feelings today to inspire a new generation.
I would enjoy chatting with you to see how you’re doing right now. The good, the bad. Sometimes it helps to just have someone to bounce thoughts off of. Please reach out. Over the course of the next few posts, we’ll be looking at the theory of the Leadership Limit, but for today, let’s look at what is limitless—your desire to use your talents to motivate and inspire during this challenging time. Until next time, be well and be of good cheer.
