Based on recent conversations, it sounds like the announcement that lockdown will soon be lifted has had an interesting (if seemingly paradoxical) side-effect.
It’s flared up our anxiety.
I guess subconsciously we’re aware that the end of lockdown brings with it another big shakeup – where the way that we work, communicate and socialise will all change…
AGAIN!
As a leader, you might expect your people to come out of this strange, year-long chapter with nothing but enthusiasm and positivity.
But change affects people in different ways.
For some, it represents new opportunities. For others, it represents uncertainty.
As I see it, there are two ways you can handle this:
If you like the sound of the first path, below are three frameworks that will help you to work with your people so they can thrive through this next phase: helping them to examine their perception of what this change really means, bolstering their self-belief, and giving them the tools to navigate and control any uncertainty they are feeling.
Tamar Chansky, author of ‘Freeing Yourself From Anxiety’ says changes at work are amongst the top life stressors that we experience, that’s because typically:
“How we thrive is through routine and predictability. It gives us a sense of control. When there are big changes, we are suddenly thrown into a state of uncertainty.’
But how effectively we feel we can cope with this change and uncertainty depends very much on how we see the world. In fact, psychologist Martin Seligman has identified three character traits known as the Three Ps, which potentially reduce our resilience to change and tough times:
However, by changing how we see tough times (ie, that the problem isn’t always yours alone, that difficult stuff doesn’t last forever, and that not everything in your life is terrible) you can tap into a deep well of resilience as the uncertain situation passes through you.
Here are 5 ways that you can change your perception of uncertain times, by strengthening your resilience:
Those with self-belief and a realistic amount of self-confidence tend to go far. And this is especially true during more challenging times when a good dose of self-belief helps to keep us both buoyant and focused.
The word ‘realistic’ is important – helping your employees to have a balanced view of themselves is key to cultivating their self-belief. Knowing their strengths and weaknesses, helping them to play to the former while working on the latter.
Because as an employer, it can be very frustrating seeing your people obsess about, and nurture their limiting self-beliefs, perpetuating a story about themselves that isn’t true. It’s distracting, inhibits their growth, whilst hiding their true potential from you, and the world!
So here are 5 tips you can use to develop their self-belief and propel them forward.
As humans, we often try to control everything around us; both situations and people. Frankly, this is a recipe for disaster, depression and a sense of failure because we simply cannot control everything. But we do have a certain superpower, as explained by Paul Mort, supercoach:
‘I can’t change the past but I can change how I see it. The past is a moment and our imaginations fill in the gaps and make up all of the meaning around what happened. But really, it is up to you how long you want to visit dogshit emotions. The thinking that keeps us glued to bullshit is our victim mentality, so put attention on your intentions It’s up to you what you do about it.’
Here are 4 ways that you can reset the control balance:
This is just a snapshot of what’s inside PUSH’s new book ‘High Potential Hacks – The Positive Behaviours of The Highest Performing People.’ We’d love for you and your people to benefit from more of its magic, so download your free copy below… it might just change their life!