These challenging times will bring out new leaders, for those willing to step up.
Business Leadership During COVID-19 | Folsom Business Consulting
The Short Version:
- COVID-19 is forcing leadership to LEAD
- The Navy SEALS “keys to leadership” are excellent guidelines
- COVID-19 will reveal weak leaders
When problems and stress are surrounding us, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. However, when faced with difficult times and seemingly insurmountable challenges, it can be helpful to FOCUS our attention.
The economic impact of COVID-19 is unprecedented, but these challenging times require even stronger leadership. Regardless of your job title or role at your company, this is the perfect opportunity to FOCUS and take the lead. Leadership during COVID-19 is going to look and feel different. For those willing to step up, this is a chance to shine.
A Navy SEAL Approach to Leadership
Jocko Willink and Leif Babin are former SEALs who started Echelon Front, an education and training firm that applies the leadership training and tools from the SEALs to the corporate world. Impactful, effective, and highly actionable, their book, “Extreme Ownership”, is an excellent guide and resource.
Focusing on leading will help you manage stress in a few ways. Firstly, it will prevent you from being distracted by anxiety and worry. Yes, there is a great deal of uncertainty right now. Yes, things are incredibly challenging. Yes, business is suffering. However, worrying about these types of things diverts your attention and leaves you spinning your wheels, so to speak.
When you focus on problems, instead of solutions, your energy is getting wasted. So instead of worrying, FOCUS. Focus on what YOU can do and control. Leadership during COVID-19 is challenging. Start with implementing some basics of leadership.
“Extreme Ownership” features 12 keys to leadership. All of them important. Today, we are going to FOCUS on 3 of them.
Top 3 Keys to Leadership
1. EXTREME OWNERSHIP
The namesake of the book, and overall philosophy from Jocko and Babin when it comes to leadership is extreme ownership.
The first and foremost mandate for anyone who wants to be a leader, is “take full responsibility for what is happening or has happened”. Essentially this means don’t place blame elsewhere. If you want to lead, then ultimately success is on your shoulders. Stop being a victim, stop blaming things and people around you. Take OWNERSHIP.
If you are a manager, and your team is not meeting goals, then look at yourself first. Have you given them all the tools available? Have you ensured they understand things? Have you followed up with them to make sure they understand?
If you are an employee, you can still be a leader. Is there something you don’t understand? Take ownership and ASK for help. Need more support? Talk to your manager.
Extreme ownership is about taking CONTROL of your environment and situation. It is about being active in your success, not passive. It is about helping yourself, as well as all those around you.
Stop complaining. Stop blaming. Empower yourself with extreme ownership.
2. KEEP THINGS SIMPLE
Life is complicated enough. In business, it is easy to get caught up in data, metrics, strategy, implementation, and lose site of actually taking action. A strong leader is able to take something complicated, or challenging, and make it “simple”.
Simple is not the same as easy. However, by keeping things simple, they will be easier to follow and implement when times get tough.
A great way to simplify things is to create a system. A system is a road map to achieving a goal. Creating a system requires you to look at the big picture, and boil it down to a handful of actionable steps that need to be done. This can be challenging. However, this is the skill that will separate true leaders from the ones who just carry the title.
3. DISCIPLINE EQUALS FREEDOM
This phrase is another key philosophy from the Echelon Front team. Leadership during COVID-19 challenges requires a level of discipline that many people are not familiar with.
Discipline is all about commitment. It is commitment to your team, to your own standards of performance and success, to following systems, to being accountable…discipline is a way of life.
When you apply an unwavering discipline to your life-personally, professionally, in your physical and mental health, in your relationships, you will see that life is much better. Discipline equals freedom, because when you have discipline, you have success. You have choice. You have opportunity. When challenges come up, you won’t freak out, because you have been practicing the discipline needed to maintain structure, consistency, and success.
Putting it All Together
Leadership during COVID-19 requires grit and determination. To help you focus during these challenging times, try to apply the 3 keys to leadership described above: extreme ownership, keep things simple, discipline equals freedom.
When you take responsibility for the success AND the failures of your work, you exhibit maturity and control. Taking responsibility for failures does not just mean taking the blame, it means recognizing where the breakdown or failure occurred, and creating a solution.
Solutions don’t need to be complicated or convoluted. Create a simple roadmap that will prevent a repeat of a problem. Outline simple steps you and your team can be taking that will drive success. Control the daily actions that can be controlled.
Remaining disciplined in your approach and processes will allow you to be prepared for curveballs and challenges. Discipline can be applied across all aspects of your life, and will strengthen your resolve.
When you combine these three keys together, you will find that you and your team are empowered, and no longer victims of circumstance. Can you start implementing these simple changes in your life?
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Business Leadership During COVID-19 | Folsom Business Consulting