Out of 7 roles of authority, business leaders currently rank last in public opinion of response to the Covid Crisis. Behind journalists. Behind government leaders.
Why is that?
My guess would be that it’s because most are doing a shocking job of listening to and looking after their teams.
It’s really hard to look after someone if you don’t understand what it is they want and need. Which means you need to be open to hearing them.
It means being open to the fact that you may not have all the best answers.
And this is the interesting dynamic that great leaders need to manage between confidence and openness. The ability to inspire confidence while at the same time being open to better answers than your own.
In this current crisis when our decisions as business leaders impact health and potentially even life, then we need to hear people’s concerns, and be open to their ideas and actions.
What’s more, those decisions shouldn’t be ones we apply any pressure to, and should be theirs to make freely.
Demonstrating that level of trust in your team is simply the right thing to do.
And as it happens will likely increase loyalty because not many companies and leaders are prepared to do it.
To talk to Iyas about how to protect your business through the crisis and build a stronger and more purposeful one coming out of it, just book a time to chat.