What are the three stages of transition to become a high performing post-pandemic people leader?
Most workplaces are now a mix of hybrid, virtual and in-person, and all organisations have had to make tough calls about when and how we work. You may find yourself not only in a new virtual working environment but you may also be taking your first steps into new roles of leading and managing people.
Whether it’s your first step into supervision or you’ve gained management or leadership responsibility through the crisis, there are some simple steps and key questions that you can ask yourself to minimise the impact of change and successfully transition into successful people leadership.
Understand that it’s a three-stage process! What stage are you in?
Endings
Your old role and position in your organisation have changed. Other people’s roles and daily routines have changed beyond belief. You no longer are responsible for doing the technical work but are responsible for ensuring that your people are able to reach their potential and improve their performance and productivity, which is not easy as homes are now normal workplaces.
It’s important that you are accessible, flexible and can listen. In these uncertain times, yes of course you must still ensure key delivery areas and priorities are reached but you’ve got to get involved in the people piece first. This can often be of major challenge, especially if no transition training or people development has been given to you. In the endings stage, new people leaders can get entrenched in doing what they know or develop a familiar management or leadership style which is learnt rather than authentically crafted and is not fit for a post-pandemic future.
Adjustments
This is probably the area where most people find themselves stuck. Fundamentally, relationships will change as will others expectations of you in your new role. It’s not just relationships with colleagues, but also with clients, suppliers and other stakeholders.
Also, new boundaries need to be set. This is critical, especially if you are now managing or leading friends and contemporaries at a distance over a computer screen. Its also the time to be giving great thought and input to your personal branding and the projection you are giving out as to your personal leadership style. Are you being the behaviours you want to see in your people?
New beginnings
You are essential to enabling new beginnings and recovery in your organisation. It’s your role to identify and remove any obstacles or blockers to enable your teams to reach their total potential, improve their outputs and efficiencies and contribute to new ideas for company repositioning and readjustment to enable market recovery. This is now time to be communicating your company’s vision and embedding your standards, passion and commitments to your role and your people.
Be specific about honest about your own development areas. Give feedback to your people, they will need it now more than ever. Ask for feedback in return and allow time to listen to thoughts on your style, your approach and your methods. However painful the feedback maybe, act on it. Give yourself the permission and freedom to be the leader you authentically want and need to be and your transition from worker to a people leader can and will be a success.
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