Leadership lessons in a time of crisis…
Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash
As I am living and working through the COVID 19 crisis, I have watched how leaders have behaved through this time. One person in particular who has really impressed me is the New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. If you haven’t paid attention to Governor Cuomo, you should listen in on one of his daily briefings.
Last Sunday, March 15th, I was feeling a bit anxious. My kids came home from college and my eldest daughter came to visit from Brooklyn. I was worried about them and panicked about the future. I was cleaning nonstop - which if you know me, is way out of character!
I then turned on the TV and watched Governor Cuomo give his daily briefing. I was amazed at what I heard, he wasn’t lying, he was direct and afterward, I felt so much better about what was ahead of us.
Here are some of the lessons I learned from Governor Cuomo’s leadership not just from that first briefing, but as I have watched him daily. These are lessons for all of those who are leading in this time of crisis.
Have a well-organized plan - In his briefings, Cuomo had a well-organized thought out presentation that outlined everything he wanted to tell the people. He said this is what I’m going to tell you and then he told us. It was laid out in a way that was very clear and understood by many. He also told us what was fact vs what was his opinion. It is not often you hear this from a politician or a manager.
Be direct - He was very direct in the facts that he gave us. He told us the numbers and what his administration was going to do to help. He was honest in telling us what he didn’t have enough of - ventilators and hospital beds. While this was scary to hear, it was honest. He also told us what he was going to do to get the things we needed to survive the crisis.
Be empathetic - When Cuomo spoke of his concern for his mother and how he was dealing with it, he became a person just like us. We all have concerns around our families and friends that we have to deal with. Everyone has different circumstances and as a leader, we need to let our teams know that we are here, we know what they are dealing with, and they can come to us with problems if they need our help.
Delegate - Cuomo brought his team with him to his briefings and told us what their roles were -he even enlisted his daughter. A leader cannot do everything to get the job done. You need to enlist everyone on your team to assist with the job. This will not only help in having a successful outcome, but it will make your teammates feel empowered and feel that they are a valued part of the team. This is important because after this crisis is over and things go back to “normal”, you want to have those team members continue to be a part of your team. If they feel they contributed to the outcome, they will be more motivated to stay.
These are challenging times and a time that none of us were prepared for. We can step up to the challenge or we can be afraid. If you are afraid, it’s okay. You can look to the leaders around you that can help. There are so many out there who are stepping up and taking care of others - our nurses, doctors, firefighters, military, food store workers and so many others that are here for us.
If you are having a challenging time navigating through this crisis, I can help provide you with the guidance you need to get you through this. If you are worried about losing your job or if you are not working at the moment, I can help you put a plan together for the future. This service is free through the end of April.
Here’s to all of us to have the courage to get through this! I know we can do it.
Stay safe and be well!