Grace Under Pressure
Over the last year, you and the team you lead have shown grace under pressure.
How do I know that?
Because you’re still standing today.
You’re still performing.
You’re still working to move the organization forward.
The only way that could happen is for you to deliver results during some tremendously difficult times. Times of great pressure and the need for unprecedented grace.
All the energy it takes to survive in the face of the daily threats you’ve faced comes at a cost to you and the team you lead.
Last week, a learning and development leader told me that her organization has been incredibly reliant on its top performers for the previous 15 months. She said that these high performers were the ones who delivered results, put in extra hours, and did everything necessary to keep the organization afloat. At the same time, she admitted that resource constraints on every front kept the organization from investing in these very same people.
She is concerned that her company will pay the price if they don’t start investing in those people.
She’s right.
Now, I want to encourage you to hit pause for just a moment.
Reflect on all the challenges that you and your team met this past year. Recognize how you showed grace under pressure. Then, assess where you are today and how you can best invest your energy and limited resources to show your people that you appreciate their efforts. Demonstrate that you have a vision for the future.
To help you understand how things currently stand, we went into our Tool Vault and selected from among the 100+ free tools we have available the one tool that we think would be most helpful to you at the moment. It’s a Team Quick Assessment designed for you and your people to assess yourselves in five critical areas: Perspective, Purpose, Priorities, Plans, and Performance. We’ve created a short video to go along with the tool. Use these two items to assess your current situation.
The concept of grace under pressure was the focus of a recent conversation I had with John Baldoni as part of the Leadership Lab podcast. John is an author, executive coach, and speaker. His work focuses on dealing with crisis and change by focusing on your purpose and practicing grace. As John shares, COVID-19 is undoubtedly not the last crisis you and your team will face but you can move forward with confidence in your ability to tackle what’s next.
Thank you to all of you who took the time to congratulate me on the announcement of my new book, engage with my social media posts, or even preorder the book! If we can help at least one leader find their purpose, then this will have all been worth it.
Photo by Christian Erfurt on Unsplash
Patrick Leddin, PhD is a speaker, global leadership consultant, and The Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Five-Week Leadership Challenge. Patrick is an Associate Professor at Vanderbilt University with a thriving leadership blog and podcast, and 25-years of leadership experience. He offers an unparalleled mix of academic rigor and real-world experience.