Post-Pandemic Leadership Challenges

As a leader in today’s ever changing world, we are constantly being met with a myriad of challenges that require us to think differently, act differently and engage with others differently. This level of change may be the underlying cause for some of the stressors facing our leaders today. Our speed of responsiveness to the changing tides is what will ultimately determine our ability to successfully pivot in the face of challenges. The real leadership challenge is adapting to the changing tides, while striking a new balance to the benefit of the teams we lead, the companies we serve and our families.

Charting The Way Forward Into Unknown Territory

While the COVID-19 pandemic presented a wealth of challenges to businesses which resulted in an accelerated rate of digital transformation and other operational changes across businesses, it has also presented leaders with an opportunity to refocus and restrategize the future direction of the business. Diversification of revenue streams, geographical expansion and opportunities to enhance the digital customer experience through use of technology, new digital channels and use of data intelligence collectively form some of the growth strategies up for consideration.

In reality, traversing these uncharted waters requires a willingness by the leader to remain open-minded and agile as a refined skill set may be now warranted. Personally, I can feel the shift in balance in my own leadership which at times feels a little unsettling. As leaders, we are learning more on the go; forced to leverage the foundation set over time, while unlearning existing ways of doing things, while at the same time relearning as we guide our teams into new territory.

The speed of change in today’s world keeps accelerating and as exhausting as this may be, it seems to be the new normal. This in itself means that as leaders we must be prepared to keep the pace, which may require a greater level of self-awareness. According to John C. Maxwell, “lack of self-awareness is the single greatest obstacle leaders face in their development, effectiveness, and advancement.” The ability to leverage our strengths, while acknowledging our weaknesses becomes a key strategy for us as leaders in relation to our leadership effectiveness.

Improving Your Leadership Requires Personal Reflection

In my usual reflections of the first half of this year, I have been trying to examine more closely what feels like increased friction in my leadership performance post-pandemic. I have identified three noteworthy leadership challenges with the potential to really impact us as leaders. Hopefully, I am not alone on this journey as we all strive to recalibrate our leadership effectiveness and position the companies we lead towards a successful future:

1. Managing Own Self-Doubt

Regardless of the level of experience and skill set acquired by leaders, we all face some days where unique leadership challenges are presented to us. From the emerging trends of cyber risk security and enhanced data protection, coupled with understanding the attributes and characteristics of a younger workforce, we may all face some level of self-doubt triggered mostly by knowledge/experience gaps at some stage in the leadership journey. Conversely, since the leader’s role is to influence, many leaders tend to face and mask self-doubt privately. Having good mentors in my corner over the years has helped me to navigate this successfully. Gaining different perspectives goes a long way in building your leadership capacity to solve problems, which in turn reduces any lingering feelings of imposter syndrome or inferiority.

2. Restoring Confidence and Collaboration

Post-pandemic leadership is forcing us to engage differently with our teams. Between hybrid and fully remote schedules, the approach to communication may have shifted somewhat even though the ability for teams to connect with a wider purpose remains a key mandate of the leader. The reality that the needs of Millennials and Gen Z are noticeably different doesn’t make this any easier on the leader. The ability to easily identify and tap into employee needs and even to assess potential issues have become blurred. “As leaders we are required to create psychologically safe spaces for our teams to speak up about their needs and share their ideas for workplace improvements, while fostering collaboration.” (CEO World Magazine, Post-Pandemic Leadership)

This becomes an even greater challenge when the leader is unable to gauge the current temperature of the team culture due to these newly embraced operating structures. Leaders are forced to rethink how they manage their work cultures going forward in order to restore full confidence in the vision across the collective team, while striving to retain a culture of collaboration.

3. Prioritizing Self

With all that’s before leaders today, the need to prioritize self has become visibly clear. Only a select few may have mastered the right work life blend. As leaders, our areas of responsibility span far and wide and many times we tend to neglect to take time to access our own personal and professional needs. More so, post-pandemic, the lines of work and our personal lives have become blurred. Yet, our physical, spiritual and mental health is what collectively makes us whole and able to aptly pour into others. Leaders must be intentional in developing healthy daily routines that are conducive to feeding our minds, body and soul. There is power in positive thinking; however, we must be way more deliberate in carving out time for the people and things that inject a dose of inspiration to us from time to time. The saying that “you can’t pour from an empty cup” is a message worth repeating to self in these times.

In this new era of leadership, leaders will continue to be challenged to deliver on strategic priorities and objectives; however, a greater focus on unlearning and relearning new ways of doing business and leading others, while accepting that some traditional norms may no longer serve us well may become necessary for success, or should I dear say survival.