How do development programs, such as the skills of influence, significantly impact participants and business long term, for the benefit of attendees and their organizations? Changed human behavior is hard to measure but people recognize when their own changes have positive results. Many participants, who went on to be senior leaders, have shared the lessons they learned, from courses I had the opportunity to facilitate earlier in their careers. Not only did they value their own personal results, but as leaders, the new approaches they used cascaded down through their organizations for better culture and business results.

Some leaders consider listening a soft skill (maybe even overrated), others may consider themselves good listeners, and some know it’s a skill they need to work on. Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, one thing is certain: a big part of your job right now is to listen.

Part of what’s changed as we all live through the COVID-19 outbreak and civil unrest is the urgent need for leaders to listen to their employees and understand the challenges they face as they deal with today’s uncertain and ever-changing situation.

Listening is One of the Most Important Things You Can Do Right Now

Employee preferences for working from home and demands for increased flexibility result in growing pressure for employers to rethink the future world of work

2020 will be remembered for many things, including a once unimaginable shift of employees from being mostly on-site to working from home. And across a variety of industries – technology, banking and finance, sales, consulting, and beyond – employers are dramatically changing their views about work-from-home arrangements.

I’ve always been an information junkie – hearing other people’s perspectives feeds my soul and helps me feel more in control. This pandemic has made me even more hungry to hear and learn from others.

From my conversations with many leaders these past weeks, I’m not alone in feeling this way. We want to know how this story is going to end (or even the new few chapters) and those credible sources get our attention.

While we don’t have the crystal ball, here are five things to think about (if you’re not already) to help lead employees through the uncertainty that comes with COVID-19 and drive performance:

Just because you’re a leader doesn’t mean you’re immune from the same range of emotions and feelings your teams are going through right now.

Each of us has what’s often referred to as a human dashboard called a mood elevator. It’s our own self-awareness of how we’re doing emotionally.

During times of change and uncertainty, there’s an information vacuum that fills whether we want it to or not.

It’s often the result of us as leaders waiting to communicate.

While we’re waiting to have more answers, more clarification, all the answers (which we’ll never have), the void gets filled, naturally and easily. And research shows it gets filled with typically more negative thoughts and conjecture than the reality.

My husband, Steve, often says to me, “As long as we have our health, we’re okay.”

“As long as we have each other and our girls, we’re okay.”

“As long as we have a job we’re passionate about, we’re okay.”

Enter COVID-19, and much of what gives us comfort and helps us operate on solid ground is somewhat up for grabs right now, amid all this uncertainty.

Leading Through Uncertain Times

So how do we as leaders rise to the occasion and help lift our people up, instead of sinking them into more uncertainty and despair? A few thoughts to consider:

If you want to know what’s going on with your team, ask. Schedule time to walk around and ask questions. It’s been called Management By Walking Around (MBWA); I prefer to think about it as Knowing What the Heck Is Really Going On (KWHIRGO). Or, you might just call it leadership because it’s a strategy that effective leadercommunicators employ.

The Benefits of MBWA