Refocusing priorities in times of change: trust and lean learning
We are all facing challenges due to Covid-19 and the current global economic turmoil. Uncertainty are forcing companies to strategically rethink about Organizations’ culture, information transparency, clear communication among collaborators, managers, board members and clients, and recognizing that in spite of each individual’s specific challenges, we all must work together, innovating and moving forward.
Yes, changes in the workplace are significant – yet, forward-thinking management inspire positive leadership, re-envisioning needed skills and the right mindset for creating unshakable trust and refocusing priorities for the Organization to continue to operate and succeed in the future. These are:
Leading with Trust: communicate openly and frequently with your team demonstrate you care. People are wired by behaviors, values, and alignment of interests, and shaping your team’s mindset takes practice, dedication, integrity, and it all begins with you. In other words, being a role model by practicing what you preach is a crucial mindset skill you must develop in yourself first, and then in your team to ensure your Organization is moving forward with a trustworthy positive mentality.
Lean Learning Mindset: dedicating a productive time to learn the core of what you really need to learn, applying it all to real-world situations immediately, is what I understand is the real innovation in learning skills to support organizations and its leaders, by giving them a learning curve advantage in today’s market. Below you will find a short video in Portuguese, with subtitles in English, I shoot a few weeks ago about lifelong learning, and the necessity for us to learn what we need, applying what we learned afterwards, in a coaching mode format, which adapts exactly to the lean learning mindset here.
Communication Management: providing ongoing support to your team after any learning session or meeting is essential to generate a combination of clear and empathetic leadership skills that ensure your team will want to continue to learn, engage and apply that learning into specific challenges within the Organization. Being ready adaptable in your communication team skills is even critical now, in a hybrid technology environment, with so many platforms in place. Make sure you align with your team in advance the best way to communicate on a constant basis to create positive, inspiring, and motivating outcomes.
As everything and everyone evolve, we all have the chance to become more involved in the development of our businesses. My goal in this article is to make it clear that before focusing on building a company’s culture, refocusing your priorities in building the mindset of the human-beings of your Organization may be the best thing right now. Because Company’s Culture translates into mindset and behaviors, all in constant movement, and now – more than ever – you have the chance to be an active player on that building process. Take the lead, practice what you preach, and refocus on building and retaining a trustworthy team for the success of your Organization in times of change.
Fernanda Cristina Alem Freitas is the co-founder of Brain U Coaching, author of this article, and the views here are her own. This article was first published at the LinkedIn-Pulse Blog Platform.
