It’s been a few weeks now that our world has been shaken.

Unless we are an essential key worker, most of us are working from home while  home schooling our kids, going out maximum once a day and are spending endless hours in front of our devices : smartphones, tablets, computers doing virtual meetings and trying to keep moving forward.

We are navigating under permanent uncertainties :  when will it be safe to be with others?  when will the lockdown be over? When will I be able to send my children back to school? When will I go back to the office ? Will I still have my job at the end of this ? Will the world be ever the same again ? …

 

 

Now more than ever, we are being challenged and fear could take over and feed a permanent state of anxiety.

Fear is a powerful and primitive human emotion. It alerts us to the presence of danger, and it was critical in keeping our ancestors alive. It can be divided into two responses: biochemical and emotional. The biochemical response is universal, while the emotional response is highly individual.

Indeed, acknowledging fear is essential at it makes us realise that there is/might be danger around us, and that we have to deal with it.

Yet what we tend to forget is that while we acknowledge it, our response to it is in our hands. We have control over how we feel. Emotions can be chosen.

Yes, in a world filled with uncertainties, we still have control over how we want to show up,  how we want to serve and lead.

In the last weeks, haven’t we observed beautiful gestures of humanity, solidarity and compassion.

Populations clapping together to support their carers; industrials transforming and reviewing their supply and manufacturing chains in order to produce masks, PPE, sanitizing products; people volunteering to support their neighbours and people in need; artists coming together to bring joy and happiness into our homes…

Despite the fear, the human connection is stronger.

Same applies to you as a leader of a team or an organisation.

While you have little control over what’s going on outside, and the next steps of the pandemic, you are in charge of what’s going on in your team.

Don’t take me wrong, you are allowed to feel scared but you can learn to shift your mindset  (https://www.asracoach.com/how-do-you-shift-your-mindset/)

Always remind yourself that leadership is a public act. Your team looks up to you.

Show up in the best way you can, and most importantly as their leader remember that you are here to serve them.