Exercises to bring your leadership to the next level

Leadership has changed over the years, even more so now that we are all operating in uncertainty and through varying degrees of crisis. It’s important to know how to lead your team in this environment; there is a great deal of research on the best methods of guiding your teams through turbulent times.

Secure base leadership

Fundamental to innovation is the freedom to try new things and make mistakes. In the workplace, the only way people will do this is if they feel safe and empowered. Secure base leadership allows people to unleash their full potential and is the foundation for new ideas, innovation, and agility. If you are unsure whether your leadership rises to this level, there are actions you can take: read them here.

Letting go of control

One of the tricker aspects of secure base leadership is letting go of control, particularly in a virtual environment where you may feel unsure what the people on your team are doing with their time at any given moment. But in order to get the best performance and commitment from your people, it’s important to let go of control. Read more here.

Understand the underlying science of stress

Stress triggers four buttons in our brain that are interrelated: fairness, autonomy, certainty, and empathy. In stressful circumstances, it can be helpful to discuss which areas are the most challenging for your team. Based on neuroscientific principles, leaders can use the FACE model to figure out how to create a more psychologically safe environment for their employees. Learn the method here.

Check yourself

Finally, if your team is struggling it is important to check in on your own actions. Many executives place far too much stress on themselves and their teams as a result of what psychologists call “unrelenting standards” – the constant pressure to achieve impossibly high levels of performance. For these leaders, excellence is not enough, only perfection will do. Check yourself to see if you have unrelenting standards.