The pandemic has impacted so many areas of our lives - health, economic, mental health, and more. Like many leaders, I realized that I needed to rethink my operating principles. During virtual keynotes I have shared my 10 COVID Principles to Lead and Live By as a model and I have encouraged leaders to develop their own.
The feedback from audiences has been overwhelmingly positive so I decided to create a podcast episode about them. Below is a summary of the podcast. For the full version, listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
These are my 10 COVID Principles to Lead and Live By. I hope you find inspiration in these principles in some way, and might even be inspired to create COVID Principles to Lead and Live By for yourself.
Principle #1 - Create a 90-day Plan
Focus on what you can control by creating a 90-day plan. What in your life do you need to work on in the next 90 days? What about the 90 days after that? Creating a short-term 90-day plan will help you develop a game plan for your personal and professional life, and gives you the flexibility to make adjustments after the 90 days are completed.
Principle #2 - Lead with Empathy and Compassion
The pandemic has created a lot of uncertainty for people about their jobs, health, and home. So when you’re dealing with people, remember to lead with empathy and compassion. Everyone is fighting some sort of battle, so be empathetic and compassionate.
Principle #3 - Manage Your Fear
One of the best ways to manage your fear is to define it or even name it. When you define it, it’s easier to develop a game plan to deal with it.
Principle #4 - Create Some Space
You'd never drive your car down the road doing 70 miles an hour, going bumper to bumper with the car in front of you. You'd actually give the car in front of you some space because you don't know when it's going to stop or when they're going to turn. Leaving some space allows you time to deal with the unexpected. Put another way, block out time on your calendar to create space to think or transition from one thing to the next. We need space to deal with the challenges that life throws at us.
Principle #5 - Listen
We have two ears and one mouth, so use them accordingly. Listening doesn’t necessarily mean you agree with someone, rather, it’s seeking to understand someone else’s point of view or to give them a chance to be heard and it will help them reduce stress. Plus, you never know what you can learn by listening to someone else.
Principle #6 - Create a Mental Health Plan
Clearly, stress levels are critically high for people. I want you to really think about that old adage “put your mask on first” because it is so important right now. We need to take care of ourselves first so we can be our best for the people we care about or lead.
Use the F.R.E.D.S. acronym as a starting point for managing your mental health. On a daily basis be sure to have Fun, get Rest, Exercise, watch your Diet, and find ways to Simplify your life.
Principle #7 - Remember, this is only Temporary
This is a temporary situation we’re in, so I encourage you to think about how you can learn and grow while you’re going through this situation. There’s no reason to throw a “pity party” - instead, think about how you can improve and grow.
Principle #8 - Fix the Problem and Avoid Blaming
Remember the people around you are going through challenges themselves. Be really focused on the issues that you need to deal with on a personal level or professional level and how you can get through them, but make sure you're soft on the people and practice that compassion that we talked about in Principle #2.
Principle #9 - Add “AND” to Your Life
We have a lot of binary thinking in society, such as it’s this or that. This can be very polarizing because it doesn’t allow us to see where we agree. Adding “AND” helps take the extremes off the table and allows us to find common ground so we can work together on possible solutions to our challenges.
Principle #10 - Have a Healthy Dose of Forgiveness
When you're driving down the road and you see a car that has a “student driver” sign on their car, you give that person a lot of grace and space. Do this for others in all areas of life. We’re all in training (after all it’s probably your first pandemic) and are dealing with challenges at various levels, so give people grace and forgive quickly.
BONUS Principle - It’s Okay Not to Be Okay
If you need help, make sure you reach out to people and ask for help. It's a strength to ask for help, not a weakness. And if you are struggling with anything, reach out to your network and figure out ways to get yourself help. I added this principle after I shared the 10 COVID principles with a group of leaders during a virtual leadership workshop - Phyliss Smith made this suggestion.