Guiding Yourself and Others Through Challenging Times

By Patti Seda and Mike Matalone

The term “challenging times” had a different meaning 45 days ago. We’ll call that the BC era (Before COVID-19). In the BC era, you probably had strategies on how to handle change and challenges associated with them. Maybe you focused on a change model, similar to the one illustrated below. In the BC era, the change or challenge likely impacted a particular area or group in one part of your life Vs IC (In-COVID) where it has impacted every part of every group in the world.

The IC era completely skipped steps we would normally do to prepare for change. We woke up in the fourth step of the above model: Action – Active modification of behavior. We immediately had to figure out how to work from home, home-school/entertain our children, thoroughly wash/sanitize our hands an insane number of times, strategically plan our trips to the grocery store, remind ourselves not to touch our face, or anything else, and to just stay home. And if you’re a business owner or leader, you also had to figure out how to radically change your business model overnight. In the IC era, the change and associated challenges have impacted everyone, everywhere, and in every part of our lives.

So, amidst all of this chaos, how do we guide ourselves and others through these challenges? In Patti’s book, Discovering Job Joy, Your Guide to Stretching Without Snapping, she helps you to understand your authentic way of thinking, reacting, working and communicating and how that may be vastly different from others. This is a critical first step to guiding yourself and others in every aspect of life.

Review each of the following traits below, make note of where you are on this scale, and how that may be similar or different to others you are leading, either personally or professionally:

The Way You Think:

Are you a pragmatic thinker, searching for the proven ways of doing things? Or,
Are you an original thinker whose mind is constantly thinking of new and different ways of approaching or improving a situation?

The Need to Win:

Are you a TAKE control of the situation and push forward through this challenge? Or,
Are you striving to simply HAVE control and structure in your life?

What Fuels You:

Are you an introvert and need alone time to think to get energized? Or,
Are you an extrovert and need people and movement to gain energy and generate ideas?

How You React to Situations:

When the unforeseen happens, do you first address it with logic? Or,
Do you react with emotion and sensitivity?

Tortoise Vs Hare:

Do you have a high sense of urgency, need variety and get bored quickly? Or,
Do you like to immerse yourself in one thing until it’s done?

Before we can guide anyone, we need to understand and guide ourselves. Ask yourself these questions:

From the list above, what are my defining traits and greatest needs?
When do those traits help or hinder the situation?
What strategies can I put in place to adjust my traits when they are making the situation worse?

This situation we’re in is looking like our “new” normal. Guiding yourself and giving yourself and others space to adjust to this new situation can result in stronger and deeper relationships than in PC (Post-COVID).

To learn more about this, check out my book Hire Train Retain: How to Get the Right People in the Right Roles Doing the Right Things, our free downloads or sign up for a demo of the XP3 Talent System.