Leading in a Time of Crisis
What would it be like to believe that everyone is doing the best they can with what they have right now in this moment? How would that perspective shift the way you interact with your team, your colleagues, your friends, and your family?
I’ve contemplated these questions a lot as I’ve worked to be a supportive leader during these challenging times. Because, as a group practice owner who leads a team of 18 therapists, the past few years have been the most challenging.
People are exhausted. People are carrying more than they can hold. Sometimes, our best doesn’t feel like enough, especially when we’re stretched to the max.
Making sure that people feel supported while holding people accountable to their roles is an incredibly hard balance.
Not to mention that most of my team members hold marginalized identities and with the constant state of racial injustices that occur, it can be difficult to show up every day and meet the day-to-day expectations within a workplace.
Yet, folx are showing up on days when they don’t have it all together and when they feel like quitting. Instead of focusing on what people aren’t doing, I try to focus on what they ARE doing. They are showing up. How can I honor exactly where they are today?
As leaders, it is our job to ensure that people feel like they are enough just the way they are.
What is required of us in this time is too much, and it’s unfair. I want you to know that I understand that. I’m with you in that. But what I know is that you don’t have to have all the answers. All you have to do is be human and allow others to feel seen.
I have a lot of empathy for my team, and it’s also critical that they are well enough to show up for their jobs and most importantly their clients.
We’ve had to get very creative to make sure everyone is supported enough to thrive and show up for their jobs and clients.
This has looked like adjusting caseload requirements, building in flexibility around deadlines when it comes to documentation and project management, compensating people what they deserve to ensure that their basic needs are being met, and lots more.
Mostly, it’s required communication and trust as a team. Trust is built in small moments. The most powerful conversations I’ve had with my team have involved vulnerability, transparency, and boundaries. It is not always easy and it is certainly uncomfortable but when we learn to sit in the discomfort, feeling the need to have all the answers no longer feels like the goal. The goal is, how can I sit with you in this place you’re in and communicate to you that I can empathize and have compassion for what you’re experiencing.
I’m so proud of the environment we’re creating that’s supportive for both clients AND clinicians, and as a leader, I’ve also been stretched in more ways than I ever imagined.
I spent a lot of time feeling responsible for everyone’s needs and everyone’s emotions. As leaders, we can feel like we’re walking on eggshells and trying to make sure that people have what they need so they don’t leave. We don’t want to feel insensitive or like we’re “asking for too much.” And we certainly don’t want to be the reason why people feel pushed to the edge or burnt out.
The biggest leadership lesson I’ve learned in the past few years is that I am not responsible for everyone else’s needs.
I am responsible for communicating expectations, providing a safe space for folx to ask for what they need, and being clear and honest about what is possible and what is not.
As Brené Brown says, “Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.”
Leadership is being clear. It’s listening. It’s collaboration and boundaries.
And it’s an ever-evolving challenge, much like everything in life that requires growth.
It starts with doing your best and being willing to keep learning and growing through the challenges.
As school-based mental health professionals, this pandemic has undoubtedly pushed you and your team to the max. When it all feels like it’s unraveling, my wish for you is that you remember to come back to our shared sense of humanity. More than anything, what people need most right now is a little extra understanding.