Managing the Whole Person
A few weeks ago, I facilitated a workshop about managing the “whole person” for a group of women from different companies each of whom sits in the upper echelons of management. The workshop created space for these leaders to address how they were approaching today’s unrelenting human needs with similarly unrelenting business needs.
These days, stress of one kind or another has ratcheted up to almost-unmanageable levels. Stress related to health, safety, the economy, global politics, and the environment are but some of the causes of pronounced daily distractors. Leaders tell me they’re constantly searching for the right tone, the right words to say. Wanting to empathize, to accept, to be a fellow human being, while also grappling with the simple fact that work has to get done, trying to strike some balance between demand and understand. I polled these C-suite women: How are they handling this? What’s working and what’s not?
Each person was hanging on each word shared, hoping someone would somehow disclose the magic code – a clear and effective solution for navigating these ever-present, ever-draining, and ever-important issues. While cognizant that no such magic code exists, the participants shared tested tactics that have served them well and collaborated across expertise to develop new approaches together that they’d like to try moving forward. The results are captured below.
Set policies and boundaries that seek to address the needs of the team versus the needs of each individual. Recognizing that leaders are responsible for leading their whole team, this collective buy-in across the team can serve as a reminder that everyone is in this together, that there is space to support one another and cover for one another as needed, and can prevent leaders from making inequitable decisions from one person to the next, and similarly stave off resentment from perceived one-off solutions that cause workloads to shift.
Lead your team with a mindset that the team is resilient enough to withstand any individual being out for some period of time. With that mindset, each team member will feel more prepared and be more equipped to take on additional responsibilities as temporarily required.
Know what business goals you as a leader would drop in the event that diminished capacity on the team renders previously set quarterly goals insurmountable.
When issues arise, encourage team members to take real time to unplug fully, attend to whatever needs they have, and then return when they are ready. Drawing this clear line can avoid what one leader described as a “grazing situation” where team members come in and out, making the delegation of work more challenging.
Use your “sorting hat.” While far less fun than reading the books, Harry Potter fans will appreciate one leader’s approach of using her “sorting hat,” asking questions that allow the leader to determine whether this is really about helping someone out or managing them out. No workplace can accommodate every single scenario of human needs, and even with the help of the previously stated tactics, it’s critical to face what your team can and cannot absorb.
Then fast forward to last Friday: I was preparing for the same workshop with a different group of senior women when the Supreme Court released Dobbs v. Jackson, marking a devastating setback in women’s rights and gender equality. As we all assembled, the distraught faces immediately signaled that this time tables were turned – they were now in need of the tactics and strategies for themselves that they might otherwise apply to their reports. How could they proceed with the day’s work when their rights had just been curtailed? How could they lead their team when their CEOs had failed to issue statements opposing the Court’s decision? Who in their lives was going to be directly affected? What would this mean moving forward?
When faced with any number of challenging human experiences – child care struggles, ailing family members, ongoing accounts of racial injustice, and the continued barrage of anxiety-producing news – the swirl of stress and distraction makes work, let alone great work (the result of dedicated time and single minded focus) virtually impossible. And while effective sources of help and healing will inevitably differ from person to person, it was readily apparent (and comforting) how much better the workshop participants felt after sharing their concerns with one another. At the core of human existence, whether in the workplace or in our homes, people need people.
And at this time in the world, women need women. Period.