We live in an unprecedented reality, the coronavirus has changed our habits from one day to the next, our way of relating, of working, of consuming,… And all this without notice.

In record time we have had to adapt to confinement, to telework, to reconcile our work activities with taking care of our children, … Today no one is surprised that while we are holding a meeting by zoom, our son comes to tell us that he is bored or that our partner passes behind in pajamas. And this entire adaptation process happens while many families have relatives who are sick with COVID-19 or have lost a loved one.

And how do you live this whole situation? With fear, worry and a lot of uncertainty because the only thing certain is that we have more questions than answers .

The other day a person told me that the worst thing was not the confinement itself and the isolation and social distancing measures that have turned our lives upside down, but that what terrified her is the certainty that when the confinement ends, COVID-19 will continue to exist. That we will have to learn to live with the coronavirus and despite it because life goes on and on.

“How strange everything is, in the midst of so many deaths, babies continue to be born,” another person told me that his daughter will have the child at the beginning of June.

Living with COVID-19

And it is that the peeling measures have arrived and also the spring. The landscape full of flowers, the good weather,… everything suggests that everything is going well, but the reality is different. The “new reality” as they have called it brings us screens, social distancing, masks, a large increase in unemployment, many families without any economic income, and the certainty that if we do not do things right, that if we are not prudent and responsible, we will return to strict confinement that will further aggravate the already battered economy.

And how does the leader manage this new reality?

In one of my previous articles, I talked about soft skills as our main allies to overcome this crisis and any other. Today I want to delve into the importance of recovering the human value that is the main asset of any organization and that, unfortunately, we put it aside because we prioritize economic results.

But the truth is that the economic results are the fruit of the work, the efficiency, and productivity of the people who make up the different departments of the company.

If people are not well, they cannot be productive.

How to demand results from a worker who has a sick family member intubated in the ICU? How to manage fear, anguish, and uncertainty? How can we gain the trust of our customers who now prefer online consumption because it gives them greater security guarantees? How to make decisions in a market as volatile as the current one? Do we open the store or not? Nobody has prepared us for a situation like the current one.

The word most heard these days in all the consultancies I do is FEAR. And what is the best antidote to fear? Love.

That is why I think that the leader in the COVID19 era has to be a person of great human quality who knows how to transmit that love to his workers, suppliers, and customers.

As a leader, have you ever wondered what three basic needs your workers have to meet to be productive?

As a connoisseur of the human condition, I can guarantee that your workers need to be guaranteed these three needs: empowerment, recognition, and trust.

Guidelines for Leading in the COVID Era

• Be concerned about the well-being of your workers. Listen actively to the members of your team, letting them know that you are present, that they can count on you, and that you are interested in their concerns, their opinions, their needs.
• Be empathetic, understanding the personal circumstances of each of them and showing them your unconditional support.
• Recognize their work, their worth, and their contributions.
• Trust the members of your team and your collaborators, in their professionalism and their commitment because together you will achieve the desired results.
• Communicate transparently and with humility. Sometimes it is good to recognize that you do not have all the answers, which far from taking away our authority, makes us more human and establishes emotional ties with our collaborators, Admit our vulnerability as a company and recognize that we are not having a good time if we communicate it From the sincerity and honesty, it generates empathy in our workers, who will turn to and commit to the project, giving the best of themselves.
• Review the why of your company, be clear about the culture of the organization, and that each of your employees knows and makes that reason their own creates a feeling of belonging and togetherness that makes everyone feel committed to the future of the company.
• Take care of and promote quality relationships between all workers. Although at the moment you do not share the same physical space, new technologies shorten the distances. Do not use them only for work meetings, also set a time for informal meetings such as having coffee together and sharing moments of relaxation.

If before the coronavirus pandemic there was already talk of the importance of fostering personal relationships in companies, of the need to be very clear about why the organization and to promote emotional salary. Now these three axes are key for the leader in the Covid19 Era.

The Covid19 Era needs leaders with triple intelligence: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and emotional. If you need to know how to enhance them, you have me at your disposal, together we will draw up the best work plan so that you can effectively lead your team.