Navigating Negativity With Positive Leadership
Bad Stuff Happens To Us All, What Matters Is How You Deal With It
When working with the vision of your project it can be an easy mistake to neglect reality. We are all people with lives that have aspects we struggle with. Negative situations can occur to anyone at any time. Sometimes negative situations are minimal and sometimes they are not. Balance, therefore, is vital for maintaining a human group that enjoys building the future and is satisfied with the work on today. Things can get tenuous when we or someone in our group is going through a crisis or negative patch in which priorities and needs are shifted away from the group and towards the personal.
Grief And Coping
Often it is an unwanted change that brings us the most problems. We know that change is hard and when we work in a leadership role, we are tasked with navigating change for ourselves and our group. Understanding the changes that other people are going through is therefore important when deciding how to move forward and at what pace.
Institutional Change
The biggest change we can navigate is often a change in government policy or style. In these cases, every aspect of our work and life is affected by a change in the rules. We may find ourselves stripped of any financial security once offered and be forced to adapt very quickly. We might discover that we now have to pay twice as much in taxes and fees to carry out the same job. There might be a shift in the types of people permitted to work for you. These things radically change our work and life practices on every level which need to be respected and allowed time to sink in.
Fashion Is Fickle
Then we need to be aware of the trends of the time. The amount of money people are willing to spend on various things changes as the national economy goes up and down. When people feel rich they will gladly hand their money over for luxury and unnecessary things. If a person feels hard-up then they will only pay for essentials and they will look for the best deals regardless of name or style. Poorer people don’t prioritise self-image and aesthetics as much because it is harder to justify these things to themselves. Richer people will avoid a bargain range and will seek the most complimentary version, even at a higher cost. These things will change across the months and years. When our personal finances are in difficulty we naturally want to set them straight. This means something has to change today and can be a cause for great stress. Finding time to up-skill and put more hours in is a challenge but a necessary one.
Changes In Health
Our health can be a cause for great concern. If we become unwell or run down then our output will be reduced. Our ability to bring about the pay and leadership we need to navigate our work time will suffer. Taking time to care for ourselves is irreplaceable in our routine. Sometimes we can take care of ourselves to the best of our ability and we still get ill. Our illnesses can be quite serious and we both don’t deserve or want them. Being a team player and a social lighthouse clearly isn’t our first job when this happens. The issue of the day is wrapped up in the personal journey to wellness.
Be Prepared To Cover For Others
Other people get ill too, and if we are involved with these people on a personal level then it will be in our responsibilities to help them. Being someone with personal responsibilities to others will put our ratio of effort into a new balance. Shifting our mentality to cater for our role in the family and at work will be a challenge that will require a change in our efforts. Sadly, sometimes people also die or become acutely sick. This life-changing situation is incredibly hard to navigate and come to terms with. The new social landscape is always unwanted and creates worry and unhappiness for many people. This is part of everyone’s life and must be given the space to be.
Acknowledge The Pain
Negative situations are to be respected and we need to do our best to understand them. They create a lot of stress on the individual and the team bond. Acceptance is the clear pathway to understanding how to lead through these times. If we fight the future or the truth then we are working against forces well outside of our control. If we work against causes of our own suffering then we have a strong chance of succeeding.
Prioritise Solutions
During challenging times our priorities shift. Expectations have to adapt in order to maintain a connectedness that lasts. As team players, we need to understand and validate the needs and trials that both we and our companions are going through. Listening to what people have to say and understanding with a willingness to act as a genuine positive element requires us to put ourselves in the shoes of the one we are helping. It is, therefore, necessary to portion a section of our energy rations to those in need of that extra level of human understanding. Perhaps the most important part is appreciating this ratio and making it effective. If we dedicate an excess of time to put others first then we might fall behind with our own agenda and yet if we refuse to let other people in then we will be left on the outside of the bubble.
Rowan B. Colver is the editor of Homunculus Media
