How to be a supportive leader?

Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash

There are times when certain projects seem to be challenging and meeting clients’ expectations and solving their problems look difficult. That’s when we see our team members getting anxious, stressed, and worried. At this point, what can the team leader do to ensure he is lending the support the team needs, along with getting the requisite tasks done. 

Here are some tips for the leader: 

1) Acceptance: Anxiety is contagious. If your team is getting anxious, if your team members are getting cold feet, it is quite possible that you will also get it. Hence, accept and acknowledge what is happening. 

2) Understand your own emotions: Put a line between what you are feeling and what they are feeling. Don’t be biased here. Ask yourself, are you feeling the same as them. Based on that, take a decision respecting your values. Say for example, you believe in compassion and cooperation. So, go ahead, talk to your team. Be kind, collaborate with them and see what you can do provide the support they need so that they can complete the tasks. 

3) Talk to you team members: Talk to your team members. Talk to them to know what they are feeling. Try and understand that feeling even if you do not agree with certain things they talked about. Yes, your views and their views may be different. However, in tough times, empathy and compassion is the basis of trust. Perhaps they need extra guidance. Go ahead, guide them, teach them. 

4) Encourage self-care: Self care is all about eating well and eating on time, getting enough sleep, exercise and getting less distracted with gadgets. Deep breathing also helps. Once you advocate self-care for yourself and your team, things get much better and easier. After all, taking care of ourselves in whatever ways we can, can help build resilience. 

Stress and anxiety can happen. What matters is how we handle them. Take care of yourself and extend support. Things do get better soon.