COVID's Emotional Trauma - Six Keys to Leading with Empathy

In the past, perhaps you’ve deployed a leadership style that has been effective, but did not lean on high levels of empathy, on relationships, or on providing emotional support? It’s worked for you.

Will it work now? What do your people need? Do you need to modify your leadership style to acknowledge, and address the emotional trauma your team has suffered over past 18 months?

Teams Rallied Early in the Crisis

The best teams share a clear sense of purpose and shared notions of what’s important. They find meaning in the work. People feel valued, and there are high levels of psychological safety.

In a crisis, even teams that aren’t great at these, can get closer, and better. A crisis can narrow the focus on a clear sense of purpose, on what’s most important, on the value that everyone brings to the situation. Ego, relationship history, and personal goals give way to a strong sense of team and the need to give grace, and support teammates.

This sense of team, connection, and sense of selflessness, however, can only sustain itself for so long. As the stress mounts, and the crisis does not appear to have an end-point, the stress overcomes these dynamics.

You may have experienced this. After nearly two years, nurses, physicians, and staff are worn out, and not seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. The trauma and stress have led nearly one in five healthcare workers to quit. Many are suffering from anxiety, depression, and work overload. Rallying around the crisis is no longer enough. This puts leaders in a tough position. You want to support your team. You need to motivate people to get the work done and to find solutions. How?

See, A Simple Approach to Building Effective Healthcare Teams

Leadership Styles

During the early days of the crisis, the default for many physicians was the autocratic, commanding leadership style that is sometimes effective in a crisis. It’s also a style that comes naturally to hard-working, driven, competitive, conscientious people who’ve used these skills to reach the top of their profession.

Or, it may have been to shift to a “pacesetting” style – where the leader grabs the flag and charges forward, demonstrating for the team the energy and drive that’s needed. You can think about this as “OK –We have a plan, let’s put our heads down and get to work!”

Generally, the most effective leaders have the ability to tailor their style to the situation – Commanding, Visionary, Affiliative, Coaching, and so on. Depending on your personality traits, and experience, some of these are harder for you than others. That’s normal.

Self-Awareness, and Leadership Styles are topics covered in the Activ8 Health, Physician Leadership Essentials Program - Learn more, HERE.

What do People Really Need from You, Now?

Your people are emotionally traumatized. YOU are emotionally traumatized. People have serious questions about the future of the organization, of the entire health system, about their values, and their career. They continue to deal with emotions, fears, and anxieties. They may not express them, but rest assured, they are there.

One physician told me that he recently spent two hours listening to one of his medical assistants talk about how all of this is impacting him. It was needed, so he gave his time - but also realized that he cannot do this every day. It’s not realistic, but it may be what people need? This caused HIM more frustration, and sadness.

The psychology of teams tells us that people need:

Cohesion

A shared notion of the vision and of what’s important. You may need to revisit this concept. Acknowledge where things aren’t clear. Focus on what’s in front of you, and what’s most important. Taking care of patients, and each other.

Trust

People need to trust each other, you as a leader, and the organization. Where were you on “trust” before this? What will you do to re-gain, or retain it?

Confidence in the Future

People remain engaged, and collaborative, when they have this confidence. This may be your greatest challenge. Crisis management 101 tells us to be honest about the situation, but to communicate that there is a plan, and to ensure you create a sense of confidence that you WILL find a path.

Ideas

Given the workload and time constraints, it may seem impossible to dedicate time to thinking about these concepts. Given what’s at stake, though, it’s imperative that you consider a deliberate plan regarding what people need, and how you will lead, over the next few months. Consider the following six ideas:

Acknowledge the Trauma

It’s important to acknowledge that the entire experience has been traumatic for people and acknowledge the fear, the anger and the uncertainty. Let them share their concerns and know they are not alone.

Do People Feel Valued?

Things may have happened over the past few months that force them to question how much they are valued by the organization. They need to hear that they are valued, and to see it.

Confidence in the Future

People can accept a level of uncertainty, if and only if they have confidence that there is a shared vision, and a plan – even if the plan is fluid. Are you doing enough to give them this confidence?

Understand Your Tendencies

Your natural tendencies, including their derailer behaviors under stress, are going to manifest themselves. You need to understand your own, and those of your people, and adapt accordingly.

Communication

There is NO more important leadership skill. You need to be an OUTSTANDING communicator right now – both in crafting messages and in the delivery. One-on-one, in front of the group, in email, in how you delegate communication, and ensuring effective communication processes. Missteps here contribute to the stress.

Learn from Each Other

Take time with your people to learn and reflect. Demonstrate humility and vulnerability. What did you learn about yourself? Your team? Take advantage of the opportunity to model how to become a team that can honestly, and frankly evaluate its own performance and USE that data to improve. It’s a great time to model and encourage psychological safety.

This is hard – but it’s the work of leadership.

The current situation is testing everyone. Take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. Every leader is struggling right now. The best way to face these challenges, is to lean on your team. By leaning on them, you value them. Find new ways to lead. You learn from them, and you create the level of connection and psychological safety that will help them to get through this.

See, Physician Leadership as a "Practice"

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To learn more about the innovative Activ8 Health Physician Leadership Essentials program, visit https://activ8.health/.