Hands up if you are struggling to lead right now?

By Natasha Egré, Chair, IoD Jersey

We are living in dangerous times. We are devastated by ongoing conflict and war, economic hardship and climate breakdown. Our leaders are tackling all of these issues whilst trying to navigate the drastic impact on their businesses and their teams. They are also dealing with spiralling issues surrounding productivity, augmented workforces, and burnout.

We can’t deny that the last few years have been tough. Every time you turn on the news there’s another virulent story compounding the negativity from the day before. This has created an environment where negativity is rife and it’s highly destructive. Finger pointing and toxicity has become the norm and we’ve forgotten how to listen. Have we also forgotten how to be kind?

In this climate, I have become concerned about how we are treating our leaders especially in times of adversity. In the past six months in particular, a number of exemplary leaders have spoken to me about how they are struggling to cope and I am worried this is becoming its own pandemic. These are leaders that we do not want to lose from our business community. However, they are struggling with an overload of pressures, compounded by an environment of toxicity and blame, constant exposure in the media, and 24 hour accessibility through technology and social channels.

I am not saying that we shouldn’t be holding our leaders to account, but I do believe that to be innovative as leaders, we also must be able to fail without fear of excessive persecution. Failure builds learning, resilience and empathy and helps us get it right the next time we are challenged. Some of the world’s most brilliant people have had significant failures – Bill Gates first business was a flop and without that happening he may never have moved onto Microsoft; Albert Einstein was expelled from school; Spielberg was rejected from film school three times!

The IoD Jersey Director of the Year Awards reminded me of how many inspirational leaders we have. Without great leaders, our economic prosperity would be bleak. So, we need to get behind them. We need to allow them to fail and to take those lessons forward to make better decisions, build better teams and better businesses.

I will likely get criticised for this article. There will be those that think leaders don’t need, or deserve, support because they generally get paid well and should be strong and bullish enough to ignore negative feedback. However, this is not the kind of leader I would follow or wish to be. I want to learn from leaders who know what it means to fail and then become stronger, those with emotional intelligence rather than arrogance, those who can articulate when they are finding things difficult and have gained the trust of their teams through creating a culture of accountability and integrity.

Many new leaders think they must have all the answers. This can cause them to focus on the wrong things, isolate themselves and hide their struggles instead of asking for help. Evolved leadership today requires both backbone and heart, bolstered by team ethos and support.

I was speaking to a highly regarded surgeon at an event recently and our conversation really resonated with me. He said, what business leaders need right now is what his patients need, and in fact what we all need, and that is ‘hope’.

So, I propose we start a movement where we spread a little more hope. Let’s celebrate our leaders and support them in challenging times. Communities thrive when they remain united and supportive. The IoD mantra is ‘Better Directors Make a Better World’. I am going to play my part in trying to make that happen and I have every confidence that our members will also galvanise and contribute to a future where hope is back on the agenda.