Leading Through Crisis Starts with Managing Yourself


2020 has been a challenging year for all of us, no doubt. We’ve faced mental, physical, emotional, and economic challenges that we’ve never encountered before. This crisis has shown us what each of us is made of and we’ve needed to step up in new and creative ways. So what does that mean for you? It means it is time to change from a leader-follower mentality to a leader-leader one.

This is something I’ve been challenged to confront in my own life (how I handle crisis and change), and it has also been something that I’ve worked with our team at CloseSimple to address.

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In his 2012 book, Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders, retired U.S. Navy Captain L. David Marquet talks about how as the captain of a submarine called the USS Sante Fe, his crew launched themselves from the position of worst in the fleet to best in the fleet by moving from a leader-follower approach to a leader-leader one.

Why is the leader-leader mentality important?

It’s because the people who have stepped up and have grown (and who continue to grow in the future) are the ones who will become industry leaders. These people are not just following what a leader tells them, but they are leading themselves! It is about knowing what you should do and doing that, even if someone is not telling you to.

But what does it look like to move from a leader-follower to leader-leader mentality? This change requires three steps.

 

      1. 1. Throw away the template of what a leader looks like.

        This starts with yourself. You might not look like many of the bosses and CEOs you see today, but it’s true that you can be a leader too! Leadership starts with you taking responsibility for yourself--so throw away your old ideas of what a leader should look like. Then, create a vision of what you want to look like as a leader. Who do you want to be as a leader? How do you want to lead?


        2. Allow yourself time to do three important things

        1. To dream,
        2. To manage systems, and
        3. To do.

         

        Many of us have jobs where we do, do, do. But, in order to become a leader, you have to be willing to dream a little bigger--to realize the gap between where you are today and where you want to go. Next, you need to create systems of management that will bring you toward your goals. And last, you need to do the work to keep your business running. Execute your plan by managing those systems so you can achieve your dreams. Want to be a successful leader? Then remember to dream, manage, and do.

         

        3. Practice time-blocking.

        In order to manage yourself and others, you need to set a calendar that works for you. You need to set aside time for you to dream and to manage systems. For you, that might mean blocking off a half-hour on a Monday and on a Friday to allow yourself to dream, to think about where you want your business to go.

        In Tim Ferriss’ 2007 book called The 4-Hour Workweek, he says that as a one-man business, he was always busy checking emails and it was difficult to fill orders for his customers. This jeopardized his productivity. So, Ferriss implemented a smart solution--he created an automated email message that let his clients know he only checked his email two times a day. This way, he could block out time to manage systems and focus on the most important work of his business--filing customers orders.

        Here is a sample of his automated email response:

         

        Greetings, Friends [or Esteemed Colleagues],

        Due to high workload, I am currently checking and responding to email twice daily at 12: 00 P.M. and 4: 00 P.M. (EST)

        If you require urgent assistance (please ensure it is urgent) that cannot wait until either 12: 00 P.M. or 4: 00 P.M., please contact me via phone at 555-555-5555.

        Thank you for understanding this move to more efficiency and effectiveness. It helps me accomplish more to serve you better.

        Sincerely,

        ~ [Your name]
        Citation: https://tim.blog/2014/07/14/autoresponse/

         

         

        Now, this type of automated email response might not work for everyone. But you should challenge yourself to think about how this kind of change could work for you. Is there something you can do to move closer to this model?

        By time-blocking, we allow ourselves to focus on the big picture--the dreaming and the managing--so that we can grow our businesses and become more successful. This means we have to stop being reactionary and start being proactive.

         

        Following these three important steps--throwing out previous ideas of what a leader looks like, allowing yourself to dream, manage, and do, and time-blocking for each of these things--is how you can move away from a leader-follower mentality to a leader-leader one. Once you are able to manage yourself, you can also effectively lead others to do the same for themselves, which means increased efficiency and success for your business.

        CloseSimple can help by providing you the ability to create unique automated text and email updates for your title company. You can spend less time writing messages and more time dreaming, managing, and doing the most important parts of your job, so you can successfully lead through this crisis.

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