Staff Leadership in Difficult Times

This summer, I had the opportunity to sit down with Maura Walker, Chief Operating Officer of Americans for the Arts.  She gave me some thoughts on the subject of staff leadership in difficult times, and reading over my notes last night, I thought it might be a good time to share them.  They are short, practical and digestible...and I hope you find them helpful as you wind down the calendar year, looking toward 2010.

David

Leadership = helping people break from the status quo, out of their ruts. It doesn’t have to come just from your CEO. Some thoughts:

1. Take care of yourself. Eat properly and exercise. All reactions to change are emotional—you have to be in a good emotional place to help others through it. Have a good, safe place to vent that is not your spouse.
2. Communicate like crazy. This avoids rumors. Get (and act on) good info, build a team that shares info well, and address rumors directly.
3. Get out of the office and meet with people face-to-face. Management by walk-about. Get out in the organization and have conversations where people are--or get out of the office building altogether.
4. Harness the power of collaboration. Be willing to share quality information and staff with other organizations. Trust in yourself to be a good collaboration—go in with confidence that you have a lot to offer. Build trust with your leadership.

Some qualities to cultivate:

1. Integrity – consistency in the way you treat people; follow through with what you say.
2. Decisiveness – Be quick, speedy, know what you’re doing and do it.
3. Vision – Know where you want to go, and draw people into it.
4. Be Unselfish – Shut up and listen. Be generous with your praise.