The Calm Brain
Dear Leader,
Back in November, we talked about Leading In Times of Uncertainty by leaning on our core values. It now seems as though that uncertainty is going to last a little longer! You asked me: How can I possibly be a good leader for my team when I have so few answers — and the answers I do have are confusing, incomplete, or undesirable at best? Leading well through prolonged uncertainty can be incredibly difficult, but the ability to do so is more helpful to those around you than you may feel or realize at the time.
In our Adapted Repeated Trauma System (ARTS), prolonged uncertainty or many changes in rapid succession (budget cuts or changes, layoffs, changes in policy) can qualify as a “crisis” if they are disruptive enough to your daily work and routines. If you’re an ER doctor, daily emergencies are the norm, but an earthquake affecting your hospital probably isn’t. If you’re a government employee, budget cuts are normal, but losing all the people you just got through hiring and training over the last year in one week is not.
When you are leading through a crisis, it is imperative that you take care of yourself first. This means you have to tend to your needs for sleep, nutrition, and having someone to talk to who can support you, calm you down, and boost you up. But this is not just a platitude — the reason this is so important is that one of your most crucial functions as a leader in a crisis is to be a calm and supportive person to your team.
Having answers, while useful, is not actually as helpful as being a “calm brain.” Our brains and emotional states are open-loop systems, meaning that our emotions are “contagious” — especially as the leader in the room. So, being agitated makes our team more agitated. Being calm helps our teams be more calm, and also gives us all access to our best thinking. When you find a calm brain to help, you then can be a calm brain for your team.
Another helpful thing to keep in mind is something I borrow from my colleagues at Stop Meeting Like This. They have a framework for leadership teams about collaboration, using driving conditions as a metaphor. On a clear sunny day, you can drive forward at speed, feeling fairly confident about what’s ahead. On a rainy day, you might be more cautious, slowing down, taking more time around the curves. On a densely foggy day, where you can barely see in front of you, you have to slow down or even stop in order to determine a course of action. Leading through a crisis is definitely a foggy day. It feels different — you may be less confident, more wobbly, and it probably feels less gratifying, just like driving through fog is more survival than finesse.
At the end of the day, if you can be a calm presence, leading with your own core values and taking the time to slow down and keep your team safe and connected, you will have done well — as well as anyone can in uncertain times. And I promise that it will matter dearly to those around you.
Cheering for you,
Carolyn
Carolyn Murphy
Chief Executive Officer
Center for Trauma and Leadership