When The Chips Are Down, The Leader needs encouragement!Imagine walking into the office to see your boss and find him or her in tears! The leader is expected to tick the perceived right boxes. The reality is that even the leader experiences down times, and when this happens, need someone also to lean on. If your boss is that tall, elegant, straight-legged and intelligent, knowledgeable, respectable, confident, widely travelled and expert man/woman, it would seem that they are unbreakable. Still, even for those who tick these boxes there, sometimes, comes a moment of truth.
To inspire anyone, you must understand them and what influences them. The argument about who motivates whom has been on-going and has elicited spirited passionate responses from both sides.
Carol Quinn, umpire of one of the longest running threads on LinkedIn is passionate in her insistence that employees should have the responsibility to motivate themselves. While, one cannot fully reject this suggestion, one must consider that even the boss or leader may need motivating at some point. Should subordinates shy away from this?
Motivation is an arrowed two-way vector that can be better understood when placed in context. Motivation, by nature, also oscillates, making it difficult to achieve with the same treatment every time. Oftentimes, when employees are not motivating themselves, it is headed in one direction from the leader, to the subordinates or followers. When the pendulum swings, employees and subordinates need to understand their environment, their bosses and what to do under the circumstances to motivate them for a change. After all, the rich also cry.
Oftentimes, the leader is the one researching his employees and followers and applying his lessons to trying and keep them motivated and productive. But once in a while, he falls behind, either with illness, depression, stress, or out-rightly cracks up, some break down in tears.
So what will you do if you found the leader crying? Will you just stand there and watch him scramble to get himself composed, wipe out his tears, say he was sorry and try to attend to your `needs’ – again? To tell you the truth, not many subordinates can handle a situation like this, but if they manage to pull it off, their resourcefulness will no doubt be highlighted and better appreciated.
If your leader breaks down or begin to crack up unexpectedly, here are 5 suggestions about on how to handle the situation:
1) Get Composed: No matter your own personal situation, try and get yourself composed as quickly as possible. Remember, in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is usually the king. The leader can be led, even if momentarily, at times like that. Regaining your composure will enable you to muster the strength necessary to deal with the situation. To do this, you will have to think fast and appear organised. Leaders have been trained to watch out for the best among their subordinates and one of the ways they know this is in times of crises. So even when they are down, they are not usually totally out. What you do and how you do it there and then will enable him to trust you to handle that and, maybe subsequent, situations.”
2) Show Concern: Apologise for coming in at that particular moment, even if you knocked, and ask if he/she is OK. In most offices, subordinates are used to a certain culture of `knocking and entering’. You may have come in at a time he/she was not expecting anyone and was probably trying to deal with a shocking news or burden, alone. So making excuses in case you are interrupting is in line with showing the leader respect. And although you may ask, don’t expect to be told. Leaders won’t necessarily open the ‘tap’ so easily. Ask whether you can get them anything – glass of water, handkerchief, similar. Then ask if you should come back before you attempt to leave.
3) Do Not Blab: When you get back to your office or join your other colleagues, do not necessarily start blabbing about what you have just seen. Think about it, you could have been in that situation. Reconsider the situation and decide whether you should ask for a meeting with the leader. If that is the first time you are seeing them, it may help to have a special one-on-one when he/she is better composed and back to their real self. If they want to talk about it frankly, that would be the time to address it. If it is the pressure of work, that would also be the time to suggest a holiday.
4) Offer To Help: If you have asked for a meeting, it is the appropriate place to ask again what was wrong, listen and offer suggestions – if you have any. If the company is going through difficult times, financially speaking, consider if you can makes sacrifices like working for the next month or two without pay or even at half salary. If the company’s creditors are on his/her neck, are you able to help? Do you know anyone who can be of help? If the company’s debtors are delaying payment, are you able to help there also? If he/she is having problem with an important client who is threatening to withdraw their accounts, see if you know a way by which this can be averted. Offer to speak to someone who can make a difference to the ugly situation. Even bosses get hated and told off by important or big clients sometimes.
5) Don’t Expect Too Much: But whatever advice you offer, bear in mind that they are not under obligation to take it. Most likely than not, your advice will not be immediately accepted – something to do with pride. Or he/she may promise to consider it. But the advantage from this is that of personal image building and creation of a good rapport between you and the leader. It shows, you are dependable and mature and can be trusted with additional or higher responsibilities. And whatever you do, don’t forget that a lot will also depend on the two personalities – yours and the leaders personality.
Being able to support your leader emotionally has important psychological implications and not only will it show that you care for others, but l also it will show that you can be relied upon to keep the project on the right track. Besides, should the situation warrant an absence from the leader, you can be counted upon to provide the support necessary to keep others focused and performing till the leader returns.
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