So you've scrambled to get your team working remotely, set up daily Skype or Zoom meetings, shifted priorities and learned everything you can about leading a remote team. There's a big assumption with this strategy that is about to bite you, though. So let's do some real talk.
All of the remote working advice that exists out there was written before the pandemic, with no context of what this shift may require during a world-wide crisis. There's no playbook for collective grief and trauma on this scale, so I see a lot of folks simply ignoring it and hoping for the best.
What you don't know that is going to bite you soon, if it hasn't already:
There are more people than you think on your team who already have traumatic backgrounds who are having a hard time keeping it together.
You have more people than you know who are in the midst of a months-long traumatic cycle who are not going to be able to hold it together much longer.
You are probably one of those people.
I am not a therapist, but I am a trauma survivor and have been managing PTSD for many years. I have routines and practices that support me so that I am ultra-productive and effective despite my illness. I tell you this for context because, during the first two weeks of the lockdown, I fell apart. No one knew except my husband and my therapist because I was able to hold it together for meetings and still sort of get my work done, though nowhere near the level I am known for. As soon as the camera turned off, I was dissociating - losing track of time and purpose. I spent the evenings crying after the kiddo went to bed, when the world let me put my mask down. None of the resilience and strategies I had developed over the years could innoculate me from the overwhelming grief that has hit every human on this planet. It took a concerted effort to create new routines for myself to find my balance again, and I am grateful that I was able to ask for and receive the help I needed.
What you need to know as a leader is that there is no checklist for trauma or required ties to the actual event. You don't need to have a family member directly impacted by this disease to feel overwhelming sorrow and terror. There is also no reliable way (yet) to predict who will develop PTSD - if we were able to do that, we would know which soldiers to send into combat and which to keep behind the lines. Think of it more like a sensitizing allergen - latex is a good example. You may have an allergic reaction to latex the first time you wear a pair of gloves or be fine until the 1000th time you wear them or never develop symptoms at all. Your first reaction could be mild like a slight rash, or full-blown anaphylaxis. There's no predicting how (or when or if) you will have an allergic response. Similarly, there's no way of knowing the who/what/when/where trauma will impact you or the folks on your team. Statistically speaking, the longer this goes on, one thing we do know is that the more people will develop the symptoms.
The good news is that there ARE things you can start doing to mitigate the trauma as a leader.
3 Steps You Need To Take - TODAY
Put down the manual on leading remote teams and pick up a manual on leading through organizational trauma.
Take your foot off the gas and make a commitment to compassion. (Seriously, if you haven't seen Brené Brown's interview on 60 minutes, stop everything and watch right now.)
Take time to care for yourself and your own grief, trauma, anger, and fear. You can only lead others as far as you've been willing to go yourself.
Whatever steps you take, please understand that the status quo no longer exists, and pretending that it does harms yourself, your team, and your business. This is a defining moment that will shape you as a leader - your people need you to lead by example, taking care of your needs is part of this.