Hindsight 20/20: Lessons in leading a team during a pandemic
2020…what a year. No one was prepared for the harsh realities of last year, and it’s not like 2021 has started off great either. Regardless, I think most would agree that 2020 was a year for learning and reflection; I know it definitely was for me and my team.
When I first was approached to take on a management position, a valued and respected leader told me about Servant Leadership. While Servant Leadership isn’t a new concept (it was first coined in an essay by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970 and later became a book in 1977[1]), it was a new concept for me and something that immediately resonated. The 10 main characteristics of a Servant Leader were reflected in the behaviors and attributes of those I admired:
- Listening
- Empathy
- Healing
- Awareness
- Persuasion
- Conceptualization
- Foresight
- Stewardship
- Commitment to the growth of people
- Building community
Although these characteristics had been valuable for me to apply prior to the pandemic, in this last year it’s been the key to leading a team through these hard times. To go one step further, I’ve learned that the greater success has been having these shared behaviors as a team. In essence, I think it boils down to a hodgepodge of a few of the Servant Leadership characteristics that have been practiced and observed as a collective team:
1. Taking the time to listen and to empathize with others
In March of last year, we were all adjusting to a new way of living and working with each other. We were working from the confines of our homes whilst exposing each other to our altered lives — kids now at home, carving out (and sometimes sharing) new office space, or a plethora of other situations we never anticipated being in a year ago. Gone were the days of in-person office interactions, we were now trying to acclimate ourselves to being on video calls and chat all day. Each of us was adapting in our own ways and it was beneficial to talk about it and see the flexibility and support we had for one another.
2. Encouraging healing and being self-aware
For the most part, this pandemic during a tumultuous sociopolitical climate has pushed us through the stages of grief. One day we’re in denial, the next we’re angry, we’re going through our “what if” and “if only” questions, shutting down, and cycling through these on a roller coaster towards acceptance. This is absolutely exhausting. As a team, we’ve supported each other in many ways, including encouraging each other to take the time and space needed.
They say knowing yourself helps you be a better partner; I think that also applies to being a better teammate.
We’ve had had countless hours at home for self-reflection (which by the way can lead to feeling like we need that time and space from our own thoughts). Ultimately, this time has brought a lot more self-awareness. They say knowing yourself helps you be a better partner; I think that also applies to being a better teammate. While it’s been hard, I’ve found it to be refreshing to be more in tune with myself and it’s helped me identify things I can work on, what I want to do more of, and ultimately be a better wife, boss, or peer. I’ve seen a lot of positive change in how people show up and work with each other and I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
3. Commitment to building a community
At Alaska Airlines there are a lot of folks that are committed to the company and I can pretty much guarantee if you ask someone what they love about Alaska Airlines, the response you’ll hear towards the top of the list is, “the people”. During a pandemic working for an airline, there hasn’t been any attrition on my team, and as a whole, our experience design & research team has maintained almost every single individual contributor. That’s astounding. I don’t think that’s by chance, I think that’s through the community we’ve built as a discipline and team. We’re a community built on a shared commitment towards user-centered design and creating great experiences for our guests. This commonality requires us to commit to connecting early and often to uphold our design pillars and provide for a seamless guest experience. In doing this, we’re building strong relationships with each other and progressing our community of practice. We’re coaching, filling in gaps, and just adapting with each other in a time where we’ve had to respond quickly to our new environment as individuals and as an airline.
2020 was a year of responding to the many changes that Covid-19 brought us at home and at work. I wrote most of this article in the past tense because it was a reflective piece for me, and it really struck me as an exercise in ‘hindsight is 20/20’. We’ve weathered most of the storm, we’re not fully in the clear and there is still some turbulence ahead, but I’m confident that our team has the learnings and abilities to get to blue skies.
Would love to hear others’ reflections and perspectives on 2020. What has your team learned or exhibited in these difficult times? Leave them in the comments section!
References
[1] Greenleaf, R.K. (1977) Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness. Paulist Press, New York.
