Communicating as a leader during the Coronavirus
Graham Razey finds that, paradoxically, this pandemic has brought us closer.
Graham Razey, CEO of EKC Group of Colleges, takes a moment to reflect on the change that Coronavirus has meant to his leadership.
There’s little doubt that anyone out there ever expected that we’d be in the position we are today. And whilst my organisation does have the word pandemic in one of its business continuity planning scenarios, just a few months ago I would never have thought the world would be so radically and utterly reshaped as it is right now. What’s more, it isn’t just the world that’s been reshaped; it is my world, and my organisation’s world also. But whilst everything has been turned on its head and we live in an age of ‘new normals’, one somewhat unexpected paradox has grown within my organisation. The paradox is that despite my colleagues being so physically disconnected, we have become ever more virtually connected. In short, Coronavirus has grown our sense of community, making it stronger for all.
There’s a reason for that. When I referred to ‘my world’ being turned on its head, it was because of the direct impact I’ve felt from Coronavirus. Often in leadership roles, individuals can be insulated from the wider staff body and the day to day occurrences taking place across the organisation. You can easily become detached from the issues that really affect the people on the ground. I’ve always prided myself on the personal touch and being connected to staff, but as my organisation has grown this has become ever more challenging. But now, Coronavirus has reframed that narrative, bringing leaders across my organisation back down to earth and directly into the trenches in some cases. It has made people more human across the organisation, as we all wrestle with ensuring we continue delivering our service to the many thousands of young people who rely on us, whilst also ensuring colleagues remain safe and well. Coronavirus doesn’t know boundaries, which means that all of us are united by this threat. We have coalesced, coming together as a stronger, more resilient community very quickly. But what’s been the catalyst for this? Why has it happened so swiftly within my organisation? It would be very easy to say that we’ve merely come together in a moment of crisis, but I don’t believe it’s quite this simple. There are a number of reasons, but I wanted to pick out one which I believe has brought staff together particularly rapidly.
I believe our community has grown stronger, because we’ve communicated more and in a different way. Leaders have paid greater attention to the little details about colleagues and have focused very carefully on the messages and the language used. Since the beginning of the crisis, we have focussed on engaging with staff at a more human level. I’m living exactly the same challenge they are, with the same fears, hopes and difficulties they face. Just because I’m a Chief Executive Officer doesn’t mean I’m any less likely to catch Coronavirus, or any less worried about my loved ones. And I’ve let staff know that, because it’s important that they recognise I’m not that different to them in a crisis of this magnitude; I am here to lead them and get them through this safely, but I do still share this experience with them. The change of tone and style of communication has changed for many of my other colleagues as well. Across the organisation we’ve found that line managers, other senior leaders and frontline staff are all communicating more regularly, and in a more human way than they ever have before. Everyone within the organisation is spending more time really speaking and listening to their peers, growing relationships, being kind to one another, finding out more about each other in a way which we wouldn’t ordinarily and offering support. It’s a silly example, but just seeing my colleagues’ home environments whilst video chatting with them has given me a greater depth of insight into their characters, and they, by extension, have developed their understanding of me.
Communicating with such regularity has deepened the core relationships I have, rolling back the corporate polish of many within my organisation. It has also allowed me, as a leader, to really illustrate my authenticity, solidifying the trust that colleagues have in me to guide them in their futures. The focus which I have placed on communication has also made me more visible within the organisation than I have been in recent times.
Prior to this crisis all day to day leadership had been devolved to local principals at each of our colleges, giving rise to a disconnection between not only myself and the staff within them, but also between the colleges themselves. Whilst we all had strong cultural bonds and shared value sets, we perhaps didn’t feel as much of a family as we do today, with less connectedness between each of the colleges within our group. Coronavirus has changed that radically. It has made everyone’s world smaller and brought our community together in a way which we have never seen before, despite the physical barriers we may currently have. We’ve grown as a consequence of this terrible virus, and actually, it’s going to make us far stronger than we’ve ever been once the country emerges from its grip. It has also changed me, and forced me to reflect on my leadership, and how I want to develop my group of colleges in the future. And one thing is for certain, I won’t let the relationship I have built with staff slip away when all of this is over.
