When tough times come, leaders must implement what is best for the organisation as a whole. Staff and volunteers are our most valuable asset so putting strategies into place such as custom training, to buoy the team coming through unknown challenges, is a priority. This has transformed us into a strong and tightly knit unit. This has been our ‘silver lining’.
The first half of financial year 2019-20 saw fundraising concerts and programs coming together as planned, but then two major ‘unplanned’ events took place. The Cudlee Creek Bushfires decimated our home of 32 years so we took a personal “hit” and total redirection. Often when the leader is impacted, the ripple effect is felt throughout the organisation. We chose to focus on working hard to distract us from the emotions and memories of our material losses – it was the idyllic ’empty nest’ lifestyle in the Adelaide Hills.
Then our world changed again in March 2020 when we ‘took cover’ and adjusted to the ‘survival’ type mode Covid19 forced upon us. This required strategies which would keep the mindset of staff, strong and robust so they could be strong leaders and life coaches, examples to participants, clients and each other. The advantage of having less than ten paid staff meant we could continue meeting monthly with regular training days investing in resilience training, positive mindset and encouraging language.
Change the language – change the culture. I did not allow the ‘C’ word or the ‘P’ word to be spoken in our dialogue nor would be repeat health warnings on our social media. It also meant no one was to work from home, so we would look forward to seeing each other and stay connected. While working a little ‘spread out’ across three locations, we would see and socialise, plus at every opportunity we’d encourage each other and connect through technology