327: Sue Salvemini: Leading From Your Kitchen Table

Subscribe: RSS

How Do You Effectively Lead While Working From Home During This COVID-19 Pandemic?

Sue Salvemini

Sue Salvemini (BS, MEd) is an author, speaker, and executive leadership coach helping leaders and teams align their work with their core values for maximum impact and fulfillment.

In her first book, Leadership by Choice: 7 Keys for Maximizing Your Impact and Influence in the Workplace…Right Where You Are (Capucia, LLC, May 2018), Sue applies over 25 years of best practices from her personal experience leading and developing teams in both the military and corporate world, along with the experiences of her executive clients and participants in her leadership programs and coaching services.

Founder and President of Focal Pointe Consulting Group, Inc., Sue is passionate about helping individuals connect with their authentic leadership style and love the work they do! Married to her husband of over 20 years and mother of their three teenagers, Sue has a refreshing sense of humor and appreciation about the rewards and challenges of wearing many hats while building a purposeful career you truly embrace.

What We Discuss With Sue Salvemini In This Episode

How to maximize your impact and influence in the current crisis
Practical tips for reorganizing your life and systems to be effective at home
How to get the most out of your team while working virtually
The power of authenticity and vulnerability as a leader
Planning your schedule around work and family priorities

Episode Transcript Highlights

The book has not been written on leading through this COVID situation. We never had a time when the world has had a pandemic where we can read a book about how lead through it. Each one of us has an opportunity to define that. If there was ever a time to be your authentic self, now is it.

The first thing is to recognize where you are right now. Some people are eager. Some people are very fearful. Some people don’t know – there are so many things on their list of what to do and how to be.

People that are working from home for the first time, this is really new. People who have worked from home – it’s really new having everyone around you.

Get really honest with yourself about where you are emotionally with what’s going on. Be careful not to project what’s going on for you on those around you.

I may be eager because I see such an opportunity to serve people right now. Others may be very fearful and afraid to put themselves out there. Neither one is right or wrong.

The second thing is that, as a leader, you do need to appreciate that everyone is responding to this very differently. This pandemic has brought out some blindsides that people didn’t even know they had, including fears about uncertainty.

I think people’s faith, both in a true spiritual sense, but also in what people align with and what gives them confidence, is right between the eyes right now.

It’s not necessarily a linear path (that people are taking). Today I might feel really invigorated about my work and confident that the work I’m putting out is going to be useful and the business will continue to serve people. Tomorrow I could wake up and hear something on the news or just be more tired, and be like, “none of this is worth anything.”

Effective Listening

Given 1 and 2, you need to meet people where they are and focus on it. That means having open conversations and really listening. I mean listening to what they’re saying and what they’re not saying.

I’ve always been a very upfront and in-person worker. My whole life in corporate – if I could get face to face in front of a person live, I would do anything to do that. So the thought of having conversations on the phone or over zoom was very unappealing to me. But what I’ve learned over the past four years that is really serving me right now is that the power of a phone call is far greater than I ever realized. And I’m saying even without video.

The reason I say this is that people think because they’re not in an office space and they’re not with their clients, that they are missing something. This is actually the greatest opportunity to learn how to truly listen and hear what someone is saying with their words and what they’re saying with their tone.

The best way to find where someone is – is to ask them. Too often we don’t pick up the phone. It’s like we’ve gotten so fast in what we do, that we’ve lost our voice. This time has given us the opportunity to take that back.

Get away from email if dialogue is moving too quickly. Pick up the phone. Hop on a zoom call. Nip it in the bud before thoughts and perceptions spiral.

At the same time, don’t be afraid to share where you’re at. Vulnerable leadership is being honest. None of us have all the answers and none of us know what tomorrow will bring.

Specifically as it relates to leading and guiding a team, we’re sort of figuring it out as we go.

It’s amazing. I’m already seeing trust relationships being formed in teams that have worked together for years. They’re coming together on a whole different level because the leader or individuals are being vulnerable with their fears and challenges and also trying to lead in the moment and show up.

Organizing Your Space While Working From Home

First, recognize that everyone is going to have a different situation. Not everyone has a special office or room. By now, people have discovered either they love their homes or not.

Take a pause and ask what you think is going well. See if you can stake some real estate in your home, whether it’s a corner or separate room. It might be a shared space if you have multiple people at home needing to video conference. With that, you have to create some rules for the home and it could be a schedule.

It’s kind of funny but with video calls, you have to be aware of your background. You might have family members just getting up out of bed, i.e. teenagers walking behind you with half of their clothes on.

When I had little kids running around I had a sign on the door that said “C” which meant that mommy was on a call. Now I have a sign that says, “Call In Progress.” It’s the same thing for my teenagers when they’re in a class.

If you don’t have a separate room you can use, I do have clients who do calls in their car. What you want to do is create a space where you can be the most present for your team, colleagues, etc.

If you don’t have a good headset, get one, so people can hear you.

The other thing to consider is WIFI and if you can hardwire in, do that, depending on what you’re doing.

It’s also really important that you get dressed for work. You are still in your role. It sets a tone and impression for yourself and your family, and elevates your commitment to working.

Scheduling Your Time

The second thing is really getting honest with how you are with scheduling. This is a time like none other, where you truly are your own boss. Only you can see what you’re doing with your time, and how productive or unproductive you are being.

One of two things potentially happens. You could find yourself consumed with other very necessary household tasks and not get anything done. Or you could go into your workspace, put your head down, and actually work around the clock because nothing is stopping you and it actually makes you feel good, like you’re doing something.

So create an almost non-negotiable schedule that you can work with, that outlines a start time and a stop time, and then honor it. If it helps, post it so your family can see it.

By creating routine, we start to feel some sense of normalcy. It’s a way to take back some control, where so much around us feels out of control. You start to feel better, your brain opens up and you don’t feel so restricted. Instead of focusing on what has been taken away or what you can’t do, you start to create what you can do.

The schedule might not be 9 to 5. The schedule might be that I’m in my office from 6-9am and then from 9-11am, I home school my kids or support other things around the house. Then 11am-3pm I’m going to be back in the office, 3-6pm I might be working with the family, preparing meals or doing quality time with my family, and 6-8pm might be bedtime for your kids or just relaxing. And then maybe you catch email for two hours.

I’m not suggesting you work that way. What I’m suggesting is that you understand that this is what flexible working is. There can be lots of benefit to it and there can be some challenges.

Aligning Your Actions and Values

3-6-12 months from now, as we’re looking back on this time, how do you want to reflect on this time, in terms of how you showed up as a leader in your business, as a leader in your team, as a colleague, parent, partner, sibling, and child? How do you want to look back at this time and remember what you were able to do during this time of uncertainty?

Take a piece of paper and create three columns. In the first column, write down the many hats and roles that you occupy. In the second column write down what you value most about each of those roles. In the third column write down what actions you are doing to honor these values.

Sometimes we have to schedule these things in, because if we’re not practicing these things organically or naturally it’s because we have some default tendencies.

Here is the best part. Regardless whether this pandemic or way of living lasts 1 month or a year, if you can nail these top critical roles you play and how you want to show up, and you put in place planning, exercises, activities, events and thoughtfulness that resonates with it, you won’t lose this. Or you’ll have less of a chance of losing this when life evolves to a new way of functioning.

Episode Resources

Downloadable Resources: https://focalpointeinc.com/resources
Leadership By Choice – Book, Audible
Leadership By Choice – Reflection Journal

Connect With Sue Salvemini

Website: https://focalpointeinc.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suesalvemini

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora or Stitcher.

Did You Enjoy The Podcast?

If you like this episode let us know! Reviews for the podcast on iTunes are greatly appreciated. This helps us reach more entrepreneurs seeking to make a positive impact in the world. If you received value from this episode, it would mean so much if you could take a moment and leave your 5-star rating and review. You can do that by visiting here. Thank you! Together we can make a difference!

Additional Episodes You May Like

Tags:

How Do You Effectively Lead While Working From Home During This COVID-19 Pandemic?