Life In Lockdown Week 6

Motivation, morale and mind-set are the three M’s which I am hearing the most about during the last few weeks.

These have overtaken, fear, frustration, and furlough, which is interesting and a maybe a sign of how we are managing our emotions as the weeks progress.

Is this dependent on our own self leadership styles?

Some of us are better at self-motivating and self-discipline than others.

I have seen recently amongst clients and my circle of friends, that some struggle to focus and dedicate their attention to work whilst remote working, due to distractions of family members, chores, media, or WhatsApp.

(We literally could spend hours keeping up to date with our ever growing number of WhatsApp groups.)

I am sure that self-introspection has led many of us to the triggers of our distraction and we have been able to create new habits to help us adapt to life and business under lock down.

I have always been ok with self-motivation and discipline but have struggled during the last 5 weeks to find a healthy work balance, my top value “ making a difference “ has fed my need to serve and support my network of clients and mastermind groups.

I love what I do, business is I am sure like you, my passion and therefore putting the hours in is easy and enjoyable.

My other top value is family, which if I am 100% honest with you has taken the seat behind business!

I constantly strive for balance in my life so this has caused me some questioning, however my justification is that fortunately every member of my family are currently healthy and fine and being looked after.

My children are back in their virtual class rooms today, I share my home work space with my 15 year old as I hold him account to his GCSE coursework. Luckily my husband is home and schooling my 8yr old which is a different ball game altogether!

Like thousands of families right now, we  have weekly catch ups with all of my family via zoom. On Saturday we even had virtual bingo, and donated our winnings to Captain Tom!

I level the balance by devoting my whole weekend to my family, however we will all remember lock down forever and I want my children to look back with fond memories and feelings of safety and support and most importantly fun, my goal this week is to find the OFF switch a couple of evenings this week.

On balance, I also wish for my clients to look back and feel supported and safe within the community I strive to serve, this has been  my sole reason for Cloud9 for 10 years, and I continue to commit to providing a support network for everyone I work with as I appreciate how much I have relied on mine since the beginning of the pandemic.

We all need a strong sense of belonging and support, Mastermind has given me all of that and more, I am so thankful to those I have in the groups who have been my rock.

I urge you to lean on your support group now as never has there been a stronger sense of camaraderie in business than now. I really hope that this remains as strong after lock down.

The mind set of ourselves and the teams which we lead are also paramount to surviving this lockdown period, if we are flat we will sub consciously affect the morale of our teams, feed from the energy of your network, surround yourself with clever and positive people, engage with them and take action, as productivity feeds positivity.

Action the one thing that matters most, move forward and triumph in the one area which you know will make a difference to your business.

Enrol the help of your team and involve them in your triumph, continue to be transparent with your communication, let them in on your thoughts and plans for both now, and their return to the workplace.

Enquire of their wellbeing and be the support they need.

Remember we are all different and react differently to situations, those who are surprising you today may be out of their own mind set struggles, take the time to question and not accuse.

A great client of mine reminded me this morning of a quote, by Warren Buffett

Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.

Equally we must be the very best leader we can be, to encourage the very best version of our employees.

The more your invest in your team now the stronger they will be post lock down.

Identify your triggers, keep motivation high, be active and energised, find your equilibrium, create the habit for being the best version of you.