When you really need to listen

As a leader, do you sometimes feel like you need to have all the answers? Let me reassure you that you don’t.

It has been a tough week on a global level.

Brutality. Racism. Death. Riots.

We are all experiencing this turmoil differently.

So, don’t feel like you need to know how to act or what to think right now.

What can you do?

Listen.

Be quiet.

Be still.

Reflect.

Read.

Learn.

Although I have personally experienced sexism and anti-Semitism (I share a story in my video about what happened to me just last week), I have not experienced racism. I don’t know what it is like to feel persecuted, threatened, judged, unseen, unheard or ignored based on the colour of my skin.

So, this week, I have said very little.

I am listening a lot.

As leaders, we are trained to be experts and we tend to speak a lot – in team meetings, Board meetings, client meetings, one-on-one meetings…and the list goes on.

But sometimes leadership is quiet.

Not talking.

Listening.

Listen to what your people need right now.

Listen to your heart when you feel like you need a break from all this turmoil.

I pray that around the corner there is hope.

Light.

A new planet.

A different way of being together.

Be kind to yourself and the people around you.