Lead Now and Others Will Follow
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, many of our normal happenings and ways of work have been interrupted with inconveniences that have crept into our workday. On top of the pandemic, a global financial situation is breathing down the neck of our next potential recession. Financial advisors are stressed. Investors are worried about their retirement plans and their future goals. Parents are worried about their income, kids, AND parents.
It’s easy to want to stick your head in the sand or just feel like staying in bed. Don’t do it. There’s a lot that you need to be doing now to lead your clients, friends, family, neighbors, and COIs. These people need to know you’re not going anywhere. They need to absorb some of your confidence and feel a sense of calm and comfort coming from your voice and your actions.
Now, more than ever, be the voice of reason. Demonstrate your leadership qualities to be a leader that your clients and friends can follow through this dark time. Stay positive and proactive. Here are a few specific leadership qualities you can implement right now as a great leader.
Communicate
Leaders pick up the phone and make contact. They don’t wait for others to call them. No doubt you are calling the clients who have already called you in a nervous state. Call your calm clients too. Reach out to them as well to see how you might be able to help them in other ways. Find out if they have someone looking out for them. Do they have enough essential items? Are there any resources that they need or people you can help connect them to for other services? To exercise this leadership quality, be available and demonstrate that you care about them.
Invest time with people
Leaders motivate others and bring people together. Choose a day of the week to host an online social, networking gathering, happy hour or fireside chat with your favorite COIs. Utilize ZOOM or FreeConferenceCall.com to schedule time to bring everyone together. Plan a loose agenda for everyone to talk about how things are going for them especially if they have to work from home. Get everyone to share a positive story and highlight successes despite what’s happening around them.
Share your expertise
Leaders know that there is wealth in wisdom. Everyone around you is nervous. Call those people who are NOT your clients to offer any advice or answer any of their questions. You probably have neighbors, friends, golfing buddies, and even some family members who may not have heard from their advisor or may not even have an advisor. Reaching out to these folks now when they are stressed may help to relieve their fears and may eventually guide someone to seek you out down the road. Share your expertise simply because you can. It will build your credibility and help others to further their trust in you.
When confidence is low and people are on edge, we look to our leaders for comfort. You can and should focus on your leadership capacity while reaching out to the people in your circles. Stay top of mind. Lead with your words, confidence and attitude. Be the person that others want to follow and when the pandemic is past us, your leadership qualities will still remain in the minds and hearts of the people you’ve touched.