Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny. – C.S. Lewis

We are living in unprecedented times. We are living during a moment of history that will be written about in the history books a hundred years from now. These are definitely trying times!

How we handle this crisis will be debated for years to come. As leaders, how we step up right now is as crucial as ever.

As a leader, you might be able to identify with Tom Welling, who said, “I have so much chaos in my life, it’s become normal.” Can you relate?

Being a leader does not exempt you from chaos, stress, pressures, and other such issues. In fact, it might add to them. 

However, your style and approach at such times are essential as a leader. Others are looking to you to see how you react, which determines how they will respond.

Your leadership when times are tough will either cause people to lose hope and succumb to despair or it will instill hope and confidence. Click To Tweet In these times, your people need an example of the calming effect that your leadership can have. Here are four ways that happen.

Calm leaders see the big picture

Calm leaders are not rocked by every disruption that comes along. Shortsightedness tends to fuel people’s insecurities. A calm leader can exude confidence because they see the big picture, and with that understanding, they can lead with a steady hand. 

Calm leaders understand timing

One of the hardest things to learn as a leader is timing. We are people of action. Waiting is not necessarily a finer quality. But calm leaders have an intuition for timing. They know when it’s time to stay and when it’s time to act. The calming effect of timing within your organization and with your people can make a difference. Calm leaders can help avert a multitude of troubles just by understanding how timing impacts every decision they make. Click To Tweet

Calm leaders challenge norms

Calm leaders challenge norms and stretch others to grow in ways they are not often comfortable with. Call it what you will – human nature, gut reactions, etc., but many people react to things happening to them or around them in ways that only make matters worse. But a calm leader is processing. A calm leader brings peace to the storm, level-headed thinking, and challenges the norms that define how things have always been done. 

Calm leaders bring stability

Calm leaders bring a level of maturity and stability often lacking during turbulent times. Calm leaders know that their actions, attitudes, reactions, and thinking go a long way in determining successful outcomes.

Strive to be a leader who brings a calming presence to the situation when everything around them seems to be in chaos. We could surely use more calm leaders.

Robert Schuller once said, “Know that tough times don’t last, but tough people do.” We are certainly in the midst of tough times. Be encouraged today, and know that we will get through this together!

©2020 Doug Dickerson

*This post was adapted from Four Attitudes of Calm Leaders that was originally published to my blog in April 2019.

Please follow and like us: