Stress and mental health are the key words on everyone’s lips this year, it seems. People are worried about job security, how to keep all the balls in the air, how to create good working relationships without the personal touch.
And, of course, many of us are also worried about the health and wellbeing of our loved ones, especially those we haven’t been able to see face-to-face.
As coaching and mentoring experts, we have noticed a pattern of concerns in our sessions with clients over the last few months. They include statements such as:
- ‘I feel lethargic’
- ‘I sit at my screen all day’
- ‘The boundaries between work and home have become blurred’
- ‘It is relentless’
- ‘I am constantly on calls and I have no time to deliver the actual work’.
Many of these issues stem from the shift in work patterns from office to home. While this transition may have its benefits – reduced travel time and expenses, for example – there is no doubt it has also left people encountering different types of work-related stress and anxiety.
And the usual release valves that many of us rely on – a meal out with our partner, a sneaky weekend away, seeing friends or catching up with family – have been paused. This heightens the pressures we feel and illuminates challenges even further.
How leadership coaching can help
If you recognise these challenges in your working life or in that of your team-members, help is at hand. By committing to just a few leadership coaching sessions you can carve out the space to think, plan and consider what could be done differently.
Executive coaches such as those at Henry & Harris Partnership specialise in creating a safe and open space in which to analyse what is and isn’t working for you.
We will support you in your thinking about how to work more effectively alongside covering practical skills such as how to connect effectively with people on a telephone or a screen.
Our advice includes using virtual ice-breakers, making time to ask colleagues how they are doing, and remembering to recognise and reward team members’ achievements, which can all be easily overlooked when you are working virtually.
An experienced coach can also help you to hone the specific leadership skills you need when working with a remote team.
The Henry & Harris Partnership approach
We understand there is no road map to what is going on right now. Leaders are short on time, need to make quick decisions with limited information and often with no proven route through. This context can make being an executive tough and lonely.
Henry & Harris Partnership provides a safe environment for these sources of uncertainty and tension to be explored. All of our coaching and mentoring programmes are tailored to your individual requirements and preferred ways of working.
So do contact us today to arrange your unique chemistry session. We’re ready to demonstrate how leadership coaching could help you meet the particular challenges of 2021 and achieve more this year.
