How Coaching Can

Lead us Through COVID

David B. Peterson and David Goldsmith
26 March, 2020

7PathsForward.com

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Purpose

Help build a sense of community and connection: We are in this

together

Help coaches adapt

Help coaches help leaders

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Agenda

The New Normal

● Daily Disruption
● Daily Discipline

Virtual is Vital

Communication & Connection

Optimism & Inspiration

Vision & Values

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 The new normal: Daily Disruption

Things are changing daily - be prepared for more. This is likely to get worse before it gets better.

Take care of yourself, your family, your friends, your community.

Disruption never announces itself nor does it give you a timeframe.

Build Equanimity - be present, rather than worrying about the future. Breathe. Manage stress.

This is VUCA: Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous. It’s the new normal.
● Exponential change -- we’re not good at seeing what’s coming when it’s changing so fast.
● DNA of VUCA: Diversity, Novelty, Adversity. The more experience we have with DNA, the better
we are at dealing with it.

Prepare contingency plans: Emergency/health info, contact information, passwords, local healthcare.
Carry your phone and charger with you.

Use disruption to examine your life: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”
● Prioritize for what matters now.
● Set up new habits, routines. Reinvent yourself.
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The new normal: Daily Disciplines

Set up your operating system for this new reality.

Set up a regular rhythm and routine for yourself and family.

● Create space for working, and for not working.
● Schedule time for exercise/fitness, family time and work time, time to reflect
and relax.
● Use technology to stay in touch with people in your life.

Keep your eyes on your business.

● Set a schedule for managing your business - marketing, networking, serving
clients.
● Provide what people need now, whether they can pay for it or not.

Invest in education and self-improvement - reading, classes, study.

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Virtual is Vital

Set up your virtual workspace: Invest in good equipment, headphones, microphone,

comfortable seating, attractive background, etc.

Virtual comms and meetings - get good at it.

● Get good at video conferencing: Learn how to use Zoom, Google Hangouts,
Skype, YouTube, etc.
● Use appropriate settings and controls: Reduce video quality for low bandwidth,
etc.
● Use technology to stay in touch with family, friends, clients.
● Learn appropriate etiquette for virtual meetings: Be present - keep your screen
on so people can see you.
● Spend time on informal social communication and interaction as well as business.

Cut yourself some slack -- and others. Schedules can be challenging, and not
everyone will want to be on video. Kids, pets, timing.

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Communication & Connection

Communication is key to getting through this.

Empathy is essential: Put yourself in other’s shoes. And help your clients do the same.
Help leaders build emotional resonance with their teams and colleagues.

A reframe: Physical distancing, social connection.

Leaders - engagement & support, caring and compassion

● Check in regularly.
● Set up group chat with your team to stay in touch through the day.
● Use shared docs.
● Recreate informal social contact and interactions; small talk matters.
● Set boundaries - respect personal time -- even more important now. Working
virtually is not working 24/7.

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Optimism, Inspiration, Vision, Values

Play the long game - agility and long-term sustainable high performance.

Vision & Values are super-critical in face of crisis and disruption; meaning and
purpose are essential to provide clarity and stability.

Optimism & Inspiration: Leaders need to be realistic, but create hope,

optimism, and inspiration.

Gratitude exercises - personal and with your teams. What are you grateful for?

Mindfulness - be present.
● Build equanimity - sense of calm, balance - especially in the midst of
tension and turmoil.
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Times of great calamity and confusion have been
productive for the greatest minds.

The purest ore is produced

from the hottest furnace.

The brightest lightning bolt is elicited

from the darkest storm.

— Charles Caleb Colton —

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Resources
Coronavirus / Pandemic times
● Medium - Coronavirus spread: It’s exponential
● Medium - Understanding the coronavirus threat
● New York Times - What you can do right now
● Diamandis - Coronavirus & exponential change
● Google - COVID-19 info site
Working virtually, remotely, from home
● Google - Make “work from home” work for you.
● Torch - For new leaders of virtual teams.
● HBR - Remote teams: collaboration
● HBR - Leading virtual meetings.
● Zapier - How to transition to remote work.
● Economist - Video Conferencing etiquette
● New York Times - Working from home
● New York Times - How to look good on a webcam
● New York Times - Tips for being homebound
● New York Times - Living in isolation, lessons from
space
Leading in crisis and complexity
● Ray Williams - What should leaders do during a crisis
● McKinsey - Decision making in uncertain times
● McKinsey - Leading through crisis
● BCG - Think biologically: Messy management for a
complex world
● Forbes - Leading in uncertain times
● HBR - How to reassure your team when news is scary
● Korn Ferry - Leading in pandemic times
● In Extremis Leadership, Book by Tom Kolditz.
● Prepare for the next disruption: LIve like a hydra.
Resilience / Stress / Emotions
● Duke - Resilience
● LinkedIn Learning - Building resilience
● HBR - Emotions - Grief is what you’re feeling
● New York Times - Adam Grant - Burnout/Stress
● Psychology Today - Weathering the storm
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