A Powerful Workshop for Leaders to manage their staff and their companies through this difficult time  

Please note: 

• Each delegate will get a short workbook to complete before attending the workshop. It is essential that the questions and reflections are filled in before and not during the session. All answers are completely confidential and do not have to be shared with other delegates. If, however, a delegate chooses to reflect on what they have written, this is perfectly acceptable.
• Every delegate will get a PDF version of ‘Life after the Pause’ written and published by the presenter Mike Lacey-Smith
• Due to Covid Restrictions, this will be an online workshop on the platform of your choosing.

1 Day Workshop

“Making money is the ultimate goal of any company. The losses in the last six months (now eighteen months) will have been astronomic, crippling and inconceivable. All managers and employees will know this. Do not keep reminding them. Rather, leaders will need to plan differently and motivate their staff.

So, a simple message to all leaders out there, it is time to step up and lead from the front. Your staff are looking to you for guidance, sometimes for assurance but mostly for you to demonstrate your trust in them.”

“We will certainly have all changed through this journey, and we will need to both understand and process the impact that this has had on every facet of our kaleidoscopic lives, and find new ways to move forward.” 

Mike Lacey-Smith from his published book ‘Life after the Pause’.

Who Should Attend the Workshop:  

All leaders who wish to work more effectively with their staff, their peers and their businesses. And, for these leaders to process and understand the emotional, physical and financial impact that Covid-19 has had on their lives, the lives of their staff, and on their businesses, and also to discover how to cope more effectively in both during this pandemic and in preparation for an uncertain new world.

Why Should Leaders attend this workshop:

Business has been hugely impacted by the effects of Covid-19. Leading differently and effectively through this time, and the uncertain times that lie ahead, will be critical for business survival and flourishing into the future.

This Workshop

Every human being on this planet was affected by the devastating impact that Covid-19 had on us all. Businesses too have been battered, and leaders need to guide their staff through this time.

Leaders and staff have all been through (and still live in the time) of Covid-19. But, leaders carry the heavy responsibility of keeping their companies going, and this is extremely stressful.

The assumption is that people will ‘carry on as normal’ both now and as the world of work eventually opens up. This could not be further from the truth. Statistics from the USA has shown a 20% increase in anxiety disorders, and a 22.9% increase in combined anxiety and depressive disorders since the pandemic begun. South Africa is no different.

South Africa has experienced the longest lockdown and strictest restrictions of any country in the world. The movement back and forth through Levels of Lockdown has had an immense negative impact on business. This has affected employers, employees and companies deeply, and many people have not processed what they felt and thought during this time. This will directly affect how they function both today and into the future. 

The financial repercussions of this time has placed immense stress on leaders and employees, and stressed employees are not productive. What companies need more than ever in this pressured time is employees who are productive, and leaders who can lead them effectively.

This workshop delves deeply into the emotional and financial impact that this time has had on leaders, employees and businesses. It uses as its base the published book by Mike Lacey-Smith entitled ‘Life after the Pause’, and it is the first book in the world to be published discussing the effects of Covid-19 on people and businesses on this earth. He is a Psychologist and facilitator. 

All leaders attending this workshop will be given a personal understanding of the emotions and thoughts that they experienced (and are still experiencing) due to Covid-19. It will, however, focus primarily on the leadership roles, responsibilities and skills necessary to guide their staff and businesses through this time. The workshop is highly interactive yet very personal, and provides understanding as to how to lead differently through uncertainty and change.

It also provides a practical guide and critical tool for managing stress and anxiety. It assesses levels of stress in all areas of life and provides practical skills and thinking processes to better combat what stress does to staff and leaders. This time has been the most stressful time in living history. And the future may well be more stressful in companies. 

Also, when leaders can better understand their own emotions and those of their staff, companies can move forward more effectively.

This workshop looks at ways of leading through change utilising different thinking, managing emotions and evaluating business thinking and processes. 

Learning objectives for this workshop:

• Comprehending the impact of Covid-19 on the enterprise
• Discovering new ways to lead through uncertain times
• Gathering tools and techniques to better manage staff
• Getting the best out of staff during stressful times 
• Understanding and recognising the stress that resulted from this time in self and staff
• Realising that stress kills productivity
• Exploring ways of managing stress personally and with employees
• Understanding what has happened to staff during the last 18 months
• Understanding and processing the emotions experienced during Covid-19
• Managing emotions more effectively into the future  
• Discovering new ways of coping effectively as a leader
• Exploring the stress to come in the future and how to better manage it
•  

Workshop outline: Leading with Confidence through Covid-19

The impact that the Covid-19 Pandemic has had on Business

“The economies across the globe during lockdown literally fell apart. Companies had little or no time to prepare for the forced lockdowns and isolation. Few corporations had contingency plans for the Biological Virus crisis as very few would have ever considered this world-wide event in their risk analyses.” – Mike Lacey-Smith from ‘Life after the Pause’

• The effects on company ‘bottom line’
• What ‘working from home did and is still doing within companies
• The impact that slowed and complicated communication had on decision making
• Counting the cost on the pressure leaders have felt 
• A realistic view of the South African economy
• The change imperative
• Can we quantify and qualify the impact of this time?

The financial impact of Covid-19

• Counting the cost of Covid-19
• The radically increased financial pressure on companies
• The effects that supply chain interruptions has had on operations
• Increased financial pressure and stress on leaders and staff

Reconnecting with staff and customers

“Realistically, the Biological Virus will put individuals, families, companies, communities and governments back by years. There will be no magical pill or answer as to how everyone will make it through. The only way will be together.” – Mike Lacey-Smith from ‘Life after the Pause’

• Understanding guilt and survivor guilt
• Understanding the impact and hidden impact of grief
• The need to get all employees ‘on the same page’ and working together
• Some customers have lost their business and the impact this may have
• World-class customer service as a business imperative right now
• Working with the fact that customers will be more demanding
• Re-inventing your value proposition for customers as a team

Brief session on what has the Covid-19 Pandemic meant for you?

• What did Covid-19 mean to you?
• How were you impacted during the stages of Lockdown?
• What was the worst things about Lockdowns?
• What were the positives that came out of Lockdowns?
• What has the last time meant for you emotionally, physically and financially?
• What has been the impact on your family?
• Are the effects of Lockdown affecting you now?
• The same applies for your staff, recognise this

Brief session on understanding Grief and Loss and how it relates to us right now

• The whole world went through grief
• Grief is loss, and we lost so much
• Stages of grief, Denial Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance
• How grief impacted employees, leaders and companies during the Pause
• Managing grief

What is the PAUSE?

• The Pause is when the world came to a stop because of Covid-19
• How long will the Pause last?
• How we can see the Pause differently 
• P – Prepare
• A – Accept
• U – Understand
• S – Solidarity
• E- Engage
• Working towards a healthier organisation using these principles

Leadership challenges

• Company survival
• Negativity
• Fear in staff – possible causes
• Anger in staff and why it may be there
• Resistance to change
• Resistance in other leaders
• Making staff accountable through direction and clear communication
• Creating a ‘we’, not an ‘us versus them’ (staff versus leadership) culture
• Removing blame and taking responsibility for personal responses
• Getting all staff to take personal responsibility for work output

What type of Leadership is needed right now for a company to succeed?

• A relook at leadership
• The imperative for congruent leadership
• Employees need new guidance
• The need for a leader to be an influencer
• Exploring leadership influence from John C Maxwell
• Becoming a Value Based Leader, and why this is so critical
• The advantages and pitfalls of Transactional Leadership right now
• Leading by example
• Being a positive leader
• Getting the leadership team to work together
• Managing company teams differently
• Being a change agent and change champion
• Managing resistance to change

Leadership skills that are critical

• Positive direction and guidance
• Creativity and harnessing creativity in others
• The imperative for congruent leadership
• Attentiveness
• Empathy
• Assertiveness
• Recognising staff
• Patience
• Acceptance
• Honest communication
• Realistic
• Managing conflict
• Managing and eliminating destructive company politics
• Managing dysfunctional teams
• Creating and possibly restructuring effective teams

Becoming Productive again

• Overcoming obstacles through team-work and buy-in
• Becoming innovative and embracing new ideas
• Revisiting old ideas that may need to be altered

Understanding stress

• What is stress and the causes of stress?
• Recognising the Fight or Flight response cycle (the 3 brain model)
• The Neurology and Physiology of stress
• Recognising the symptoms of stress
• Emotional
• Physical
• Cognitive
• Recognising personal triggers in terms of Stress
• Defining personal stressors
• Understanding stress thresholds, why people are different
• A model for managing stress 
• 25 Ways to reduce stress
• Learning a powerful and effective relaxation technique to reduce stress

So what do we do with all of this moving forward?

• Understanding the givens
• Working within the givens
• Being realistic
• A gap analysis (now vs future)
• Counting the cost of non-action
• Personal motivators
• Making a difference for you and the people around you.

Workshop learning outcomes. Leaders will:

• Understand what they, their staff and the businesses have endured through the last 6 months
• Have a toolkit of skills that will better assist them in leading their staff and their enterprises through difficult times
• Have a deeper understanding of their emotions and those of others in order to lead more effectively
• Communicate powerfully through change
• Better face the challenges that lie ahead
• Find more innovative ways of connecting with customers
• Better use their resources in achieving strategic goals
• Learn new skills in terms of managing staff through congruent connection and communication
• Realise that their experiences and those of their staff was and is valid during this time
• Learn to identify and manage their own stress and that of their employees
• Become empowered in empowering staff to become more productive in the workplace
• Understand what drives themselves and other people
• Create a sense of ‘team-ness”, and a common understanding of the challenges that lie ahead