Leaders who find themselves having to guide their people through the storm of uncertainty will find a beacon of support in Steer Through the Storm: How to Communicate and Lead Courageously Through Change. Photo: Supplied.
Leadership is ultimately about people, yet many leaders find themselves responsible for implementing change without ever being taught the foundations of how to support and lead people through change.
According to communication specialist Leah Mether, if you’re a leader challenged with navigating the rough seas of change, this book is your source of hope. Mether describes Steer Through the Storm as a “love letter to leaders around the world who find themselves having to steer their people through the storm of uncertainty and change”.
Let’s acknowledge it: Leaders have been through a lot over the past few years, yet the commotion of organisational change, while challenging, keeps coming, and uncertainty, though unnerving, is the new normal.
In a legible guide, Mether provides proven strategies to “help you through challenge and change, build trust and connection when emotions are high, support your people while holding them accountable, minimise resistance, defuse conflict, communicate with clarity, and shift your team towards acceptance”.
She outlines a new approach to dispatch and direction that will help you deal with the feelings of your people, improve performance and achieve better results. Leading through change is about people, and to do it well you have to use your people skills. More heart, less head. It takes courage and requires human-centred leadership that balances warmth and empathy with strength and accountability. Why is that? Since organisations don’t change, people do and unless you deal with the feelings and emotions of your people and lead in a way they want to follow, the change you’re implementing will never succeed.
“… You may not have instigated it, you may not be able to control it, you may not even know what it is yet – but change is happening anyway,” Mether writes. “And you’re in the middle of it. The one who must lead people through it, even though it may not be what you signed up for, it feels like there is no ‘win’ in it for you or your team, and you’re just as uncertain as anyone about what the future will bring.
“You’re outside your comfort zone, can feel the tension rising in yourself and your team, and you’re unsure how on earth you’re going to lead your people through. You might not even be sure how you’re going to stay afloat.”
If this sounds like you, you’re in safe hands as Mether explains that this book has been written for you: “The leader who has to navigate the rough seas of change without losing people overboard or sinking the ship. You’re responsible for your team adopting or adapting to the change but you may not be the one leading the change itself.”
Mether doesn’t need to know the exact change you’re going through to teach you the principles that will help you. This book is about the foundational communication, leadership and people skills you need to support your team through any change – big or small. It’s about feelings and emotions – but not in a light, fluffy way.
“It will show you how to work with and respond to the feelings of your people in a way that allows you to influence, motivate and unite your team.”
You can come back to Steer Through the Storm again and again. Use it as an ongoing resource and guidebook. There are scripts that you can use immediately, lots of subheadings, dot points with questions and tips, and highlighted reflection prompts and actions. However, an important piece of advice is not to try to implement all the strategies at once. Improving your leadership through change is a big project, so start small and remember that developing a new skill takes time.
If some of the principles that underpin this book are familiar, the question you should be asking is: If I know it, am I doing it? “Because knowing and doing are two very different things and it’s the doing that matters.”
Obsessed with making the people part of leadership and work life easier through the development of “soft skills”, Mether gives you an understandable, practical, step-by-step guide to help you lead your people through turbulent times – with courage and confidence. It’s both perceptive and enlightening.
Steer Through the Storm, by Leah Mether, Ingram Sparks, $25
