Being a Manager During Tough Times

I know I have been feeling pressure throughout this work-at-home experience. This article from Harvard Business Review entitled "How to Handle the Pressure of Being a Manager Right Now," does a nice job of providing tools to manage this managerial pressure and stress. It is a start to simply acknowledge this issue but small steps to implement these suggestions can reap huge benefits.

What has helped me personally are skills, mentioned in this article, that I have largely learned through my ongoing yoga practice: 1. Focusing on being compassionate, both to self and others. You cannot harmoniously exist without compassion for people's situations, circumstances, and emotions and you cannot happily exist without compassion for yourself under tough circumstances. 2. Bringing humanity by sharing personal information and stories. Seeing people laughing during a team video chat means you are doing something right, and the only way to see smiles is to bring something of yourself into your meetings. I like to remind myself that it doesn't have to be all business and no play. 3. Reframing situations to see them from the other person’s point of view. Often we think we know why someone has done something but truth be told we usually don't which is why thinking about someone else's perspective before reacting is vital.