Not Just Policies – Leadership.

Stress, exhaustion and anxiety shot up during the pandemic. In the workplace, in-house counselling and mental wellbeing initiatives took the centerstage.  

Two years down the line, employees, especially women, are still experiencing high levels of stress, and decreased productivity. Given that uncertainty, and complexity are the new constant, what can leaders do, beyond implementing policies?

The role of leadership in upholding policy solutions

Organizations need not just quick fixes and post-facto solutions but a holistic paradigm shift in work cultures.

Work cultures  become sustainable and effective only if the leader understands that work for establishing long-term strategies begins from the ground level up. Policies are important, but how leaders show up and act on the ground is what cultivates a thriving, safe culture for the company.

Here is what leaders can start to do to show up differently, and demonstrate leadership beyond policies:

Presence over Busyness

We all have a lot on our plates. And busyness is worn proudly as a badge of honour in today’s work culture. However, a busy mind is not necessarily productive. When we prioritize presence over busyness, we create space for self-awareness, for genuine connection and for things that truly matter in our work lives. These are what eventually allow us to be more engaged and lead to greater outcomes.

Proactively creating resilient company cultures

Resilient company cultures are created when employees and leaders alike have the capacity to bounce back swiftly after failures and can easily maintain their composure even in the middle of crises. Such resilience can be built by training the mind to recognise when it is off-balance so that it can calmly address the challenge without judgement or fluctuations. While mindfulness is the first step to getting back on track in this way, self-care including enough sleep, and a shift in mindset to gratitude and acceptance are also important factors.

Role modeling self-care

Meaningful work and healthy workplaces need the contribution of leaders who understand the relevance of self-care for genuine connection. This kind of leadership is honed when leaders begin the work with themselves. This means taking time off for oneself, communicating through the hard parts of leadership and collaboration, and always putting on one’s own oxygen mask first, before we reach out to help others.