Leadership in a Pandemic - Emotional Safe Spaces

Author: Sara Delgado, PhD

“Allowing people to process negative emotions without judgement creates cultures where colleagues feel free to open up and share celebrations as well as struggles. ”

Leadership is tough. Especially for those who are committed to doing it well. Strong leaders know that emotional contagion in the workplace is real. The emotional culture of an organization relies heavily on its leaders, on how they react to situations, and how they model resilience. 

Leadership is tough. Always. Leadership is even tougher right now during a global pandemic. I’m sure you can all think of someone who has snapped at you in the past week. Someone who has acted out of character. Someone who has made a decision that left you perplexed. No one is their best self right now. The reality is that when we are in need of emotional support is when we are least likely to receive it. We put up walls. We push people out. However, right now, as leaders, it is time to recognize your ability to serve those around you. It is time to listen. It is time to be kind to everyone, including yourself. 

According to a 2014 Gallup poll, 46% of teachers report high daily stress during the school year. Imagine how that statistic might inflate in 2020? My hypothesis is it would increase exponentially. What, as leaders, can we do to help those we serve deal with these high levels of stress? How can we also help ourselves?

First, we can create a safe space for our teams to share their emotions, a space to share what is going well, and what is not. Then, we can truly listen. Listen with the intent to provide a safe space to share, not listen to make things better. As Americans, we have a natural bias to trend toward happiness. Perpetual happiness, however, can’t be our goal. Especially during a pandemic. It’s just not how real life works. Allowing people to process negative emotions without judgement creates cultures where colleagues feel free to open up and share celebrations as well as struggles. 

Second, we can provide dedicated time during our team meetings to reflect. We can ask specific questions such as: How are you feeling today? What is one thing this week that frustrated you? What is one thing that made you smile? We can then set aside time for our teams to reflect and set intentions. Ask teachers to identify one thing they will do to create a safe space for their students the very next day. Ask team members to think of one thing they will do for themselves to decrease stress that evening. Invite them to write it down, either publicly or privately, and then follow up the next day and remind them of their intention. This practice is a way to set an intentional focus and help teams to center themselves in a space that is safe. Please remember, however, that when facilitating these activities, you should also be participating yourself. 

Leaders are in a unique position to provide calm during a storm, solace during conflict. As leaders in a global pandemic, we not only have that responsibility to those we serve, we owe it to ourselves.

Sara Delgado, PhD is an educator with experience as a classroom teacher, elementary school principal, and Y5s-12 virtual learning coordinator. Currently, she provides professional learning and coaching for teachers and principals with Edspire Leadership, LLC.