Amy Edmondson: How To Lead & Succeed When The Future Is Uncertain

A Special Podcast! In the new era of remote working – forced upon at least a third of the world’s working population in just the past few weeks – all of our lives have been disrupted. The Coronavirus pandemic has us indefinitely confined to our homes, working away from our colleagues and offices – and attempting to home-school our children – all at the same time. Most of our routines have been upended making grief, fear and anxiety the dominant emotions of the day. And for a lot of us, we’re needing to navigate through all of this while at the same time managing and leading a team of people. Because of all of the sudden and significant disruption to our “business as usual” work lives, a lot of us are wondering how to best maneuver.  Specifically, we’re asking ourselves: What are the most meaningful things we can do right now that will not only ensure our most important work gets done, but that we also sufficiently support the overall well-being of our people at the same time? Just a few days ago, Mark went on Twitter and asked his 137,000 connections there if it would be helpful to have a special podcast episode specifically devoted to dealing with the myriad stresses we’re all facing. The overwhelming response, was “yes.” Our special guest for this episode is Harvard Business School professor, Amy Edmondson – one of the world’s experts on psychological and emotional safety – and who, for the first time in her own career, is teaching undergraduate, MBA and Ph.D. business students remotely. Like many universities, Harvard announced that students will not return to campus this semester – quite a loss for those completing their education this year and graduating. Even formal graduation ceremonies won’t be held this year. In the especially compelling conversation, Amy speaks candidly about how her students are feeling and responding to all the disruption. And much of the conversation is devoted to addressing the biggest challenges workplace managers – all remote workers, really — can most effectively respond to them. Towards the end of the conversation, Amy acknowledges a truth many of us would prefer to not consider: “We don’t really know what will happen next.” But having someone with Amy Edmonson’s wisdom in intellect to guide us on how to adapt to whatever comes our way next couldn’t come at a better time.  This is also Amy’s second appearance on the podcast. Her first episode is one of the most downloaded of the nearly 50 Lead From The Heart podcasts produced so far. The post Amy Edmondson: How To Lead & Succeed When The Future Is Uncertain appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.