Leading in challenging times: reflections, reframing and a re-focus for a new year

Charlie Brown, CEO The Staff College: Leadership in Healthcare

16 January 2025

At Staff College we often say that there is no learning without reflection. Without taking the time to consider how you approached something, think about how what you did impacted on what you wanted to achieve, and to decide whether you would do something differently when faced with the same situation again.

So, as we transition from the ‘old’ year to the ‘new’ I start the year's blogs sharing some of my own end of year reflections of continuing to learn from leading. Considering and sharing the practices that have helped my leadership and ability to retain a sense of calm in the face of the year’s grittier challenges. In the hope they may be of interest and use to others also navigating the ups and downs of leading in challenging times.

Part 1 - Letting the year go

The crystal ball looks smoky!

Crikey, my crystal ball is failing to show me what the future holds and everyone wants some certainty about what’s next!

In a year that has tested even relatively robust assumptions about how things might pan out, I’ve seen greater anxiety amongst my teams about the future. A greater desire for re-assurance, both from those I lead, and the Board I report to – an interesting quirk of the organisational leadership structures of charities.

And whilst I have a deep appreciation of the uncertainty, risk and complexity of the world Staff College operates within, I still found it hard at times to shake a deep sense of letting the team down when I’ve not been able to provide the clarity around the future that they so crave. Referring to my ‘smoky crystal ball’ became a lighter framing of the challenges of predicting a future when surrounded by so many unknowns.

Acknowledging the brutal facts of your reality...

Those of you who know me well, will perhaps recognise a certain bluntness and candour in the way I talk about most things. Sugar coated isn’t a word that gets used much! But the importance of having honest conversations with our teams about the reality of challenges, the hard decisions that need to be made and the potential consequences of them, no matter how unpalatable is vital for enabling them to manage their expectations and make informed choices.

As the year wore on. I started to recognise the emotional toll in myself of having so many difficult conversations with those I care deeply about. I needed to create more time and space to recharge within the week. To take stock and endeavour to avoid tired and clumsy communication which creates its own problems.

...Whilst retaining hope that you will prevail in the end 

Last year, in the face of significant adversity, my focus was drawn in two clear but separate directions. Developing plans and people for the future. And carefully adapting plans to mitigate against the most significant risks to the organisation. Thinking about how we prepare people for the best case and protect them from the worst, in tandem.

Being able to switch attention between them, to compartmentalise and park concerns about one area whilst focussing on the other has required a level of flexibility I don’t think I’ve needed to such an extent previously. It’s often been an intellectually and emotionally exhausting exercise as a leader to maintain progress on both fronts.

When you’re in it, even relative success can feel like failure. So, the importance of taking time to step back, to acknowledge the small achievements and keep finding the joy in the work we do has helped me to keep finding the energy to keep pushing on.

As I reached the end of the year, I could reflect on the opportunities and progress we’ve made in areas which would have been impossible to do if I’d just focussed on the easier issues (!) of fighting today’s fires.

Creating the conditions

One of the challenges for many leaders as we start to move into the more complex and less controlled realms of leadership is the vicarious relationship we have with managing outcomes. Our roles become one of creating the conditions that could lead to success. It takes thought and energy to create these conditions, but there’s no guarantee that they will lead to the outcomes we want.

I’m reminded of a story shared by a colleague (and terribly paraphrased by me) around the art of communication and influence. A wise man said to his protégé

“You think that influence is throwing a pebble into a stream and seeing the ripples on the water. But real influence is seeing how those ripples reach the bullrushes down-stream and make them sway differently.”

At times where the pressures heightened through the year for individual members, I noticed an increasing desire for a hand-rail. Individuals looking to me for re-assurance that I’m fixing things, doing this, that it will all be ok. It would have been disingenuous, but far easier, to have answered their need, and told them I was ‘on it.’

Instead, I have maintained a calm and consistent message. We can only create the conditions for success. And that through doing so thoughtfully and intentionally, we give ourselves the best chances of seeing the outcomes down-stream.

A lesson to myself has been the patient resolve needed to hold my own nerve throughout. Of neither falling into the more comfortable trap of trying to fix things. And accepting the frustration and discomfort this can cause even senior members of my team who want more. And living with my own frustration that I can’t just solve the issues at hand.

Resilience is dynamic

A key reflection I’ve had of late is of how dynamic resilience is – it changes for each of us through the course of a day, a week. And it is a dynamic that’s present in any group of people when they come together.

I’ve been trying to be ever more mindful and aware of myself and my own levels of resilience this year. Trying to find a balance and do things that develop my resilience, bring me joy and create energy, as well as accepting the need to do things which deplete it. I will admit to not always succeeding!

Crucial throughout has been the support of loved ones. A valuable network of supportive and wise individuals both within and outside of the organisation. And the patience and challenge of a coach. All of whom have listened kindly, pointed out successes that I’ve been too ‘in it’ to appreciate in the moment and asked questions that have helped me to re-frame problems and retain a sense of hope.

In a year of greater challenge, I have also been more sensitive to the resilience of others. Careful in thinking about what to communicate, when and how it might impact on colleagues. Recognising that how a message is received will be different for each person and how they are at that time.

Recognising what I’m actually responsible for

Leaders taking responsibility for the things they are responsible for is a fundamental part of being a leader in my book. In a small organisation, when you’re the ‘boss’ it’s relatively easy to see that you’re responsible in some way for everything.

But as I reflect back on the last few months, I recognise at times I have probably exerted too much energy in feeling responsible for the lives of others. Of worrying about all of the potential consequences for them of my decisions and feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of that responsibility. Leadership is a people sport, it all centres on relationships, and at Staff College, we have some very strong and long-stranding ones. But I’m also challenging myself to delineate the elements that I am wholly or partially responsible for, from the elements that I’m not. So that I can better focus on the areas that are really mine to worry about without getting overly clouded by those I have little control over.

Part 2 - Reframing for a new year

So, at the end of all these reflections, what next for the year ahead? There are three key things that I hope will see me continue to find the resolve and energy to lead us through the unpredictability and fresh challenges of 2025:

1. Prioritise time for work and activities which bring me energy and joy, to counter the impact of those which deplete resilience and energy.

2. Maintain a (realistic) hope that things can and will continue to change.

3. Keep persevering to create the conditions that gives change a good chance of happening!

Interested in this blog?

The Staff College: Leadership in Healthcare Faculty Blogs are written as a free and open resource for anyone with an interest in leadership and leadership development. You can read the rest of the series here.