Leading Through Loss: Practical Leadership Tips for Navigating Loss, Setbacks, and Challenges

Thank you for listening to the Champion Forum Podcast with Jeff Hancher. Leadership is about finding ways to help your team win, but it is also about supporting them through seasons of loss. It's not a matter of talent. Every leader will walk their team through seasons of loss. In those moments, your team doesn't need a cheerleader. They need a leader who knows how to be honest, visionary, and practical. In today's podcast, we're talking about the art of redemptive leadership in dark seasons.

How do you lead through challenges?

Point 1: Acknowledge the Reality Without Sugarcoating

Leaders need to resist the urge to put a shiny bow on disappointment. People can smell a fake a mile away.  Not only is this a turnoff, but it erodes trust. If a project tanked, admit it. If layoffs are happening, don't hide behind corporate jargon. Say the hard thing, and say it with clarity and compassion.

Q: How do you feel when someone sugarcoats a situation to you? What impact does it have on your trust?

Point 2: Give Meaning to the Loss

Every great leader knows that there is a lot to be learned from loss and setbacks. Loss without meaning feels like wasted pain. However, leaders can help frame setbacks as part of a larger narrative. Maybe this failed project revealed blind spots that will make the next one stronger. Maybe losing a client will force innovation in a new direction. Finding perspective and meaning can help your team move forward.

Q: Describe a time when a leader gave purpose to a loss. How did it impact your morale? Your resiliency? Was there anything you wish they had done differently?

Point 3: Model Resilience in Real Time

Your team will take their emotional cues from you. If you panic, they panic. If you wallow, they wallow. But if you show up with steady determination, you give them permission to rise with you. It's okay to show emotion. It's okay to say, "This hurts." What matters is that the tone of your message is, "We may be facing a setback and a challenge, but we're going to move forward." That balance of humanity and resolve inspires people to keep going.

Q: What actions, conscious or subconscious, do you think leaders take when they are emotional about a situation? Have you ever caught yourself doing those things? What could you do differently in the future?

Point 4: Turn Setbacks Into a Shared Identity

Loss has a way of either dividing teams or uniting them. Great leaders use adversity as a chance to forge tighter bonds. When you walk through loss and challenges together and navigate them well, it creates a shared identity. These moments have the ability to strengthen culture for the long haul.

Q: Describe a time when you walked through a challenging season. Who did you bond with during that season? How did your relationship change or stay the same after the crisis passed?

Application Activities

1. Leading your team through tough times starts with honest communication. The next time you have to give your team bad news, follow these steps to ensure you don't sugarcoat the information and give your team time to process it.

   • Gather all the facts

   • Choose a time to share the news when you have time to process the information with your team.

   • Practice what you will say

   • Anticipate emotional response

   • Have a plan for the future

   
   

2. Part of being resilient is knowing how to separate facts from fears. Think about a current or recent challenge you faced at work. Processing your feelings separately from what happened will help keep the two separate in your mind the next time you face a challenge. Answer these questions:

• What were the facts of the situation?

• What emotions came up because of the situation?

• What were you worried would happen next?

• What actually happened next?

• How did your facts differ from your feelings?