Being a Leader In Challenging Times

This episode looks into the art of leading during the toughest times. Host Brad Hauck shares invaluable lessons from his book "Run Toward the Flames." Discover how to lead effectively through crises, make decisive actions, and build resilient teams.

This episode reveals strategies to stay focused, handle stress, and maintain your integrity. Brad's unique insights will guide you to lead confidently, no matter the challenge.

• Embracing sleepless nights and self-doubt
• The dual-edged sword of being in charge
• Stress management and support systems
• Staying motivated during tough times

Hit play to unlock powerful leadership secrets and learn how to navigate through the flames of adversity with poise and strength. 🚒

Transcript

0:26

Welcome to Leadership in the Line of Fire. Today's episode is all about being a leader in challenging times. In tough situations, strong leadership is absolutely crucial. Drawing from my book, Run Toward the Flames, we'll explore how to lead effectively through crisis, making decisive actions, and building resilient teams. With examples from firefighting business, we'll uncover some strategies to help you lead confidently no matter what the challenge. So let's get started. Being a leader is challenging, even at the best of times. It will push you to breaking point, and you'll have many sleepless nights as your mind plays back conversations you really didn't wanna have. You'll be plagued by self doubt, and you'll think about throwing in a towel and walking away for the 100th time. But then you'll realize that this is what it means to be a leader. The good side is you get to be in charge. You make the decisions, and you have the last say. The bad side is you're in charge. You make the decisions, and you have to make the last call. Let that sink in. Getting to be a leader is the easy part. Living with your decisions and your people? Not so easy. In challenging times, these pressures only intensify. Whether you're going through a crisis, facing rapid change, or steering your team through an uncertain time, The weight of your leadership can be overwhelming, yet it is in these moments that your true leadership will shine. It's about staying focused, maintaining your integrity, and keeping your team motivated and on task even when the path ahead is unclear. Remember, you're not alone in this journey. Every leader faces these struggles, and it's through these experiences that we, as leaders, grow stronger and more capable. Embrace each challenge, learn from each setback, and keep pushing forward. Your ability to lead through tough times not only defines your leadership, but also shapes your future success. Leadership problems seem to happen when you think everything is going well. Firstly, someone will tell you what a great job you're doing. Next minute, everything goes pear shaped. You've heard the saying, things are going too well? Well, you can expect things to change when you get that feeling. Now I'm not saying you should look for problems, but be aware that one will probably pop up, whether at home, with your family, with your hobbies, or at work. When one area of your life is challenging, all areas are affected. So understand that your stress flows onto your outside life. If you're a leader, talk to someone, and don't just keep it inside. When you are stressed, it will show in your overreaction to things. Often, you'll react more severely to something than you normally would, given the same circumstances when you are less stressed. Sometimes, you need to actually sort out that one area of your life so that the rest of your life flows better, And that's super important to think about, because everything affects everything else. So if you're having a bad time being a leader, and then you come home and something happens at home, you'll see the effects of that. You'll be shorter in thinking. You'll be certainly less understanding of the situation, and you'll face a whole range of emotions that normally you probably don't feel when that situation happens. As a leader, you're gonna need someone to unload on. No one goes through leadership alone and survives. The fact of the matter is you'll burn out, and I've seen this many times. I've seen leaders that try and micromanage and do everything themselves, and they always burn out. And at one minute, they're going along great, and the next minute, they flame out, and you never see them again. A mentor can help you see what you need to do and can help you with the steps to do it. They have experience, but also they're sitting on the outside, so they have a completely different perspective to you. Remember that this too shall pass. Daylight often brings a new perspective to things. Problems that happen in the evening are the worst, in my opinion, because you can't sleep on them. When the sun comes up, it brings better thinking. Remember, all issues get solved eventually. Give yourself time to deal with the problem. Not everything needs to be solved instantly. In fact, very little needs to be done straight away. In the fire service, we often say there's no problems that can't be fixed with a good fire. Why? Well, when people don't have enough good things to focus on, they see problems everywhere. Firefighters need to fight fires. That's what we do. Web designers need to build websites. Doing our core business is what gives us purpose. So it doesn't matter what field you're in, understand if you're not doing enough of it, you're gonna see problems everywhere. When you're doing enough work and things are moving forward and you're working on things constantly, the problems will just flow past you. You'll deal with them, and you'll move on. But when there's nothing of your core business going on, that's when you seem to rung into most problems. So my advice to you is to don't keep going forward because the more momentum you get, the less problems seem to actually affect you. Someone will always step up to help you as a leader. When things seem crazy, there is always someone who randomly gives you a call to say, how are you going? Or I thought what you did last night was good. You made a good point, but, you know, what about this or something? They'll always give you some feedback, and you can be really thankful that those people actually cared enough to say something. And I think that's really important. People won't talk to you unless they actually care. They'll just keep it to themselves or they'll talk behind your back. When people care about you, they speak up, and and that's really important as a leader. People can tell when you need a hand. It's like a 6th sense that we have for each other. It might not be someone who's directly related to the area you're having issues in. Sometimes you just need someone to hear you think out your problems. When you think out loud, you tend to talk through things. You tend to say everything. And then in the background, your mind's ticking over, and it's like it comes to you. Even though the other person you're talking to hasn't really suggested anything, the solution presents itself, because your subconscious is ticking away in the background, going through all the possible solutions. To every problem, there is a solution, and it will come to you if you take the time before making an incision. Remember, don't react to things. Try and respond. When you react, you do and say stupid things that you'll regret later. Now this doesn't mean you shouldn't speak up, but give yourself time to think and the other person the time to back down if necessary. Sometimes I will force myself to wait 24 hours before replying to an email or getting an answer to an issue, etcetera. I take that time to research, ask questions of myself, dig around in my past thinking, and come up with a solution. But it's really important you don't leave people hanging. Let them know you're going to find out more before you make a decision. But, Brad, this needs a decision now. Ask questions. Rely on your take a break or step down. Sometimes having a holiday for a take a break or step down. Sometimes having a holiday for a couple of weeks makes a massive difference. Let someone step up and take over for a little while and go away and have a break. Your mental health is very, very important. Remember, no one is irreplaceable in any organization. No matter how much you think you are, someone can always step in to fill you. A few years ago, I stepped down from being an officer to being a firefighter for 2 years, and, honestly, it was the best thing I could have done at that time. It gave me a time to just relax. It took off the pressures of leadership. I just got to enjoy doing what I did as a firefighter. Sometimes you have to walk away. So as I finish up on this episode on being a leader in challenging times, I wanna leave you with a thought from Winston Churchill. He said, if you're going through hell, keep going. Leadership, especially in tough times, is a constant fight through stuff that tests your resolve, decision making, and ability to stay focused. The sleepless nights, the self doubt, the moments of wanting to walk away are all part of this experience. These challenges define who you are as a leader and build your strength and capability, and we all go through it. Remember, every leader struggles, and it's through these experience that you will grow. When crises arise, they focus, maintain your integrity, and keep your team motivated because this is the key. Don't hesitate to talk to someone or seek a mentor for a different perspective. Challenges will pass, and thoughtful responses are always better than hasty reactions. If things get overwhelming, take a break, or step down temporarily. Your mental health is vital for your long term effective leadership. Embrace the challenges, learn from each experience, and continue to lead with courage and resilience. Thank you for joining me on this episode, and remember, run towards the flame. By the way, don't forget to order a copy of my new book of the same names, Run Towards the Flames, from Amazon Now on Kindle and in print.