Council Post: Tune In To Your Own Frequency During Challenging Times

As the coronavirus continues to impact our personal and professional realities, resources and articles are calling for leaders to adapt in response to the changing nature of the current climate. There is a consensus that change is necessary to maintain authentic relationships with the people in our lives, whether those relationships are personal or professional. What that change actually looks like, and the process by which leaders make those adjustments, is where opinions diverge.

I believe how we adapt and change in response to unprecedented situations will (and should) be relative to personal circumstances. Rather than thinking about change and adaptation objectively, think instead about how to access your own frequency of greatness during any time, not just during the challenging times. Once you’ve “tuned in” to that frequency, you’ll be better situated to foster mutually beneficial relationships in an authentic and real way.

How can you get started? As an execution coach and business development specialist, I have a few suggestions:

Stay the course, and maintain focus.

What is meant by “frequency” in this context? Think of the human brain as a radio. The human brain is constantly bombarded with information. This is especially true now, as different social and physical distancing measures across the world are requiring many people to stay home; as a result, many people are spending more time online, where the streams of information are endless.

Like a radio, as we scan through the stations, we’re often stuck listening to static trying to get to the station we really want. When you’re “tuned in” to the static — the noise that’s detracting from your relationships and your priorities — your energy and time are spent trying to communicate through that noise. When you’re able to find the right frequency, your mind is able to focus on the information that’s most important for the task at hand.

This way of visualizing the human brain is not new to the realm of neuroscience, but when applied to our leadership and interpersonal skills, those necessary edge learning skills give us a new perspective or way of thinking about how to move through change and build authentic and real relationships.

When you behave and interact with others in a way that is true to your character, you’re tuned in to your frequency of greatness. The more authentic and real you’re able to be — especially in times of crisis — the more you’ll be able to adapt to meet the needs of others while empowering people around you to do the same and attract like-minded partners and people.

Trust is at the heart of authentic relationship-building.

Unsurprisingly, tuning in to your frequency of greatness comes down to how you communicate with others and, in turn, build trust. The way we build trust might seem intangible, but it’s much easier to point to the ways we lose trust. This often boils down to how we handle times of tension and stress – or, to use the same analogy, how we navigate through turbulent frequencies.

Disagreements and miscommunications are a guarantee. A commitment to working through difficulty demonstrates a commitment to the relationship and builds mutual trust and understanding. On the flipside, resisting disagreements demonstrates an intolerance to conflict and hurts relationship-building.

In difficult times, it might be tempting to take the path of least resistance when it comes to disagreements. But, arguably, this is precisely the time to lean into those disagreements in a way that values and respects other people’s contributions.

Facilitating these discussions is about listening. Put their perspective first. I am an avid believer that every conversation is always about the other person, not you. The same goes for listening, especially during conflict. You need to tune into their frequency first, even though they aren’t tuned into yours. When you dial in, stay present in the moment and listen to better understand their perspective, in my experience, you will discover more. Discovering more arms you with the knowledge to adapt, be more respectful of others’ perspectives and be more effective when it matters most.

The ways in which we engage with one another are changing and likely to become more challenging as the pandemic progresses. The more we can rely on one another to practice authenticity, sift through the noise and courageously hold onto the frequency of what makes us authentically unique, the more meaningful our relationships will be.