8 Ways Leaders Help Their Teams Get Through Difficult Times

It's easy to be a leader when everything is going swimmingly. It can even be downright amazing, especially if you have your own castle or palace (this may not apply to the typical shift manager).

However, when your team is in the trenches under fire, you'll need some significant leadership abilities to keep everything together.

1. Grit:

Grit is characterized as courage, commitment, and character strength, but the final combination of those qualities yields a quality that is maybe best summarized by one word: toughness. Good leaders keep the team together through difficult times by remaining devoted to the battle.

2. Optimism:

While grit is primarily concerned with the present, optimism is a component of leadership that considers the future. A leader who has an optimistic outlook on the outcome is building a mental foundation for the team to succeed because they promote the conviction that something amazing is on the other side.

3. Pragmatism:

While a leader must be tenacious and positive, they must also be pragmatic, employing knowledge and common sense to navigate their way through a particular scenario. Having rose-colored glasses for the future is wonderful, but wearing them in the present can lead to costly blunders.

4. Selflessness:

A lousy leader will strive to save their own skin, while a competent captain will go down with the ship—because he ensures that crewmembers get off first (though he does not have to go down with the ship).

5. Resolution

Tough times breed division and rebellion, but a good leader maintains command. When team members start talking garbage, you have to exhibit tough love and put the metaphorical boot down. They'll appreciate it later.

6. Encouragement

A good leader motivates the team during difficult times to help them find the motivation to persevere. Encouragement can be as simple as walking around the gathering, clapping people on the back, and offering smiles or nice remarks.

7. Preparedness

A good leader never finds their team unexpectedly thrust into bad times without some prior preparation. A good leader has a plan to cover all the possibilities, and knows what to do if things don’t go exactly the way they were hoping.

8. Bravery

Fear can undermine the entire mission, whether the war is on a battlefield, a sporting field, or the sales floor. A good leader is brave and inspires his team with that bravery.