These are the times that we can also dig deep into our courage, reach out and connect with others, find a common purpose and focus on what we CAN do. Together we can harness our imagination, optimism and possibility thinking to tackle problems with a growth mindset and in a way that everyone pulls together and grows.

1. Leading in tough times
“Tough times never last, but tough people do.”
Robert H. Schuller

2. There are times when we look around and things feel tough, our options limited
and we can fall into the trap of worry, stress and shrinking our exposure to risk.
These are the times that we can also dig deep into our courage, reach out and
connect with others, find a common purpose and focus on what we CAN do.
Together we can harness our imagination, optimism and possibility thinking to
tackle problems with a growth mindset and in a way that everyone pulls together
and grows.
This is leadership in tough times in action!!
This just-in-time learning nugget will hopefully give you something for reflection,
a little motivation and a few tools for action.

3. Leading in tough times
Things to reflect on to find purpose and meaning in the noise
Mindful
What I think,
feel, do. How I
show up - my
impact
Focus
What I pay
attention to
& prioritise
Engage
How I
connect with
& engage
with others
Courage
How I move
through fear
& change &
take others
with meEnergy
How I
energise
myself &
others
Wisdom
How I learn
& make wise
decisions
Purpose
How I live
with &
inspire
purpose &
meaning

4. 4
Mindfulness
“The greatest discovery of all time is that a
person can change his future by merely
changing his attitude.”- Oprah Winfrey
“Mindfulness is the awareness
that emerges through paying
attention on purpose, in the
present moment, and non-
judgmentally to the unfolding
of experience moment by
moment” Jon Kabat-Zinn

5. 5
MindfulnessTOOLS & RESOURCES
• Make 2 columns on a page or
in a journal with 2 headings:
Empowering and
Disempowering.
• Write down any empowering
or disempowering thoughts,
feelings, actions about
yourself , about others, or
behavior toward others.
• Use this to become more
aware of how your are
showing up and how you
could choose more mindfully
and powerfully
• Download the app
www.calm.com for support in
being present and mindful
• Take some time each day to be still. Breathe.
Calm the mind and the body.
• Reflect on day, the meetings, the interactions
… what were my thoughts, feelings, body
language, words, behaviour?
• Was I building on ideas, encouraging, trusting,
listening, opening up possibilities, recognising
talent …. Or was I constraining, dominating,
limiting, criticising, derailing, overwhelming?
• Was I instilling trust, belief, courage, gratitude
and hope … or was I instilling fear, worry, stress
and thinking small?
• How did my attitude and actions impact
others?
• How can I build more mindfulness into my daily
life as a leader?

6. Purpose
“When you stay on purpose and refuse to be
discouraged by fear, you align with the infinite self in
which all possibilities exist.” – Dr Wayne Dyer
“The secret of happiness: Find something
more important than you are and dedicate
your life to it.” - Daniel C. Dennett

7. Purpose TOOLS & RESOURCES
• Write up a purpose statement.
• Use the following questions to guide
you:
• What are you passionate about?
• What or who inspires you, makes you
feel really good about yourself,
• What do you really care about.
• When do you feel in flow (have fun,
have lots of energy, lose all sense of
time)?
• What are your major life lessons and
the gifts you could share with others?
• Watch Dr Wayne Dyer or Simon Sinek
on purpose and meaning
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b
53A1cBlPk
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP
YeCltXpxw
• What is your purpose, your legacy,
your contribution to your family, your
organisation, your community, your
planet?
• What give you a sense of meaning
every day?
• When we continuously seek for
and/or hold our purpose and sense of
meaning as our beacon to guide us in
our daily interactions and decisions ….
we encourage others to seek and
discover their own sense of purpose
and meaning to move through tough
times and still be able to grow and
make a difference for others

8. Focus
“What we intend to, and pay attention to, become our reality”
- John Keehoe
“Directing attention toward where it needs to go is a primal task
of leadership.” - Daniel Goleman, Focus

9. TOOLS & RESOURCES
• Watch "Deep Work: Rules
for Focused Success in a
Distracted World" by Cal
Newport
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=_RMtnDaxmPw
• Read the book summary
Focus - The Hidden Driver
of Excellence by Daniel
Goleman.
https://fourminutebooks.c
om/focus-summary/ or
https://www.slideshare.net
/ramadd1951/focus-the-
hidden-driver-of-
excellence-summary
• How much time in a day do you have to
really focus on the right things?
• How often are you distracted from what
you want?
• Where in time are you - most of the
time – the past, the present, the future?
• How do we retain focus in a world of
distraction and overwhelming
demands?
Focus

10. Engage
“Individually, we are
one drop. Together,
we are an ocean.” -
Ryunosuke Satoro
“Engaging people is
about meeting their
needs, not yours.” -
Tony Robbins

11. Engage TOOLS & RESOURCES
• View The power of
vulnerability | Brené
Brown
• https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o
• Read Brené Brown: Why
Human Connection Will
Bring Us Closer Together
• https://www.forbes.com/site
s/danschawbel/2017/09/12/
brene-brown-why-human-
connection-will-bring-us-
closer-
together/#412490aa2f06
• Often in tough times, we retreat into
ourselves and our worries because we
don’t feel we have the resources to share
other than coping ourselves.
• We close off to others who may need a
kind word or have some energy, support
and ideas to share
• We also don’t like to be vulnerable and or
acknowledge our worries or fears. We are
taught to look tough and act tough,
especially as leaders.
• Creating space for connecting, sharing
and engaging with others are soul food in
times of crisis

12. Courage
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”- Anais Nin
“Courage is not the absence of fear,
but rather the assessment that
something else is more important than
fear.” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt

13. Courage
THE MAN IN THE ARENA
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong
man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is
marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who
comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and
shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows
great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy
cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his
place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know
victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt

14. Courage TOOLS & RESOURCES
• Read the slide share on “Survive and
thrive in times of change and uncertainty”
by Jo Richie
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56
30bfb0e4b09cb454db4b30/t/57ea5ca0d1
758e68156340ce/1474976936458/Resilie
nt+leadership+-+NHS+convention.pptx
• Read Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
https://www.makro.co.za/books/dare-to-
lead-brave-work-tough-conversations-
whole-hearts-by-brene-brown-
8059040B9E8F46B5869B057A66FCFF3CEA
?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsK3U9OyP4AIV5xbTC
h1-7A7MEAAYAiAAEgLZH_D_BwE
• Watch"Dare to Lead": Brené Brown says
vulnerability is the "only path to courage“
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEnq
V_M_Dm4
• Watch How to build (and rebuild) trust |
Frances Frei
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVeq
-0dIqpk
• It takes courage to face tough times with
both a very pragmatic honesty AND with
the optimism that comes with knowing
and trusting that everything will work out
in the end, and we grow most through
challenges
• It also takes courage to be authentic,
share both your strengths and your
struggles, ask for support, and speak up
with bold ideas or requests
• Courage is a skill that can be built with
patience and practice and a willingness to
fail knowing that you can get back up and
bounce back

15. Energy
“Everything is energy and that’s
all there is to it. Match the
frequency f the reality you want
and you cannot helo but get
that reality. It can be no other
way. This is not philosophy. This is
physics.” – Albert Einstein
“When you are enthusiastic about what
you o, you feel this positive energy. It’s
very simple.” – Paulo Coelho

16. Energy TOOLS & RESOURCES
• Make a list of all the
energizers and de-
energizers in all areas of
your life right now.
• Pick a few energizers to
focus on more.
• Pick a few energizers to
avoid or reduce.
• Add these reminders to
your diary or to do list or
vision board.
• See www.thriveglobal.com
for many ideas and
techniques for wellbeing
and boosting your energy
• Facing difficult times and decisions can be
very energy draining. It is important
during these times that you find ways to
energise yourself and those around you.
• Avoid negative talk and self-talk, fear
mongering, office gossip and politicking
• Make time to energise yourself physically
(sleep, me time, exercise, healthy eating),
mentally (read, view or listen to positive
input), emotionally (take time to feel and
talk to people or listen to music that
energise you) and spiritually (take time to
connect with your form of spiritual
nourishment)

17. Wisdom
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” - Anais Nin
Someone Asked the Dalai Lama what surprises
him most about humanity.
“Man, because he sacrifices his health in order
to make money. Then he sacrifices money to
recuperate his health. And then he is so
anxious about the future that he does not
enjoy the present; the result being that he
does not live in the present or the future; he
lives as if he is never going to die, and the he
dies having never really lived.” - Dalai Lama

18. Wisdom TOOLS & RESOURCES
• View Decisive: How to Make
Better Choices by Chip and
Dan Heath -
https://www.youtube.com/wa
tch?v=QmZDc5_ffvE
• Read 3 Smart Ways Successful
Leaders Respond During Tough
Times by Lee Colan
• https://www.inc.com/lee-
colan/3-keys-for-leading-in-
tough-times.html
• Read Mindtools Developing
Resilience - Overcoming and
Growing From Setbacks
• https://www.mindtools.com/p
ages/article/resilience.htm
• When facing difficult times we often
react and go into fight, flight or freeze
brain states
• Our decision making ability is
compromised as we use our lizard brain,
and we tend to be less empathetic and
intuitive
• Wisdom is the art of utilising our
lessons of the past, the calm of the
present, understanding our automatic
programs and making wise choices in
every moment

19. To raise new questions, new possibilities,
to
regard old problems from a new angle,
requires creative imagination.

20. Contact Us
Catalyst Consulting (Pty) Ltd
Phone +27 11 465 6270
Email debbie@catalystconsulting.co.za
Web www.catalystconsulting.co.za
Follow us
Debbie Craig / Catalyst Consulting South Afr
CatalystSA
Catalyst Consulting Pty Ltd
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