Leaders Managing Through COVID-19: The Experience of Staff Matters More Right Now Than You Think
The benefits of empathic leadership during a time of crisis
Even through the bushes that are still partly bare due to the last remainder of what winter brought, I can tell she feels a bit uneasy about it all. Her body language being more nervous than usual with raised shoulders and a soft giggle. The conversations between myself and my next door neighbour are at a time of self-quarantine now exchanged through the bushes that divide our backyards. Our kids on each side of the hedgerow.
Only a week ago we were sitting at her picnic table drinking wine while our children were jumping on the trampoline. This was a day before the government announced the closure of all schools, daycares, restaurants, sport centres and urges social distancing due to the COVID-19 virus which also hit our country, the Netherlands.
We are discussing whether or not our children can play together and what this new situation means for our work. My neighbour works for a large company that consults the government on social issues. She is the line-manager of a middle-large team and has to commute 1,5 hours by train to get to the office.
