What happens if you drop a glass ball? It breaks and it’s very difficult to repair. If you shatter it too many times, it can’t be repaired. And what happens if you drop a plastic ball? It bounces and remains intact. You can pick it up when you’re ready.

The most important thing you can do as a leader is develop and build a positive, supportive, motivated and resilient team culture. If you do that, your people will feel supported in their work and be enabled to bring their best selves to work each day.

Leading through a crisis can be scary and daunting, so now is the time to make sure you have a supportive and capable team around you. High performing teams can thrive in a crisis because there are existing successful ways of working that are transferable to a new and uncertain environment.

There is real power in showing empathy and kindness to those around us. We all want to feel understood and valued in the workplace. Showing empathy doesn’t come naturally to everyone, but it can have a huge impact on team culture, personal wellbeing and overall team success.

I’ve recently left my role at Able, where I was the founding Chief Executive for nine years. I’ve taken some time to reflect on my leadership journey over the past decade and what my key learnings are. I shared these with the Able team as part of my farewell speech. Leadership is all about learning new lessons and changing course as you learn and grow. 

“After nine years at its helm, Wendy Youens is stepping down from Able New Zealand, the organisation that provides captioning and audio descriptions for locally made TV. She spoke to Duncan Greive about the job on The Fold.”