BBC News interview (Alisa Cohn, executive coach) about how the COVID-19 pandemic changed executive coaching. Cohn explains coaches now address remote presentation skills (Zoom ‘optics’ such as camera angle and lighting), how leaders should manage employee anxiety and mental health, and the importance of routines, boundaries, sleep and movement while working from home. She discusses evolving team dynamics post-pandemic and offers practical remote networking tips (LinkedIn outreach, one-on-ones, virtual gatherings).
Chapters
Let's move on because, you know, the pandemic means it is all change these days with working from home now the norm for millions of people most days of the week, myself included. But it's not just workers having to cope with change because entire industries, they are having to, they've got to, they're having to get used to it not being business as usual and that can be stressful. Our next guest, well, she's been coaching many high profile business leaders through this turmoil. So let's head straight over to wonderful New York and join coach Elisa Cohn. Elisa, really a pleasure having you with us. Thanks for your time. Look, COVID 19, the pandemic no doubt has changed the way we work. Has it? Has it changed the way you have to coach these top executives?
Oh, absolutely. I mean, the efforts, what we're doing is we're talking about completely different things. We're talking about the business and then of course, we're talking about how do you engage employees who are now working from home and dealing with their own uncertainty as well as the stress at home that we're all feeling.
So with business leaders not being able to present themselves face to face, have you had to coach, I'm just curious, have you had to coach executives how to act and perform over zoom, for example?
Yes. Yes, for sure. So it's both about people feeling uncomfortable having real talk and honest conversations over zoom or even also by the phone. And also just literally sort of when someone's computer is below their face, they're kind of looking down on someone, finding the right lighting so they can be visible. All those things actually really matter when you're presenting yourself on zoom. So it's about the optics as well as being able to have the emotional important conversations, even more important now while just on zoom or the phone.
So we know business leaders are facing added stresses at the moment. What particular issues do you find arising the most?
Very much people are living with this incredible uncertainty with no sense of when it's going to end. That is really at times demoralizing. It stresses people out. So managing their employees, anxiety, of course, they have kids at home, having to work with kids going to school from home. So it's about the CEOs that I work with, helping them create certainty where they can and help people sort of see an optimistic Future. And the CEOs that I work with, really thinking about how are we going to get to the other side of this pandemic and then communicating that through these different medium to their employees.
And how have you been able to coach the leaders in making sure that they can maintain because maintain physical and mental health because that's certainly mental well being is something that this whole lockdown and the pandemic has shone a light on.
It's very challenging. So actually the CEOs I work with, they have been very concerned about their employees mental health. And then I also have to help them, you know, remind themselves that they have to kind of create their own structure and routine. So it's about having the right routines, getting enough sleep and then also setting boundaries around what's work and then what is when you shut down work and it's personal time, also getting enough fitness, really getting enough movement in because were all sitting around at home and not having natural movement. I've had to coach the CEOs I work with to make those things a priority for themselves as well as their employees.
Do you think people's habits, I should say have changed to the extent where they've been working independently, that they'll actually find it very difficult to go back working physically in a team?
I mean it's a very interesting question. We're definitely not going to go back to January 2020 when we sort of see the other side of this. At the same time my experience that people crave in person connection, they crave going back to their teams and they crave even sort of the commute that they used to not like. So I think people will really enjoy working in teams together. But I also think we're going to try to find a new way to do that because even when we go back to work it's going to be a process. There's still going to be distancing, there's still going to be restrictions on how many people can meet at once. So it's going to be different ways of teaming. But yes, they are going to love working in teams. Again.
About 30 seconds. How can business leaders build their build their network and progress their careers when there are no networking events?
It's a great question and I think that you want to really double down on LinkedIn and other social media to reach out to people you haven't talked to in a while, who you're connected to for chats. Also go back to conferences that you would have been at and find folks that you wanted to have a one on one chat with. Also you can hold remote sort of virtual cocktail parties to meet a bunch of different people. There are ways to network, so don't let that get in your way right now.
Alyssa Cohn we appreciate the tips. Thanks for joining us. Stay safe and well. We'll check in with you soon for.
