Kata Leutar (IMEA Consulting): Organizations that have trust in their leaders will cope with the crisis most easily

Did we have any problems before? This is a question that everyone probably asks when thinking about life before 2020 and the reality where there was no room for words like earthquake, war, pandemic, inflation, or crisis. However, while 2022 behaves like, as one meme brilliantly described it – the bad boyfriend you took back because he promised to change, we must grit our teeth and help ourselves with all available tools to reach the light at the end of the tunnel, simply put – with a healthy mind. It is now more important than ever to tackle the topic of mental health, both in private life and in the work environment. Regarding the latter, we spoke with psychotherapist and entrepreneur, owner of IMEA Consulting, Kata Leutar, whose mission, among other things, is to ‘raise awareness of how important people and their mental health are and that companies are successful to the extent that their people are satisfied’.

Do employers and employees have a problem acknowledging how they cope with current circumstances? Are they open or do they prefer to remain silent?

– Work environments are becoming increasingly challenging, first the pandemic, and now the war and global crisis affecting every individual at all levels. Until now, we have functioned by the method of sweeping things under the rug, but that is no longer an option. First, because the level of awareness about how important mental health is in business has risen, and then because the feeling of shame has decreased as the majority admitted to facing the same or similar challenges. Calls regarding anxiety, decreased productivity, and lack of motivation have become more frequent, but it is still requested that everything remains strictly confidential, especially when the call for help comes from an environment where dealing with mental health is considered a weakness. I must admit that this is not uncommon. And if I had to describe all current challenges in one word, it would be responsibility – responsibility for everything we do and what we fail to do.

How should leaders communicate with employees who are (like everyone) exposed to immense stress?

– Leadership is very simple if you are aware of what is expected of you. Even in the toughest moments, if you have an authentic leader who bases their leadership on values shared with their employees, the consequences are less and less painful, both for the company and for their employees. In a sea of terrible images and stories from this war, I came across a report that confirmed to me what leadership in difficult times should be. The report was about refugee children playing in a park. The children had smiles on their faces, doing what they do best (playing) regardless of the gravity of the situation they found themselves in with their parents. How is it possible that children who had to leave everything they have without knowing where they are going and what awaits them have smiles on their faces? They have unconditional trust in their ‘leaders’.

What does this look like in practice?

– Leaders should start by creating a culture where the employee is a priority and where stress is merely an indicator that some transformation is necessary – at the collective or individual level and with complete support. It is not only about communication through words but also through actions, and this is a process in which you encode your entire experience, your beliefs, attitudes, and fears and transmit them to the environment where, if you are a leader, you most intensely influence the lives of your employees, for better or for worse, sometimes forever. Therefore, the leadership programs we offer include communication that is much more than what the public knows.

How to help employees articulate their needs, states, and feelings without being misunderstood (as if they are incapable, lazy, slacking off, etc.)?

– For someone to clearly articulate their needs, states, and feelings within a system, they must work in a system that supports such transparency and reacts to such situations and is familiar enough to recognize what needs or challenges are being referred to. In the market, I have encountered cases where one of those three essential elements was always missing. Likewise, in our market, there is no profession of health manager who manages employee health, supporting them to become and remain healthy. There are many elements that influence transparent communication while avoiding misunderstandings. However, if we consider that the conditions that the system needs to ensure are met, then training and coaching employees is one way for employees to communicate their state without it being perceived as a weakness. In NLP, there is a technique that can relatively quickly lead to solutions. It is called SCORE, which connects the symptom with the cause, raises awareness of the necessary resources, and ensures a positive solution for challenging states.

In what ways can psycho-communication models of NLP help?

– NLP helps us master the skill of communication, including a holistic approach to understanding ourselves, others, and communication itself through awareness of verbal and non-verbal communication signals, values, and beliefs. Thanks to this model, we can influence all areas of our lives, both private and professional, and at all levels. It is always solution-oriented and ensures that each individual becomes aware of their authenticity, sets easily achievable goals in line with their needs, achieves the desired alertness, and flexibility becomes a new stability.   As my clients would say, there is life before and life after NLP.

In NLP, there is also the method of Reframing. How can it help in these circumstances?

– One of the assumptions of NLP is that events themselves have no meaning but gain it only when placed in a certain context, i.e., frame. We are the ones who give them meaning in accordance with our beliefs, values, identity, and belonging. Every experience has meaning depending on the context and the way we look at it. Reframing allows us to change the way we perceive events, and thus the meaning that event has for us. When the meaning changes, our behavior regarding that event also changes. Thus, we can give everything that surrounds us a different frame, different from the one that causes us discomfort, negative feelings, blocks, and keeps us where we do not want to be. The method itself can also be useful in working with past experiences or current states.

There is also a strategy of action position. What is the difference between that and Reframing?

– The difference is that one acts inwardly, while the other outwardly. The action position or perceptual position describes our basic point of view from which we observe ourselves in relation to others. The ability to take another position allows us to better understand situations and helps make better choices and easier decisions. Observing a situation from the perspective of another person equips us with information about the beliefs, values, thoughts, and motives of the other side, through which we can begin to understand what motivates a person to behave in a certain way and shape a complete idea of how that person might react to what we say or do. Given that we are aware that in a business context we do not choose, this technique is of exceptional importance for team building, conflict management, and many other situations.