Five tips for effective leadership in a post-pandemic world

Our MD, Sarah Yeats recently sat down with Lucy Mann, host of the Small Spark Theory podcast to reflect on how she led Sledge through adversity during the pandemic.

Sarah has packaged five of the key leadership practices she both leaned on and learned during the tumultuous period below.

Value your people

It’s important to avoid a micro-managing approach and trust the people around you, both internally and externally, to get the job done. Because if you can’t, you’ve got to question why you have them around.

Client comms is key

What I’ve really found from this whole scenario is the importance of strong client relationships. We didn’t contact our clients to simply sell, but to check in on them on a personal level, and our relationships with them are stronger now because of it.

Make it strategic

What we’ve been doing more and more as an agency, is what we’re used to, and that’s being highly consultative and working with clients to proactively solve their problems. Instead of taking a brief and delivering on that exact brief, strive to provide added value at all times, and deliver recommendations that can further enhance the client’s experience.

Find ways to collaborate

There’s so much to gain from sharing our challenges and learnings with our peers, not just pandemic related, but all of the time. While we might be competitors, we’re all working towards a common goal, and it’s something we need to do more of.

Be flexible and agile

We’re planners, so not being able to do what we do and plan ahead was quite strange during the pandemic, but it really has shown us that things are never certain. Now, it’s so important to be responsive, never assume anything, and be prepared to adjust your timelines.

You can listen to Sarah’s full interview via the Small Spark Theory website here, or your preferred app.