Meghla El Haque, Kadidja Naief

17 March 2022

In times of conflict, what stand do you need to take as a leader? Do you need to take a stand? What can leaders do to start a constructive conversation? 

Politics and global conflicts can be challenging topics to navigate in any situation, but this is especially true in workspaces. Many workers may find themselves struggling to hold back their opinions in everyday conversations, and in most places, office culture strongly frowns upon controversial discussions.

Among many global uncertainties, the recent war in Ukraine, the threat of nuclear conflict,  the sense of insecurity, continuous wars in other parts of the world, impacts of migration and consequently volatility in the world economy worry people worry. And many of your team members may be among those concerned individuals.

Whatever the norm in your work environment, as a leader, you are faced with the dilemma of whether to bury such topics completely or to provide your team members with a safe space to vent their concerns and manage their emotionally-charged opinions.

What Leaders Can Do to Start the Conversation

Don’t ignore what’s happening. As a leader, take initiative and promote real and respectful conversations.

Here are some tips on how you can create safe spaces to discuss such sensitive topics:

• Get your HR department involved. They can distribute information on the company’s position on the crisis and offer counselling support to those who may have family and friends affected by conflicts.
• Send a company-wide message that would reassure those affected by the news. In the current Ukraine war, this would include reassurance for those who may be afraid of reprisals for being from or with familial ties to Russia. At the barest minimum, it shows that you care.
• Create safe spaces and do regular check-ins. Through scheduled team meetings, allocate some time offering a casual and open-ended conversational space to share and empathise with others who are deeply affected by the unravelling events. Be effective: Acknowledge what’s happening, how it can be hard to separate these things from work and share what you hope to achieve. Make sure, however, that you do not force the conversation or become too personal.
• Lead the conversation for the whole team and don’t single anyone out in front of everyone, if they have a background from a region of conflict. Instead, approach your whole team to address what’s been going on. Then open up an hour in your schedule for private meetings. Let your team know that you care and that your door is always open to talk and hear suggestions.
• Allow for organic initiatives for fundraising activities toward humanitarian organisations working in the affected areas. It can help create a sense of community and efforts in taking action. HR could share a list of credible organisations that are doing frontline work for those fleeing the conflict.

Remaining Fair and Empathetic Leadership

The delicate aspect here, and one of ongoing learning for every leader, is to know which global injustice to address. Which tragedy is worth mentioning more? How do you remain fair? Often a transparent approach, actively listening to your teams, picking up on cues of HR and paying attention to general sentiments can be helpful guidelines.

The overall aim should be to practise empathetic leadership. This means understanding and being aware of the feelings and thoughts of your team members, and interacting with them in a way that makes them feel valued and respected, both personally and professionally.

And this includes addressing global injustice. It is very difficult to avoid the inevitability of these crises not to creep into the general communication channels at the office. However, by addressing what is often already on people’s minds, you show that you care, build trust and create a safe space for your employees to come as their full selves. Mistakes are inevitable, yet empathetic leadership remains an essential and ongoing process of learning and development for every leader. 

And the first step remains: to start the conversation and listen.

Meghla El Haque

Meghla is a learner experience specialist at EUNEPA and is involved in research and content development for leadership development and learning platforms.

Kadidja Naief

Kadidja is a digital marketing manager and project coordinator at EUNEPA and Vienna Global Leaders.