What to Do When Morale is Missing

“Well, there’s a lot going on in the world at the moment” is a phrase we have heard even more than usual in our coaching this month. And by taking a look at the headlines, or scrolling through our go-to current affairs feeds, it’s easy to understand why. Nationally, war conflict and geo-political stresses are continuing to feature. For many in our industry, the March year-end leaves us grappling with last year’s loose ends and a flat feeling of “doing it all over again”. Or for those with a calendar year, knowing that we’re fast approach the end of H1 somehow seems to be a regular but sudden realisation. Individually, political frustrations, the cost of living and doom scrolling do not help. And don’t get me started on potholes and the state of the roads! So, where does that leave leaders?

If morale in a team or business is low, and perhaps it is for the leader themselves as well, it can be difficult to know what the right response looks like. Particularly when the instinct is to stay strong, keep things moving, and protect others from the impact.

The reality is, there is no single, easy-to-implement answer, particularly given there may be situational factors too, such as leadership changes, bereavement or personal difficulty. There are however some approaches that consistently help, not by forcing a change in mood, but by creating the right environment for people to find their own way back to focus and performance. We share some of these approaches that we witness leaders using successfully – to compassionately support themselves, and empathetically support others, whilst still keeping an eye on short-term pressures.

Many leaders take their leadership responsibility very seriously, which is generally a good thing. But sometimes leaders take it too seriously by assuming they have full responsibility for their team’s outcomes, rather than a responsibility to support. Yes there is an expectation to put in place a working environment conducive to sustainable performance; and yes there are numerous team-specific responsibilities such as setting out clear purpose, strategy, expectations etc. that a leader needs to put in place; but when it comes to supporting team or individual morale, leaders often overlook the “uncontrollables” aspect of the pressures their team faces. Instead they forge ahead with their instinct to fix it. They try to lift the energy, to motivate and to get everyone “back on track”.

What we see is that sometimes the more leaders feel responsible for fixing morale, the heavier it becomes, for them and for their teams. It is useful to think of morale not as a switch you can turn back on, but a response to what people are experiencing. And that means an alternative leadership response is not to override it, but to work with it.

What leaders ultimately need to do will always depend on why morale is low. For example, a difficult market, world events, internal changes or personal difficulty / bereavement all require different levels of sensitivity and response. But there are some approaches that generally help despite the underlying causes.

Acknowledge Reality: When morale dips, many leaders move quickly to solutions, or avoid the topic altogether. Neither works particularly well. People don’t expect leaders to instantaneously have all the answers, but they do notice when something feels “off” and isn’t being acknowledged. A simple acknowledgement can go a long way:

“It’s been a tough few weeks — I think we can all feel that.”

“There’s a lot going on at the moment, both here and externally.”

This doesn’t lower standards, but helps to create or maintain a psychological safety and importantly, it removes the pressure for everyone to pretend they’re fine.

Create Clarity Where You Can: Low morale is often coupled with low focus and priorities get blurred. Leadership can helpfully simplify direction, which reduces mental load for the team and helps them to focus on what really matters:

“What matters most right now?”

“What can wait?”

“What does “good enough” look like just now?”

In some circumstances, acknowledging that getting the job done is a good outcome, is the best way to help people find their way back to focussing on peak performance. If a team isn’t aware of the MoSCoW prioritising tool, it is worthwhile using it so that the most important stuff gets done (originally a project management tool, it’s also good for prioritising under pressure or with reduced energy / stamina - google “MOSCOW prioritising technique”).

Be Human, Not Heroic: One of the most consistent coaching themes for leaders through periods of low morale is a lack of self-compassion and remembering their own needs as well as others. This often comes from an unspoken belief that:

“I should be able to handle this.”
“I should be stronger.”
“I need to stay positive for everyone else.”

Instead leaders can be real (without oversharing):

“I’ve found this week challenging as well.”

“I don’t have all the answers right now, but we’ll work through it.”

This helps leaders to grasp the distinction between trying to absorb everything and protect people from reality, and being able to support others (without taking full responsibility for their outcomes).

Focus on Progress, Not Perfection: In lower-morale environments, high expectations can quickly become unrealistic expectations. This is particularly true in difficult markets, where external conditions are already impacting performance (in terms of team output). An alternative could be to recognise the context and focus on effective approaches:

“What progress are we making? And what’s behind that progress / success?”

“What’s working, even in this tough environment?”

“How could we adapt and achieve resilience?”

Morale will certainly fluctuate throughout leadership. That’s part of any business, and part of being human. As with many situations, it is not the situation itself that can be controlled, but only our response to it. Remembering where the line is between taking full responsibility, and being able to support (to the best of our ability) is important. Leaders don’t always need to fix everything. Or ignore the fact they may be affected too. Of course the best response to missing morale depends on why it is missing in the first place. But acknowledging reality, creating clarity where possible, being human not heroic and focussing on progress not perfection are all sound strategies that are often overlooked.