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Reframing Negative Spirals

May 1, 2020

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Strong emotions shape how we perceive reality – and as with a cold virus-negative emotion can be contagious.

We have all seen them, shared negative “thought spirals” spooling up in virtual team meetings. Here is an example observed at a recent Logistics and Shipping company’s Global Account Sales Team meeting: “Hey, did you hear our CEO and CHRO at our last meeting? They said that pay cuts had not been discussed. You know what that means – that means they have discussed it and massive pay cuts are just around the corner – I have been there before!” Although the intent of the executive announcement was quite the opposite, that first comment triggered anxiety in other group members and soon everyone joined in and a negative spiral consumed the discussion. Instead of being a source of connection and relief, the meeting contributed to a generalized sense of dread that lingered after the call.

Reframe the Narrative

Most leaders want to influence the work climate positively and in the current environment, they are frequently presented with this opportunity. So how do you disrupt a negative spiral? There are many approaches, but I have found that “reframing” can turn that negative energy around. In the context of leadership, reframing means helping others to think about an issue from different aspects – not changing the facts but changing how the facts are seen. When done well, reframing can help a team to reinterpret a situation that makes them feel stuck, anxious, or powerless. A leader can stop the spiral’s growth or even reverse its direction. When you notice a negative spiral, consider these three steps:

Name the issue and Interrupt the Spiral

Describe the issue and acknowledge the expressed thoughts and emotions. In the shared context of widespread job disruption, the following may be seen:

  • Job insecurity
  • Feeling overwhelmed
  • Helplessness
  • Sadness, and increasingly grief

In the Global Account Sales Team meeting example, the leader may have disrupted the spiral by naming the issue in a neutral tone. Saying something like “I want to acknowledge that many are feeling insecure about our situation right now – am I right?”  

Challenge – But Do Not Argue

This part can be tricky, with the issue named reframing requires a challenge or an alternate perspective. A challenge is a call to rethink or reperceive the situation, not an argument. A challenge provokes a positive response. An argument will be perceived as a threat and may well intensify the negative spiral. Fear of doing exactly that keeps many leaders silent in these situations. The leader might say “That’s one way to interpret what our CEO and CHRO said, another would be to take it at face value – with the acknowledgment that things could change.” This intervention opens the door for those on the team who might also see the issue that way.

Shift from Negative to Positive or Neutral

With the issue named and challenge presented the next step is to shift the frame from negative to positive or neutral.

  • Job insecurity: Job insecurity can provoke anticipatory anxiety. A real fear about something that might happen – all too common right now. You may hear team members speculate: “Pay cuts are just the beginning, next there will be layoffs.”  You could acknowledge the concern and shift to focusing on what they can control. “No doubt, there are going to be a lot of changes, how can we position ourselves to contribute the greatest value?”
  • Feeling Overwhelmed:  For example, if members of the team say, “There is too much to do, not enough people or resources,” you might respond, “What is one small step that we might take?”
  • Helplessness:  When things are ambiguous, ill-defined, and scary – your team members can feel helpless. For many of them, this will be a novel and unwelcome feeling. For example, you may hear, “We can’t seem to get started on achieving this goal,” to which you might respond, “What have we done in the past to succeed when things were tough?  How might we use that approach now?”  Borrow strength from the past.
  • Sadness:  We all sense that the “new normal” will be different. For some, this can result in sadness. For example, if a person on the team said, “I don’t want to work on that now because it makes me feel sad,” you might respond, “What small part of that might you work on, for now, that might even leave you feeling a bit happier?”  
  • Grief:  It is incredibly important to note that this reframing technique will not be appropriate for grief following a loss. Walking with our team members on the journey of grief has always been a little talked about part of the leadership experience. David Kessler’s book “Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief” is a valuable resource for any leader and especially now.

As you can see, reframing requires empathy – a key component of emotional intelligence. It also requires a coaching leadership style. Empathetic coaching can create a positive work climate cultivating creative thinking – problem-solving and an action-oriented perspective. These characteristics are just the right “immune response” we need to thrive in this challenging time. Can you think of other examples of reframing?

Cori Hill

Cori Hill, MA-SPHR. Principal at Learning thru Action LLC. Executive coach, author, and globally focused organizational leader with 20 years’ strategic talent development experience.

Supercharging Leadership Development through Action Learning

March 14, 2018

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One of the primary uses of Action Learning (AL) is to develop leadership skills. In the US, for instance, it has been estimated that 75% of AL programs are focused on leadership development (LD). Recognizing the importance of LD, the WIAL approach to AL has recommended that coaches ask participants to identify a leadership skill that they want to develop as they work in AL teams.

For many participants and coaches, the practice of focusing on leadership skills while solving problems was been experienced as novel and even revolutionary. The importance of developing individual leadership skills has further been emphasized by asking questions about individual leadership skill development before team and organizational development in the post-session debriefing process. A problem with this debriefing practice became obvious to me when I noticed that it took much more time to debrief individual, as compared to team or organization, development because of the time it took to address the develop goals for every member of the team (which usually included feedback from other team members). After recognizing this imbalance, I recommended that AL coaches vary the order of questions asked about individual, team, and organizational development. I also developed questions that limited the amount of time it took to debrief individual LD skill development (i.e. What was the most important thing you learned about developing LD skill a, b, or c?).

Concurrent with my work as an AL coach, I was also teaching courses on leadership at several universities. The focus on individual leadership skills in AL was consistent with the general emphasis on leadership skills as the central component in effective leadership. However, I noticed that teaching leadership skills alone was inadequate. My students would learn a skill but didn’t know when to use it or how to develop a leadership strategy  to solve complex problems and achieve individual, team, and organizational objectives. I concluded that most LD program, including AL, were not fully preparing people to be effective leaders.

Purpose and leadership strategies as well as leadership skills

In order to make AL a more effective and teachable LD approach, I developed a more appropriate leadership model that recognized the importance of purpose and leadership strategies. Fortunately, some recent research by Dr. Craig Pearce and colleagues (2003) provided some useful research about leadership strategies that was useful in the development of this approach.  This revised and expanded approach to leadership that I developed provides constructs that can be used to create mental models to generate productive questions during post-session AL debriefs as well as during AL sessions. Readers can learn more about the mental models derived from Dr. Pearce’s work at this link – mental models for leadership strategies  (if link doesn’t work use this address in your browser  – http://learningthruaction.com/wp-content/uploads/HowToMakeLeadershipMoreTeachable_111917.pdf )

How to supercharge the LD debriefing process

The debriefing process for early sessions should continue to focus on development of the leadership skills identified by participants at the beginning of the AL process or as modified as the process proceeds. After the team agrees on a definition of the fundamental problem including root causes, the team is ready to develop a mental model of what it would look like if this problem were solved. In OD language, we term this the desired “future state.” Once this vision is agreed upon, the team can develop over-arching goals and clear and measurable objectives. At this point, the coach can ask, “Does the team have agreement on the purpose of the AL process?” The discussions in response to this questions serve to integrate the problem statement and the resulting definition of goals and objectives and provide a unified direction for the team’s work.

With clear purpose, the team is ready to generate and evaluate solution possibilities and complete all the problem-solving steps necessary for effective and creative problem solution. The coach can then begin focusing debriefing questions on the use of leadership strategies to achieve the results the team desires. Using mental models related to leadership strategies, the coach can ask questions such as, “What leadership strategies would be effective in order to get the desired results?” In AL programs that are part of a larger integrated LD process, participants will be familiar with leadership strategies, such as the ones described by Dr. Pearce. Once the strategies have been identified, the coach can ask questions about the individual leadership skills necessary to execute these strategies. These discussions will often provide opportunities to ask follow-on questions related to the individual, team, organization leadership skills necessary for successful solution of the problem.

The process that I have outlined requires the skilled use of mental models in constructing process and debriefing questions.  The coaching script that is currently taught in WIAL certification classes incorporates a number of simple but useful mental models. The approach I recommend requires the introduction of some additional leadership principles such as purpose and leadership strategies. If the AL process has a clear LD focus, it would be natural and appropriate to provide some simple content around useful leadership concepts before the AL process begins. These concepts could be used to develop intra-session questions and to focus debriefing processes. For the coach, becoming skilled in using mental models related to an expanded model of leadership requires additional training and practice. The application of these skills, however, provides a much more powerful and robust leadership development experience. I welcome your comments, suggestions, thoughts, and ideas.

Pearce, C. L., Sims, H. P., Jr., Cox, J. F., Ball, G., Schnell, E., Smith, K. A., & Trevino, L. (2003). Transactors, transformers and beyond: A multi-method development of a theoretical typology of leadership. Journal of Management Development, 22, 273–307. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02621710310467587.

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