Submitted by Alexis Robin, PCC

pLink Leadership created and convened “Leading In Unusual Times,” a series of pro bono workshops to support leaders during the pandemic. The series was developed for working professionals and leaders who were suffering during the COVID-19 lockdown.

They led five of these 75-minute virtual workshops, two times, to support leaders as they navigated the disruption and uncertainty of “business as unusual.” Topics included: leading remote teams; managing grief, anxiety, and fear; being productive while working from home; self-care; and emotional agility.

Out of a desire to continue to support leaders and help them implement the content of the workshops, they followed this up with an offer for a free weekly group, called Coaching Circles, for five weeks. The response was such that they formed five Coaching Circles, each headed by an ICF-Credentialed Coach. 

The workshops were open for free and advertised to their mailing list of previous clients, and newsletter subscribers as well as across social media to achieve maximum impact to anyone who needed it. Workshops were delivered via Zoom, where two coaches and breakout rooms were utilized to increase engagement and connection for participants.

“As a company and group of coaches, we said to each other, we know how to do this well, and people need it. The reward of helping others in a time of need filled our buckets and hearts as much as it did theirs.”

The initiative had 265 registrants for the workshops. Of these, 42 signed up for the five weeks of group coaching. The response of participants was overwhelmingly positive. For the workshops, they solicited feedback and asked specific questions about whether participants could implement what they learned. In every case, the composite score was above 4 on a scale of 1 to 5.