Tammi Pickle Of Elite Connections On Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Uncertain & Turbulent Times
Being dependable and steady. Consistent, strong actions build lasting trust. Be authentic in every action, transparent in every decision and always fulfill your commitments. Many people find your dependability reassuring, particularly when times are uncertain.
As a part of our series about the “Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Tammi Pickle.
Tammi Pickle is a professional matchmaker, dating coach, and relationship expert. As part of her family-owned company, Elite Connections — which her mother founded 30 years ago — Tammi has dedicated her career to helping others find love. With a degree in Psychology, she combines her expertise with personalized guidance, offering clients valuable dating advice throughout their journey to find “the one.” Tammi’s insights and expertise have earned her features in numerous magazines, radio shows, podcasts, TV programs, and news publications.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
My mom founded Elite Connections 30 years ago, and I had the privilege of growing up immersed in the business. After earning my degree in Psychology, I began working with clients in my early 20s and quickly fell in love with helping people find “the one.” I’m passionate about guiding my clients, offering advice, and coaching them through every step of their dating journey.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
One of the funniest mistakes I made when I first started in this business was accidentally sending an email to a client that was actually meant for another matchmaker. The email contained feedback from a bad first date, and I had to confront the client and explain that forwarding it to him wasn’t intentional. It was definitely a learning experience! Normally, I prefer to sugarcoat bad feedback, but in this case, there was no way around it — he saw all the gory details. In hindsight, it turned out to be a valuable lesson for both of us. He needed to hear the honest feedback to improve and learn from his mistakes, and I learned to be extremely cautious when forwarding emails!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
I’m incredibly grateful to my mom for creating our company. Her dedication and hard work are truly inspiring, and the success of Elite Connections is a testament to her efforts. She’s taught me the importance of perseverance and never giving up on your dreams — values I strive to pass down to my own children.
Extensive research suggests that “purpose-driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your organization started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?
We wanted a safe effective way for professionals to meet each other. We recognized the need to provide busy professionals with a service that offers thorough vetting, screening, background checks, and quality introductions. Our goal is to help those who are serious about finding the right person connect in a meaningful and efficient way.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
We’ve faced many challenging times — losing loved ones, mass shootings in our community, COVID, local fires, office and school shutdowns, and the most recent devastating fires in LA. During these times, it’s crucial to share our feelings, connect, and support one another. We’re all in this together, and being there for each other — to listen, lean on, and encourage — is more important than ever. Take the time to ask those around you how they’re feeling and coping with these difficult situations. Sometimes, people won’t open up unless you make the effort to ask.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
COVID was an incredibly challenging time. Without an office to work from and so much uncertainty, we had no clear timeline for when things would return back to normal. We weren’t certain we could even keep the business afloat. By the grace of God, we made it through, and I’m so grateful that we got through that hurdle and everything worked out in the end.
I’m an author and I believe that books have the power to change lives. Do you have a book in your life that impacted you and inspired you to be an effective leader? Can you share a story?
The Bible is my all-time favorite book. It gives me strength during uncertain times, and I know I can look to God for guidance and to lift me up through all the hard times that life throws our way. One of my favorites quotes is, Philippians 4:13 I can do all this through him that gives me strength.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
The most critical role of a leader during challenging times is to provide stability and reassurance. This involves staying calm under pressure, being empathetic, and offering clear direction. Be present, open up, and truly listen when communicating with those around you.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
During uncertain times, employees seek stability and clear guidance. They need to trust that their leaders have a plan to help them. Leaders can build this trust by explaining the current situation and future plans clearly and concisely. Showing empathy toward employees’ concerns helps them feel heard and valued. Keeping a focus on long-term goals, even during setbacks, maintains team purpose. This combination of openness, compassion, and clarity inspires loyalty and motivates the team to move forward together.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
Stay calm and approach the situation with the honesty and kindness you’d appreciate if you were in their shoes. It’s important to be open about the challenges and focus on discussing solutions together. Be honest and discuss solutions to the problem, work together as a team to get through hard times.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
You can’t stop living, whether it’s in your business or your personal life. Life will continue, and it’s important to go with the flow, even when things feel uncertain. While it’s not always easy, maintaining a positive attitude is key. Knowing that you will overcome all the hurdles in life helps you stay resilient. I truly believe that a positive mindset can be incredibly valuable, especially during the toughest times.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
Adaptability, being able to adapt and be flexible with the changing times.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
Cutting corners can be seriously damaging. Many businesses face meaningful financial difficulties, so they often respond by cutting costs, mainly through employee layoffs. The important loss of top talent severely harms a company and substantially weakens its long-term success.
Willfully disregarding customer needs. Every single one of your customers is important and constitutes the important livelihood of your company. Maintaining open dialogue with them is important during challenging times. Listen to their feedback, change to their needs, and let them know they feel valued, and you are working to improve all flaws within the business. Cultivating strong customer relationships builds lasting loyalty.
Many organizations miss important new revenue opportunities, obstructing their growth.
In uncertain times, some businesses choose inaction over innovation. Don’t simply survive; strive for success. Investigate several cost-effective technologies, some planned partnerships, and a few new services to satisfy market demands. Adaptability as well as creativity can uncover unexpected revenue streams; these resources are important for business success.
Communication problems. Ambiguous communication causes doubt. Open and consistently effective communication is important when interacting with all employees, customers, and partners. Guarantee complete transparency regarding all meaningful challenges, provide updates at least twice weekly and promote a trusting environment built on strong mutual confidence. People deeply appreciate honesty and exceptionally strong communication. Encourage open communication by honestly dealing with problems, providing timely updates, along with creating a space for sharing concerns.
Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times?
- Effective communication is necessary. Effective leadership depends on precise and succinct communication. Openly share all considerably relevant information, listen carefully to everyone, and promote a compassionate environment where everyone feels fully heard and valued. When facing meaningful uncertainty, your team needs reassurance; therefore, stay involved, be transparent, and regularly remind them you are all facing this together.
- Resilience is important. Extraordinary composure and firm steadiness are important during challenging situations. Your team depends on you to be strong and provide guidance. Throughout life you will come across many emotional experiences, resilience means consistently staying calm and confident. Show stability, proving that obstacles can be overcome with focus, persistence and determination.
- Enabling and supporting each team member. Effective leadership involves more than assigning duties; it also includes promoting trust. Provide your team with abundant resources and encouragement to succeed. Give those who are struggling even more support. Provide them with thorough guidance and support every day.
- Being dependable and steady. Consistent, strong actions build lasting trust. Be authentic in every action, transparent in every decision and always fulfill your commitments. Many people find your dependability reassuring, particularly when times are uncertain.
- Emotional intelligence, and empathy, are key in leadership. Effective leadership is about more than strategy; it’s about people. Devote your time and energy into deeply understanding others and persistently practice empathy to cultivate genuine connections with everyone around you. Emotional intelligence greatly aids in building trust, respect and motivation and this is true whether navigating difficult conversations or offering support during challenging times.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Treat people the way you want to be treated,” as seen in Luke 6:31: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” I strive to live by this principle every day, and I encourage my children to do the same. In both my professional and personal life, treating others with respect, empathy, and kindness has been fundamental to building strong, trusting relationships. This simple lesson has shaped how I lead and interact with everyone around me.
How can our readers further follow your work?
Our website is www.EliteConnections.com IG @TammiPickle @EliteConnections_ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/tamara.pickle.5/ https://www.facebook.com/tammipickleeliteconnections/
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Tammi Pickle Of Elite Connections On Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.