Author Dr Mary Kovach: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Be honest. If you don’t know what to do in terms of next steps, establish a team of SMEs (subject matter experts) and empower them to provide you with possible solutions.

As 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 Dr. Mary Kovach.

Dr. Mary Kovach is a university professor and #1 international best-selling author. She earned her Ph.D. from Miami University, her MBA from Cleveland State University, and her BA from Baldwin Wallace University. Dr. Kovach holds a LEAN Six Sigma Black Belt certification, as well as multiple Agile certifications, which she used to demonstrate substantial career growth in her 15 years at Fortune 500 companies managing multi-million dollar global business units. Additionally, she is published in various scholarly journals, magazines, and is a regular contributor to Italy USA Magazine and In the Limelight magazine.

Dr. Kovach also serves on the International Editorial Board for the Journal of Values Based Leadership, the Assistant Executive Editor to In the Limelight magazine, and as a blind peer reviewer to a variety of scholarly/academic journals. With over 50 publications including two books, she has received a number of awards, and she serves as a co-host on the TV series OSDIA Interviews LIVE in the NY metro area.

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?

Absolutely! The ROCKSTAR Manager brand was developed from the pandemic. I am an associate professor and teach business courses. When we flipped from face-to-face courses overnight to 100% online in Spring 2020, I revisited some of the best practices from when I worked at Fortune 500 companies managing remote teams around the world. I began creating some voice over videos for my students on specific topics, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. From there, I was asked to create a show for In the Limelight TV, which led to the podcast and the first book in the series (the next book will be released in 2022!). It’s been quite a busy year, and I’ve enjoyed the experience!

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?

Let’s just say I enjoy the part of the interview when I’m asked whether or not I have any questions! If I’m going to work for someone, I want to know about his or her character, how he or she will develop my skills and push me to grow. I want to understand his or her management style, to know that I will be challenged, a valued resource, and that I will be in a positive working environment. I enjoy working, contributing, and adding value. If I don’t want to get up every day and go to work, something’s wrong. In my career, I was fortunate enough to work for, and with, some outstanding people.

Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your company started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?

I want ROCKSTAR Manager to be a go-to resource for others to build skills and use the tools and techniques that I learned, in order to grow and develop professionally. The book, ROCKSTAR Manager: From Theory to Practice, has done really well. There is a related show on In the Limelight TV, currently on Binge Networks entitled ROCKSTAR Manager, which just launched season 4. I also share this show on my YouTube channel Dr. K The Management Professor. The intention behind the ROCKSTAR Manager brand is to cover topics to help you, be your best you! Topics include leadership, motivation, finance, communication, how to deal with conflict, among others. I walk you through the ideas behind the concepts and show you how to apply them in everyday life, in short, pithy videos.

Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a manner in which to lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?

I’m blessed to have built the skills that I have, over the course of my career. I think it’s important to examine your core competencies. What do you do better than everyone else? Whatever that is, keep doing it. If the world throws you a curveball, figure out how you can deliver the same outcome in a different manner, or, use the competency you perfected and replicate it elsewhere.

What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?

Mindset. Leaders need to stay positive, demonstrate creative initiative, and promote new ideas among their workforce. Life will always have ups and downs — the more you are prepared for the long-term, the more likely you are to flatten the dips when they hit.

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?

There are two ways to motivate employees — internally and externally. Internal motivation comes from the employee, such as driving for the next promotion, creating a successful project outcome, developing a solution to a major issue, or becoming a valuable resource. However, the leader needs to create the environment for the employee to thrive. External motivation includes opportunities such as providing bonuses, flex time, generous salaries, reduced full-time hours (i.e. less than 40 hours per week or four 10-hour days during the workweek), or other perks for achieving objectives, i.e. creating a situation that motivates the employee to achieve a different outcome or change behavior.

What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?

Be real and be honest. If you don’t know what the future holds, that’s ok. It’s more respectable to say, “Here’s where we are, and we are exploring options for the future,” rather than saying “everything will be ok,” when you have no idea. If it’s a very sensitive message, it should be done in person (or to the extent you can make it personable in a pandemic). Message delivery is just as important as the content itself. The medium of delivery (e.g. face-to-face, phone call, email, text) should match the message intensity (e.g. the department is being eliminated vs. I have a dentist appointment this afternoon). The more intense the message, the more likely it will be face-to-face.

How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?

This is a great time to reset. Hold a brainstorming session to resolve questions such as:

1) What do we do if our core competencies are impacted and how do we overcome (i.e. contingency plan)?, and

2) Given this opportunity to reset, where do we see ourselves in the future? Are there other markets to pursue and/or other creative solutions we wouldn’t otherwise think about?

Other options include partnering with similar organizations for one-time initiatives to help one another stay afloat, cross-promote, and build from the experience.

Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?

Flexibility. If you need to create a second shift, change your short-term strategy, or partner with a competitor, do it to stay afloat. If you can get through a difficult time, it demonstrates your resiliency and ability to adjust when necessary. It shows how you want to support your customers and provide for your employees. It’s in the tough times that we grow. Stay true to your values, keep exhibiting that robust work ethic, stay positive, and the rest will follow.

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?

1. If you can’t operate as usual, don’t force it. Change the working hours as necessary, work remotely, and/or discover new ways to function.
2. When you aren’t able to adequately forecast revenue, revisit each expense line on your P&L to determine what is absolutely required to run your business and what are the nice-to-haves, or consider items that you can postpone payment.
3. Take advantage of new possibilities, creative ideas from your workforce, and new programs that emerge.

Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?

Plan for your worst case scenario. If you already have a plan when the tough times hit, you’ll have direct line-of-sight to get out of it. This plan should include operations and finance. The other component you’ll need to manage is morale. Good leaders have people who want to work for them. This is true in the tough times. Whether that means you do the little things such as announce that ROCKSTAR employee’s name on social media and say thanks for a specific job well done, or name a hamburger after them for a month in the cafeteria, keep your best employees happy. Create an environment where they want to come to work. Employees are fully aware of the tough times; employers who make an effort for them don’t go unnoticed.

Here is the primary question of our discussion. 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? Please share details or an example for each.

1. Respond immediately. Even if you don’t know the details of what the future holds, it’s better to demonstrate that you’re in front of the situation (e.g. reviewing the situation and formulating a game plan) rather than allowing the rumor mill to start churning. When this happens, not only do you have to correct rumors, you have to be sure your intended message is heard.
2. Stick to the facts. Identify a select few to stay in front, so the workforce (and customers) know from whom to receive updates and approved communications. You don’t want someone self-designating his or her newfound public speaking skill if he or she receives attention from it. Additionally, steer clear of negative responses or neutral comments that don’t show control of the situation. This includes statements like “I don’t know,” and “no comment.” If you don’t know, that’s ok, as long as you have a team researching the answer. When that is the case, share that you have a team of experts currently reviewing the situation.
3. Be honest. If you don’t know what to do in terms of next steps, establish a team of SMEs (subject matter experts) and empower them to provide you with possible solutions.
4. Think creatively. Determine how you can continue to engage your workforce and keep them working. Connect in new ways with your customers to keep revenue flowing. Negotiate with your vendors and suppliers to maintain good relationships and allow for some leniency when necessary.
5. Go LEAN. Eliminate waste from your process and create efficiencies. I use WORMPIIT to identify wastes within the process: W — Waiting; O — Overproduction; R — Rework; M — Motion; P — Processing; I — Inventory; I — Intellect; and T — Transportation. In short, focus on what steps in the process add value and remove what doesn’t. The three questions to help determine which steps in the process are wasteful include:

A. Is the customer going to pay for it?

B. Does the activity transform the product or service?

C. Is it done for the first time?

I also have a video entitled Understanding LEAN and Identifying WORMPIIT Waste on YouTube posting December 2021 for additional details.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Be your best you. I tell my students this when I end every course, and I include it at the end of my ROCKSTAR Manager video shows. There’s literally only one person with your genetic code and your experiences. You have so much to offer; make conscious decisions so that you will be your best you, every day.

How can our readers further follow your work?

Thank you for asking! The platforms and corresponding links are:

LinkedIn: Mary Kovach, Ph.D.

YouTube: Dr. K The Management Professor

Books: ROCKSTAR Manager: From Theory to Practice and Don’t Cut the Basil: Five Generations of Authentic Italian Recipes

Podcast: Spotify, Anchor, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, and Radio Public

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!

Thank you so much! It was a pleasure to talk with you!