Carrying on: Purpose in a time of crisis
This piece was originally published on March 15, 2020 on LinkedIn.
On Thursday, the Kite Insights team had an open and honest conversation about #Covid-19. Questions and contingency plans were shared, our commitment to our clients was reaffirmed.
Even though everyone was in good spirits, it’s clear that business as usual won’t work in this current crisis. Travel and events, for instance, are on lockdown, key projects are being cancelled or postponed. Many communities around the world are closing schools and nurseries. As productivity and business continuity are affected, companies will have to balance compassion for employees and communities with their existing commitments.
I had the great pleasure of speaking to Christiana Figueres (who recently co-authored with Tom Rivett-Carnac The Future We Choose). In a spontaneous video interview we recorded for the Women Forum’s IWD, I asked for her views on the kind of leadership a crisis like #Covid-19 calls for: “we must listen deeply to others”, she said, “and approach every challenge with collective wisdom.”
In a time of global chaos and uncertainty, what’s our North Star? How does purpose guide a company’s response to crisis?
Just as #Covid-19 exposes which health systems have prepared for a crisis, so too will crisis reveal which companies have a clear purpose that guides them. Which ones have the trust of their communities? Which ones have given their people the agility and autonomy to incorporate purposeful leadership? Which ones shrink from exposure instead of reaching out for the greater good of collective wisdom and collaboration?
Business will be unusual for a while. But in the longer term, we know that climate action, diversity & inclusion form a strong basis for anticipating and averting other crises. That’s why we must stay the course, and that’s why our work at Kite carries on.
The climate crisis, said Christiana, “is the final hour, but it can be our finest.” The urgency of #Covid-19 has triggered a mindset and collective mobilisation that reveals our human capacity not just to act, but to plan for the future, in a time of crisis. If we could tap into this capacity, now, en masse, and apply it to climate action, this difficult time might prove to be our finest hour after all.
Friends, I am thinking of you and looking forward to seeing you on the other side.
#TheFutureWeChoose #climatecrisis #ClimateSolutionsNow #ClimateActionNow #genderequality #purposedrivenbusiness #GenderDiversity #WeSeeEqual #women4inclusion
