Leading at the GSB through COVID-19

Sunday afternoon the 8th of March was the most serene moment of my life. The previous three nights had been a fairy tale — a fusion Indian wedding to the love of my life immersed in the iconic ocean beauty of Newport Beach, California. Filled with reminiscence, joy, and laughter, our farewell brunch concluded with me soaking in the transcendent intersection of fulfillment and exhaustion. Just as I smiled in gratitude for the gift of these memories, my best man handed me my off-for-four-days cell phone, “back to the real world, but like your Stanford friends told me last night: at least you don’t have to fly back.” Slightly puzzled, I conjured this commentary to his usual goofiness, but as I scrolled through the emails, texts and WhatsApp messages, I realized my year-long Stanford experience would never be the same.

Remainder of the quarter online.

Meeting with the Dean on Tuesday.

Panic and confusion permeating our cohort.

The chaos of the next three weeks was as powerful as the euphoria of the previous three days. My title of “new groom” was accompanied by “MSx co-Class President” and to that point the best way to describe our MSx students’ association was the personification of the party planning committee in the TV show “The Office.” Seemingly overnight, we transformed from fun figureheads to high-stakes advocates working 12-hour days in the backdrop of an exponentially devolving program experience that progressed from completely online to shelter-in-place to classmates leaving permanently. The next three weeks of “Spring Break” brought relentless scrutiny, unprecedented interaction with faculty and administration, and unexpectedly the greatest leadership education no GSB course could ever provide.

Day by day, a new disillusioning chapter unfolded. Some classmates were asked to return to their home countries and sponsoring organizations so suddenly that they did not even have time to pack up all their belongings. Others were frantic for their loved ones’ safety and well-being in the early corona-stricken parts of the world. Others were terrified about entering a dystopian job market or navigating a barren venture capital landscape after signing up for massive amounts of debt this year. Others were furious about being robbed of 25% of the program, when many put off their most treasured experiences for the end. Others were dazed by the daunting task of having to relentlessly juggle parenthood and student life under one crowded roof. Most were sad to see their classmates and the world in such a state of despair.

The process to an expanded Leave of Absence policy, a summer bridge option for MSxers and the Spring Quarter’s Academic Relief Option (ARO) now seems like a lifetime ago. Leading through crisis is a messy, volatile, and mistake-filled road, and the cathartic experience of retrospection has left me with five leadership and life lessons during the most unique period in the history of the GSB.

Maximize Your ‘Global Immersion Index’

We all love to travel but successfully living, working, learning, and socially integrating in different parts of the world is priceless when it comes to adaptability and perspective. Our classmates that predominantly lived in authoritarian-oriented atmospheres thought we were advocating too strongly. The ones that predominantly lived in negotiation-oriented atmospheres (where even law and order is negotiable and there is a general distrust of authority) thought we were too weak with administration. The ones that predominantly lived in socialist-oriented atmospheres thought we were too insensitive in only thinking about our next-quarter education experience when tragedy was striking the rest of the world. It was the classmates that successfully immersed in different parts of the world for meaningful periods of time, that most reasonably empathized with the challenges we faced and most successfully adapted to them.

Crisis begets Collectivism

Prosperity begets the gift of choice that enables individual creativity. Our cohort represents over 30 countries with diversity of accomplishment, expertise, and interest; a group yearning for individuality every chance they got during the prosperous times of our year. “Too many core courses, not enough time for generating ideas, engaging ‘across the street,’ doing 390s, and networking,” was a common theme. When the program announced its decision to go online, as a students’ association, we approached our next steps in the customary MSx fashion: give everyone the right to engage with administration as they chose. That was met with sharp disapproval; in a time of crisis, even some of the world’s most creative and unique young leaders wanted to conform to a larger group. Hence, a unified advocacy body was formed.

The Results-Relationships Zero Sum Game

You will never be able to make everyone happy. Push administration too hard in an aggressive manner and we would alienate them. Not push hard enough and we would abandon our classmates. Over-rotate on a message that significantly favors one group over another, and others feel unheard. Not involve our classmates in the journey and they feel unappreciated.

Prosperity also gives us the margin to grow results and relationships at the same time, but in a time of crisis, it is recurring tradeoffs. How much are you willing to strain or park relationships for specific results? What results are worth it? Which relationships do you prioritize? There are certainly no right answers, but in times of crisis, the zero-sum game is especially real.

Resilience & Decision-Making Are Individual Sports

We all respond to crisis differently and it is only at the edge of uncomfortable where we find out who we really are. Sometimes we are proud of what we see and sometimes quite the contrary. In difficult times, it is easy to play the role of victim, complainer, fighter, or narcissist. It is hard to accept, endure and evolve. Ultimately resilience is the center of those three concentric circles and choosing to be resilient is the “secret sauce” of personal and professional success. Yet another choice is exercising decision-making in uncertainty. Do not tell our OB professors, but teams, consensus and touchy-feely tactics exist for the easy decisions; the buck stops with the individual leader for the tough calls, for better or for worse.

The Art of Conveying Bad News Well

It seems that two communication styles permeate today’s society: litigious and loud. Both are equally troubling in times of crisis as the former lays out every technicality in such an unemotional manner that it lacks humanity, empathy, or sensitivity. The latter is so confrontational that it suffers from confirmation bias; the few that resonate with such a style speak up, while others that are so disgusted by it just shut down. Unfortunately, that leaves only the few proponents actively engaging, leading to the illusion of consensus. A third is “irresponsible optimism”: saying everything with rose-colored glasses that it loses credibility and the fourth is simply not saying anything at all. Balancing reality with hope in an empowering fashion is perhaps the greatest leadership skill there is; if anyone ever cracks that code, let me know.

I never did step back on the Stanford campus after my best man handed me my phone; the hugs I shared with classmates before flying for my wedding were, unknowingly, goodbyes. And if I do not step on campus as a student again: thank you GSB. Thank you for the world-class education inside the classroom and an even greater one outside it.