How to be a wartime leader. Not. 💀

Have you seen the Godfather recently? In the movie, the Corleones trusted right-hand man for long — Tom Hagen — was fired once Don Corleone’s son, Michael takes charge. When Tom asks why he was removed from his position, Michael Corleone states matter of fact — “You’re not a wartime Consiglieri, Tom. Things could get rough with the move we’re making.” It does seem to connote that when the times get tough, the tough leaders are the ones that get going.

Being a wartime leader attained a further cult of its own in 2011 when silicon valley investor Ben Horowitz wrote an article that venerated wartime CEOs. Now that we have got a situation that closely resembles a ‘war’, perfectly adept leaders are now hiding behind the garb of being a wartime leader to justify some of their actions. And here are 5 Snippts on why that may not be the best approach for all:

One: Wartime Leader ≠ Lacking in empathy Leader

One common misconception of being a wartime leader is someone who takes decisions from the mind and not the heart. Sorry, not true. Some of the best & toughest decisions during the current crisis have come from leaders who have lead by their heart. Twitter was awash yesterday with praises of Airbnb CEO — Brian Chesky’s handling of layoffs of nearly 25% of his staff. While the firings were a wartime decision, the way it was handled, communicated and the benefits for the employees made it clear it was a decision that was made by the heart. For one, the employees laid off got a minimum of 14 weeks of base pay as severance.

Two: Wartime Leader ≠ Put up a tough face Leader

You got to be authentic to the leadership style that has served you well all these years. You need not force yourself to put up a strong face when the chips are down — just because every other leader is doing the same. CEOs that authentically share vulnerability can demonstrate the human side of leadership. Employees look up to leaders for assurance and support. They do not necessarily expect you to be superheroes. Jeff Bezos demonstrated this in his letter to his employees where he admits that he is extremely worried about everything right from his children to the economic fallout. If the world’s richest man puts up a vulnerable face, so can you.

Three: Wartime Leader ≠ Skip-the-communication, focus-on-the-execution Leader

Nothing is more important at these times than communicating regularly to your team openly and honestly. With things changing on a daily basis, over communicate if you must on the way forward for your team and the company. Being in the epicentre of the crisis, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has won high praise for his open, proactive and leading-from-the-front approach in communicating about the pandemic to the public. He has been hosting daily televised briefings and being upfront with what he knows or doesn’t know.

Four: Wartime Leader ≠ My way or the highway Leader

Self-declaration of one’s position is not what a wartime leader does. It is something that should be recognized. Self-proclaimed wartime leader, US President Trump — long ignored the calls for a lockdown, deciding to do things his way. Later when asked about it he lamented that “they’ve done a fantastic job, but it hasn’t been appreciated.” He further deflected the blame, stating that they’ve “done a great job” but have “done a poor job in terms of press relationship.” Surely can’t call yourself a wartime leader with that attitude, Mr. Trump.

Five: Wartime Leader ≠ Short term focused Leader

There is a difference between being decisive and being short term focused. A lot of leaders tend to confuse both. And while extremely difficult in the current dynamic landscape, a leader has got to keep one eye on the future while making decisions. There are going to be permanent behavioural shifts due to the current pandemic. A BCG study shows past examples of changes that past crises have brought to the world. It shows how the plague in the 14th century shaped European history, how WW-II accelerated women’s participation in the workforce and how 9/11 reshaped security policies worldwide. There are going to be needs that change permanently, and while there is a need to adapt to these shifting short term needs, one also needs to proactively visualize & be decisive on how the permanent changes that would arise due to the pandemic would affect their business & teams

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