Leadership Skills in a Time of Crisis
by Aris Metin
A pseudo-Armageddon came into the business world in an unexpected form this year 2020. Nobody, even the most brilliant CEO, was prepared. And this foe has a name — COVID-19.
COVID-19: A BACKGROUNDER
“COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus that had not previously been identified in humans. The first case was detected in the Hubei province of China towards the end of December 2019. The virus is highly transmissible and thousands of new cases are being reported around the world each day. Coughing and sneezing are believed to be the most common forms of transmission, which is similar to the outbreak of the SARS coronavirus that began in 2002, and was thought to have spread via cough and sneeze droplets expelled into the air by infected persons.
Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that can be transmitted between animals and people, causing illnesses that may range from the common cold to more severe respiratory syndromes. In February 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses and the World Health Organization announced official names for both the virus and the disease it causes: SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, respectively. The name of the disease is derived from the words corona, virus, and disease, while the number 19 represents the year that it emerged.” (www.statista.com)
THE BIG PICTURE
How is COVID-19 affecting the globe?
- Confirmed COVID-19 cases have surpassed 6.1 million worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 372,000 people have died from the virus, while over 2.6 million have recovered.
- Miles-long lines for free food in Geneva shows impact to undocumented and underpaid workers.
- Scientists warn against reopening measures in England as lockdown eased.
- Spain reports lowest rate of new cases in three months.
- Cases in New York City are now over 200,000.
- Economic indicators show grim time for Asian factories.
With all these turmoil happening and ongoing without a scintilla of guaranteed vaccine or cure in the offing, it is the inevitable and heavy role of the leader to maintain the sanity, motivation, welfare, and direction of the business.
The ultimate objective of businesses today is survival. And maybe, with a great deal of innovation, efficiency, and creativity, businesses can even gain some profit amidst the crisis.
In the entire month of May, a series of webinars focusing on the necessary leaderships skills in times of crisis were spearheaded by John Clements Consultants through the facilitation of certified Harvard Business School discussion leader, Tully Moss.
What are these leadership skills? Can they be developed or acquired? And how?
COACHING YOUR TEAM WHILE ON CRISIS MODE
Most of us went into a #WorkfromHome arrangement when the pandemic hit. Communication has drastically changed because of social distancing and quarantine protocols. The usage of online communication tools has become the new norm. The suddenness of events put employees in circumstances of disbelief, disconnection, and disorientation. Working from home requires emotional support, which cannot be performed without physical connection and human touch.
Each individual faces the crisis in different ways, and adapts through various coping mechanisms. To take on the role of a coach, the leader becomes figuratively bigger than his usual self.
As a leader and a coach, ask the coachee this compelling question: “What are the consequences of you not changing?”
When coaching, the objective is to move forward and look into the future. Let the past stay in the past. Separate mental health issues from work-related issues. Coaching is not therapy, counseling, or mentoring.
Coaching is the art of active listening. The conversation is owned by the coachee, not the coach. Solutions oftentimes come from the realizations and analysis made by the coachee. The coach talks no more than 15% to 20% of the coaching session.
Coaching is the art of asking the right questions. According to Peter Drucker, “The most common source of Management mistakes is not the failure to find the right answer. It is the failure to ask the right questions.”
In the end, the coachee takes sole ownership of his feelings, emotions, and issues he faces, and takes action for resolution.
INNOVATING YOUR WAY OUT OF THE COVID-19 CRISIS
Eventually, the world will reconcile with the pandemic and go back to the glorious past. Wrong. There is no returning to the old ways.
As businesses begin to reopen, the new norm shall take effect — social distancing in public transportation, restaurants, churches, grocery stores, and malls; an increased demand for online shopping and delivery services for food, hygiene, medicine, and other essentials; distance learning for schools; and the wearing of face, hands, and body protection in daily living.
As a business leader, you can either consider COVID-19 as doom or as an opportunity to boom. As doom, all one can do is wait and surrender. But for leaders who look at this crisis through the lenses of innovation, it can be an opportune time for a boom — a period of creating opportunities for prosperity and rapid growth.
Business leaders can use the current COVID-19 crisis to come up with innovative, new products or services that address customer pain points. First, develop an understanding of the challenges customers face by having a deep understanding of their lives and experiences, then innovate for new products or services that address their frustrations by providing the answers to customer concerns that competitors do not focus on.
Businesses can reinvent themselves and seize the moment just as Sony Japan rose from the ashes of Nagasaki; how Apple launched the iPod after the rubbles of 9/11; and how Honda decentralized manufacturing during the financial crisis of 2008. What seemed to be impossible and scarce were made accessible. And remember, scarcity is an entrepreneur’s advantage.
STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
According to “The Potential Impact of COVID-19 on GDP and Trade: A Preliminary Assessment” by Maryla Maliszewska Aaditya Mattoo Dominique van der Mensbrugghe, a baseline global pandemic scenario sees gross domestic product fall by 2 percent below the benchmark for the world, 2.5 percent for developing countries, and 1.8 percent for industrial countries. With these indicators, leaders will be facing challenges that are out of their control.
What skill is needed to face the nearness of these challenges and how does a leader ensure existence in the future?
Strategic thinking is a prerequisite for leadership. To have strategic thinking, a leader sees the “big picture” and has a long-term view. He is able to answer the question, “How different is my business (from competitors) and what does my business mean in the grand scheme of things?”
Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, provided five compelling questions to help leaders think strategically. These questions remain ever so relevant even today:
- What is the detailed global position of your business and that of your competitors?
- What actions have your competitors taken that have changed the competitive landscape?
- What have you done to alter that landscape?
- What are you most afraid of your competitors might do to change the landscape?
- What are you going to do to leapfrog any of their moves?
In addition, there are tools available now that can provide further clarity to answer these questions. According to McKinsey, analytics can help tackle numerous urgent tasks facing businesses today: forecasting demand, identifying potential supply-chain disruptions, targeting support services to at-risk workers, and determining the effectiveness of crisis-intervention strategies, to name a few.
Also on that list: improving the experience of customers — many of them frightened, some jobless, and all of them deeply uncertain about the next normal. To renew and refresh their connections to the people they serve, companies need to recognize what’s happening now and respond in three ways: digital excellence, safe and contactless engagement, and dynamic customer insights.
COVID-19’s magnitude of turmoil and shadow of uncertainty can already be seen, felt, and imbibed. This disease has effects on the social, political, and financial stability of individuals, companies, governments, and nations. It has tested our notion of morality and spirituality. It has even put leaders in a position to question their self-efficacy and self-worth.
To embrace the persona of a true leader, one must have a bigger heart that is mindful of reality, and a larger understanding of human nature. A true leader can neither be hiding in the comforts of a bunker nor the safety of a home.
A leader is, first and foremost, a front liner. In order to dispense leadership qualities and skills, he must face the crisis head-on and undaunted, with optimism, fierce resolve and authenticity.
REFERENCES
“Coaching Your Team While in Crisis Mode”
webinar by Tully Moss, 6 May 2020
“Innovating Your Way Out of the Covid-19 Crisis”
webinar by Tully Moss, 13 May 2020
“Strategy Development”
webinar by Tully Moss, 27 May 2020
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About the Author:
Aris Metin is a Group Managing Consultant of EDI-Staffbuilders International, the overseas recruitment division of John Clements Consultants.
