Rough times like this are testing the acumen of leadership and the agility of organizations in their response. Many organizations have leveraged the opportunity to push aside the shackles of bureaucracy. “Yes” is often being the operative word. This way leaders are allowing the transformational change, becoming more agile, decisive, innovative.
Leaders had only limited time to reflect and think things through before the reaction was needed. Today, leadership is being transformed. There is a need to go back to basics to be able to go forward. A need for a new agile mindset.
A human approach
When people are slowly returning to the physical offices, empathy and compassion are remaining powerful leadership principles. People value a more humane approach. Person to person sharing experiences and 1 : 1 communication resonates well. People don’t want to be sold to, and especially don't want to be sold to now.
Crisis management
means calming down the situation first. Provide people with a sense of confidence, security. Create a space where everybody can remain calm and act rationally while trying to be efficient, to adapt to the evolving situations.
The purpose is the new strategy
Organizations are uniting around purpose. Employees, clients, and customers – all are looking toward leaders for reassurance, inspiration, courage, and guidance. Energize people, remain optimistic, and motivate with purpose. People want to contribute in a meaningful way.
Power of why
People are not going to do something new, difficult, or take the risk unless they are motivated to do so. Answering “what” and “how” is not enough to influence people's behavior. Clear communication of “why” can deliver a much-needed boost to involvement and can act as a call to action.
A trusting, inclusive, and inspiring culture
The current situation demands boldness and learning at the pace of the crisis. To be able to keep up, companies need to create an environment that stimulates curiosity, where diverse perspectives are heard and integrated. Unite smart teams around a common purpose and help them bring new ideas to life. Inspire creative thinking about what makes a company unique, as a way of working to add value. Empowered and engaged organizations can become more agile in their response while trying to achieve organizational goals.
Strengthened collaboration as a path to progress
The economic crisis is yet to come. Creating partnerships and networking will generate a constant information flow and opportunity to learn from each other. Surround yourself with smarter, more experienced people than yourself. Inclusive and forward-thinking leaders can this way support an open, evolving mindset that drives ongoing evolution to find new opportunities and help shape the better future.
Things are not going back to where they were. As leaders, we need to proactively take steps to address today and prepare for tomorrow.
How can we do that effectively? By challenging ourselves and our organizations to think and act differently, not just to survive, but also to find the new opportunities while bringing others along.