As I write this blog, we are in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Each day brings changes to how and where we can conduct business; we have little visibility into what the next month, three months, or six months will bring; and many of our employees are fearful.
To help those leaders during this and other crises, I offer some suggestions to how we can lead our businesses in uncertain times.
Keep Calm
First of all, we need to keep calm and project an image of calm and confidence. Our employees look to us for guidance. The calm and confidence comes from the certainty that we will survive this. We do not know what will happen tomorrow and we do not know when this uncertainty will end. But, we do know that (with the collective efforts of our great team), we will do everything to make it through.
The consultant, Stan Sipes, once commented:
“There are smart decisions and wise decisions. And one form of wisdom is the ability to judge when to let luck disrupt our plans. Not all time in life is equal. The question is, when the unequal moment comes, do we recognize it, or just let it slip? Jim Collins (Great by Choice)
Successful leaders make good decisions… consistently.
“It’s not always what we say; often it’s what we allow the other person to say. By listening, we gain trust and make other people feel more comfortable with us.” Rick Pitino
Strategic thinking skills differentiate middle-level managers from effective upper level leaders. With excellent strategic thinking skills, the leader is able to make effective decisions that benefit their companies in both the short and long term.
Hawaiians and other Polynesians are the descendants of peoples who traveled by boat from East Asia to settle their islands. Those most likely to survive the long and arduous journey were those with “thrifty genes”. They were those ancestors who were best able to process and use the limited food on their boat trips. Today, in a world of cheap and plentiful food, these same “thrifty genes” have led to an epidemic of obesity and diabetes among their descendants. What worked in one time may not work in another.