The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a permanent disruption in the ways the world worked earlier. While the transition from on-site to online appeared as a challenge at the beginning, today the jobs, careers, and lives of a number of people are at stake owing to the havoc caused by COVID-19. The massive scale of coronavirus and its unpredictable nature has made it difficult for people to continue with their day-to-day activities. Apart from healthcare frontline workers and political leaders, the brunt of COVID-19 can also be seen in the corporate world. With several employees facing difficult times and fearing to get back to the office, the CEOs are continuously being put on an ultimate leadership test.
The social and financial crisis caused by COVID-19 has resulted in several leaders going through tremendous stress and emotional disturbances. Due to the large scale of unexpected events and higher levels of uncertainty, many leaders are facing difficulties in managing their employees and stakeholders. To overcome the challenges arising from the pandemic, leaders cannot wait for the situation to settle. Moreover, mastering crisis management in the time of a pandemic requires an overly directive and actionist leadership style today. Thus, today the capability to make quick decisions in exceptional circumstances is helping leaders to take more human-centric and radically driven decisions. To understand how different leaders are coping with the pandemic, let us take a look at various leadership styles and practices that have proved to be most effective during such challenging times.
Taking quick decisions
The pressure of taking correct decisions at the time of a crisis can be a daunting task. Due to the overwhelming nature of COVID-19, leaders are not only expected to make correct decisions but also act swiftly. With their leadership style, several leaders have been successful in finding short-term fixes with a clear long-term view. For example, during the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, Adam Silver, the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) took a surprising decision of suspending the basketball league for the season. Coincidentally, this decision was taken on 11th March that was also the day when the World Health Organisation (WHO) formally termed coronavirus as a pandemic. This was one of the earliest responses to the virus and help Adam Silver make a positive difference in people’s lives. In such an uncertain environment, leaders are expected to be optimistic and demonstrate deliberately calm behavior. As several leaders were not prepared for the unexpected downturn of events they were expected to take thoughtful yet quick decisions while showing empathy towards others.
Planning
Planning is a crucial step for overcoming a challenging situation. By proper planning, CEOs can evaluate the potential impact of the crisis on their business. As the depth of the crisis can be different in different industries, based on the change in demand business leaders can plan their immediate and future moves. While sectors such as tourism, hospitality and airlines saw an immediate and severe impact of COVID-19, other industries such as technology and telecom firms observed a modest and less consequential impact. Since it is difficult to monitor the length of time required to control the virus, constantly watching the signs of government, health officials and citizens can help leaders in better planning.
Preparedness
To emphasize the gravity of the situation, several world leaders from the UK, US, France, India, and China have linked the COVID-19 crisis to a war-like situation. This war analogy has helped leaders and other people in being prepared by advanced planning, development of an early warning system, minimizing collateral damage, enabling central and coordinated command, enforcing discipline, boosting morale, upgrading logistics, and enhancing public support. Rather than depending on external sources for supplies countries such as Germany, China, and South Korea ramped up their production for essential medical supplies such as masks, medicines, testing kits, and ventilators. However, many Western countries saw a scarcity of medical supplies due to underproduction or potentially because it is not lucrative for these countries to manufacture these products.
Cost-cutting
The current pandemic has taken a toll on the economic health of several small, medium, and large businesses. Although there are several options to protect the economic health of a business, cost-cutting can help CEOs till the overall situation improves. From one-time to short-term and log-term expense savings, leaders are using different tactics to reduce their expenses. Many organizations have eliminated travel plans and are canceling events to reduce their short-term expenses. Some organizations are also using timing tactics to delay new hiring, product launches, or office opening. On the other hand, to absorb the short-term shock companies are considering bringing down bonuses, sales incentives, and spending on purchases while keeping the employees, customers and suppliers engaged.
Maintaining organizational resilience
Keeping the employees engaged while readjusting the cost structure can be challenging. As several employees are facing the anxiety of job loss and job security, being flexible has helped CEOs in gaining the trust of their employees. By proper communication organizational leaders are making sure that employees know that the company is focused on helping them in these difficult times. From offering a flexible work schedule to providing access to health information and essential supplies, several leaders are not leaving a stone unturned to make their employees feel valued. Additionally, leaders are also creating an effective learning environment where employees get a chance to develop their skills in a virtual environment.
Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic is proving to be a real-time test of leaders around the world. However, with proper planning and response leaders can get to the end with more strength, compassion, and confidence. As policymakers continue to introduce new policies to save the economy, organizational leaders can implement behavioral changes to prevent the pandemic from further affecting their businesses and stakeholders. By finding new possibilities in such persistent crises, good leaders can seize the opportunity and give their employees and the world new hope for a better future.
