It’s Your Leadership Moment

COVID-19 – one of the greatest pandemics of our times which has caught world leaders off-guard, has demonstrated that some of the powerful governments and their economies are unprepared to deal with an aggressive outbreak. While the world fights to mitigate the impact of the corona crisis which has unsettled lives, livelihoods, and businesses worldwide, the outbreak also accentuates the need for business leaders to be resilient.

What does leadership mean in these times of crisis? 

While the world is fighting right now to overcome this battle of COVID, leaders across all industries and sectors are doing their best to survive this phase. They are trying their best to keep the wheel running in every possible way. At this time, the new avatar of leaders will emerge and this will surely bring out the best in them. 

What should leaders do? 

• Keep your team motivated by giving positive news:

Always try to give good news to your folks and keep their josh high. For instance, the case of a pizza delivery boy who tested positive in Delhi made the entire city to go into a frenzy about ordering food online. We heard people say“Don’t eat pizzas. It’s risky”. This is happening in India. So, this situation can only be handled by giving the right news at the right time to your folks.

• It’s all about building “TRUST”

This is an unpleasant situation for all and the best thing we as leaders can do is to trust the team. Past studies have shown that having high trust for your teams is as equal to an appraisal. A leader should always sense his/her team’s trust level to ensure that they step up and build that trust in their teams- which in turn will help them achieve success.

Effective communication is a very important attribute of a leader. This is a difficult time for all industries, and it can surely create a sense of insecurity and anxiety in everyone’s mind. Always keep talking to them and understand the situation they are going through. Transparency & positivity is imperative when people are unsure of the future. Always be truthful in conveying the gravity of the situation. We have seen most of our global leaders standing out with transparency and are also having regular emphatic communication with their citizens.

• Make sure that you take care of your people “first”:

It is crucial for leaders to understand the pandemic situation very well and its implications. Every leader should prepare their teams and their families to fight against this pandemic; this support can really help them. So that once market reopens, they are all ready to get back to work where family support is also very important. Every leader should prepare for this right away by giving them a safe and hygienic working environment. Even a single case can stop the whole operation. Always do keep that in mind and start preparing for this.

• Mental health – For your people and for yourself

The only thing certain today is uncertainty. Uncertainty about the health and safety of our families, about going back to our normal lives and so on. If leaders are working non-stop with less than 5 hours of sleep on a day-to-day basis, not paying attention to their well-being, this trend is likely to trickle down to the rest of the organization. And if the leader prioritizes self-care, the people around them will follow suit. Behaviours that cultivate well being are the same behaviours that can help to mitigate mental health challenges.

So its time for all leaders to rise up and be responsible so that your organization too will follow your path. Remember, we’re all in this together!