AMID COVID-19: LEADERSHIP & CULTURE MATTER THE MOST

Five CEOs talk about their approaches to managing during a crisis.

We kicked off the timely and compelling WBC Executive Leaders Roundtable Series last week by featuring insights about CEOs Leading During a Crisis with five prominent chief executive officers.

Each CEO shared insights about their current reality, how they are leading, and what leadership qualities are most important amid the COVID crisis. The leaders discussed how they are adapting their businesses for the future and working around the clock to ensure that their employees are safe.

The online discussion, attended by more than 190 people from all over the United States, highlighted several key themes around leading during the pandemic – and what the future holds.

1. Leadership Matters.
2. Your Company Culture Matters.
3. The future will be different and more diverse.

CEO Leadership Matters.

Panelists on our executive roundtable spanned five different industries, from retail to insurance. Despite differences, each focused on the importance of leadership, which leadership traits are essential for managing through a crisis, and other key observations.

For Deirdre Quinn, Co-Founder & CEO, Lafayette 148 New York, being a leader and an entrepreneur is all about agility and adaptability. Faced with manufacturing in China, designers in Italy, and headquarters in New York, Quinn knew early this year that the company, the business model, and how they do just about everything would need to evolve to meet the needs of customers, employees, and partners. 

"…the secrets to leadership during this time include multitasking, being fearless, and making sure you are honest with the people who are counting on you."

 – Deirdre Quinn, Co-Founder & CEO, Lafayette 148 New York

When employees can't work remotely, new challenges abound. That's the case for Damon T. Hininger, President and Chief Executive Officer, CoreCivic, who provides detention and correction services across the U.S. His leadership themes focused on active – really active – listening combined with quick, thoughtful decision-making. Hininger talked about the need to make financial and employee decisions in a matter of hours. He also noted the need to hone critical listening skills.

 "You have to take it up several notches, to not only be able to communicate effectively but be a very active listener. You are going to get a lot of warning lights, but there are a few areas that might be your blind spot. You got to ask folks questions and really listen and understand what is beneath the seams and answers."

 – Damon T. Hininger, President and Chief Executive Officer, CoreCivic

As an experienced leader, Carly Fiorina, Founder and Chair of Carly Fiorina Enterprises, has led organizations and nonprofits through challenging times before. When talking about the importance of leadership, Fiorina emphasized three essential lessons: 

• Good leaders have peripheral vision. They use their vision to heed warning signs, build relationships, and take on different points of view.
• Service and problem-solving are the purposes of leadership. A true leader serves, not presides. They are empathetic, and they collaborate to make informed – even unpopular decisions.
• Leaders need to learn what information is most important…With boundless data and information out there, developing and cultivating a strong sense of what is essential and what isn't core to your mission will allow you to thrive.

"There's an old saying that tough times build character. I think that is wrong...tough times reveal character." 

– Carly Fiorina, Founder and Chair of Carly Fiorina Enterprises

Culture Matters.

"Leadership is a team sport." – Carly Fiorina

Amid the discussion about leadership was an equal emphasis on the importance of company culture during unprecedented times. Teresa White, President AFLAC U.S., talked extensively about working across the organization with business continuity and crisis teams to respond, react, and adapt. However, she emphasized that her ability to reach within the organization to mobilize the workforce and respond and react to needs was built on Aflac's well-documented culture of diversity, inclusivity, and communications.

"Culture is where people get it wrong. You can't start a culture in a crisis…Make sure that you are treating your employees right. Make sure that you take care of the employees and they will take care of the business. Otherwise, when the crisis happens, you have no one to help you."

– Teresa White, President AFLAC U.S.

Adding to this conversation of culture, Joele Frank, Managing Partner, Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher, a corporate communications firm, highlighted that culture is one of the most basic and important value structures of a corporation and added that while culture builds from all places in an organization, a lot of it starts at the top. 

Every panelist talked in some way about these essential cultural realties. This crisis is unlike any we have seen before. Working closely with employees, being transparent and authentic, and building off of existing corporate cultures and structures allows leaders to lead honestly, with empathy, and focus on making decisions for the future. And while the future is uncertain, it still holds opportunities.

Leaders of the future will be known for their empathy and inclusiveness

Despite the challenges in our local and global economies, all the CEOs featured during the event remained optimistic about the future, hopeful about how organizations would adapt to our new world and committed to furthering their push for diversity and inclusion.

“It's a fantastic world that we are going to have the opportunity to change. This is a new beginning for so many things that we can do moving forward….You never know where the exact great idea is going to come from. In many cases, it is bubbling up, not top-down. And that is exciting.”

– Joele Frank, Managing Partner, Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

So, what does the future look like?

Carly Fiorina outlines her post-pandemic lessons, what she hopes every leader will learn.

• Leadership matters – we are confused about leadership today as there are a lot of mixed messages. Remember what leadership actually is.
• We are all connected in incredibly significant ways. Global connections are more important than ever, and we can't believe out of sight is out of mind.
• It is critical to lengthen our view. It is easy to just care about the short term, but we have to expand our view, so we are prepared for tough times. 

Join us for our CEOs Lead in Time of Crisis events May 19th; June 18; July 14; September 16; October 1st at WBC Digital SUMMIT; Dec. 3, 2020.

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