Business in a time of Covid: get the balance right
Word to the wise: if you’re going to start a new job, at a pan-African business, in the middle of the biggest health crisis in our lifetime, make sure you like a challenge. Because they’ll come at you thick and fast.
I’ve just celebrated my one-year anniversary as Group CEO of aYo Holdings – and what a year it’s been. We’ve grown our client base. Launched in new markets. Explored new alliances. Along the way, there was the small matter of a pandemic, which isn’t the type of thing you can really prepare for.
Perhaps the biggest challenge that Covid-19 has brought to the workplace is how to find the balance between ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ issues. We’ve got to be resilient, empathetic and self-aware. But at the same time, we’ve got to maintain productivity and engagement.
That’s been challenging when we’re all working from home. Maintaining effective communications is harder. Not having face to face meetings means you often miss the little non-verbal cues that you get when you’re sitting in the same room. And when you’re juggling priorities, it’s not always possible to check in and make sure that everyone is happy and on track.
This is the dilemma facing many business leaders right now. If you focus too strongly on the ‘soft’ issues, the business will suffer. If you make it all about the business, your people suffer. For me, the middle ground is to find a way to maintain a healthy level of pressure in the workplace to keep achieving our goals, no matter the circumstances.
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An important part of staying motivated is having a clear purpose. We live in an increasingly ambiguous world, and purpose is the north star that keeps us all focused on the same goal, and recognising our responsibility to help achieve that.
At aYo, we have a massive market and business opportunity evolving. At the same time, we have a clear responsibility to millions of Africans to give them peace of mind against the unknown, while bringing them into the mainstream economy through financial inclusion. We cannot lose focus. It’s tough out there for everyone – but we have to get through this together. That way, we all win.
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Distribution Executive at aYo Holdings
3 年Congratulations Marius on this milestone, you have achieved a great deal in a very short space of time, under rather difficult circumstances. We look forward to what lies ahead with you at the helm!
Gratitude
3 年Well done Marius, a great achievement in the most unusual time of making opportunities that will reshape our futures and prepare for the next generations
Professor, Head of Department Information Systems, Chair of School, Researcher, Lecturer, Society 5.0, Knowledge Management.
3 年Congratulations Marius! Excellent and very applicable article!
Congrats, Marius! The article speaks to the heart-of-the-matter. We must constantly strive to maintain the balance: Keep people engaged, focus on delivering the business objective and most importantly, celebrate our successes in a way that inspires everyone! We will definitely come out stronger!!