The corona crisis is the developer of future leaders

The other day I was asked about positive aspects in connection with the corona crisis. That’s a question I often get. And now the corona fatigue is leaving its mark and seriously challenging employee engagement, it gives energy to zoom in on the positive aspects and build on them.

My answer has changed and has become more nuanced along the way. Quite naturally. Because we are in a process with many unknowns, surprises - shocks - to which we as individuals, companies, and society as a whole must react. We have also become richer in experiences and data points since the pandemic started in the spring.

In the beginning, I particularly paid attention to the rapid transition to the crisis that we experienced. Overnight, quite literally, teleworking became, as you know, the norm for countless jobs. Effective crisis teams were quickly up and running, and clear management communication, empathy, and agility were given high priority. Later in the crisis, it became clear that the use of data and digitization has accelerated rapidly over the past six months. Data-driven companies have stood strong.

We have also seen that Danish companies have been skilled in securing operations and protecting supply chains. Moreover, the crisis has cemented the importance of a strong purpose and contributed to a - sometimes brutal - transparency in a company. Are we organized so that we are close enough to our customers and can act quickly? Do we think "digital first" when we devise strategies and have we made the right digital bets? Is our supply chain resilient? Are we financially robust?

In other words, the unexpected crisis has mapped out the to-do list for changes that are strategically necessary and that are accelerating right now.

Looking back on the first phase, the biggest positive has been the new stars that the corona crisis has brought to light. In fact, this article is a tribute to them. They are the leaders of tomorrow. And they have played and are playing a crucial role in the context of all the things I have just touched on.

As a CEO formulates it in the BCG article ‘CEOs reflect on Leadership in Perilous Times’, "The crisis has wheeled us to uncover talent deep inside the organization that would otherwise have been suppressed or overlooked in better times".

The need to understand, make decisions and act quickly during the crisis has been a source of inspiration for talented employees who have contributed with critical skills, knowledge, unique insight, agility, and creativity in countless situations.

Let me share a short story that encapsulates what this is all about. When the corona crisis broke out, we saw a number of new talents in BCG - across the company worldwide. New stars became visible in our industry and functional teams as we had to develop new concepts at 2x speed. In marketing where our mix of activities changed markedly which required extraordinary creativity and new forms of interdisciplinary collaboration. In our operations teams at our 90+ offices around the world who first and foremost had to ensure the safety of our employees and clients and then operate under lockdown with great uncertainty and variation across the world.

It required new skills. And it was clear to see who stepped up, took responsibility, and delivered strong results including many new talents.

The light on these talents must not be turned off again when we get to the other side of the corona crisis. Hold on to them, make sure they can grow in the business even in the long run. Invite them to join when you develop the post-corona strategy. Give them meaningful roles as you consider and design the organization of the future. Through these talents also goes one of the ways to boost employee engagement, in both the talents themselves and their colleagues.

Rewarding talent and drive creates engagement. The same goes for the experience of having space and a mandate to be able to quickly make a difference with your colleagues. Without having to struggle with silos and deep management layers, which reduce action, energy, and pace.

I look forward to following the new stars - the leaders of the future.