Masterclass on "Leadership During COVID-19 Crisis"

"Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic has been highly disruptive for business across all industries, irrespective of whether it is airline business, retail, restaurant, or manufacturing. The coronavirus has and will continue to impact the sustainability of many businesses due to the inability to generate revenue in 2020, which could very likely result in the their demise especially those form the small and medium entreprises."

- Sattar Bawany (2020) "Leadership in Disruptive Times" published by Business Expert Press (BEP) LLC, New York, NY. Available globally in July 2020

Overview

Since China first reported the existence of a new virus to the World Health Organization (WHO) on 31 December 2019, the virus, now known as SARS-CoV-2, causing COVID-19 disease, has spread quickly throughout the whole of China and today in almost all countries globally.

As of 26 April 2020, WHO reported 2,804,796 confirmed cases and 193,710 deaths globally (WHO COVID-19 Situation Report No. 97).

COVID-19 increasingly represent a threat to public health and global commerce. The next phases of the outbreak are profoundly uncertain. The prevalent narrative, focused on the pandemic, to which both markets and policymakers have gravitated as they respond to the virus, is possible but underweights the possibility of a more optimistic outcome.

The profound impact of COVID-19 has yet to be fully realized yet as the consequences for our businesses, organizations, economy, and society is expected to continue over the rest of 2020 and into the following year.  The epicenter of the pandemic has shifted from China to Europe and the US.

Managing the Challenges and Leveraging the Opportunities of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Businesses 

The profound impact of COVID-19 has yet to be fully realized yet as the consequences for our businesses, organizations, economy, and society is expected to continue over the rest of 2020 and into the following year.  The epicenter of the pandemic has shifted from China to Europe and the US.

The disruptive nature of COVID-19 requires leaders to demonstrate agility in reinventing their business models and adapt their organizations to meet with the challenges posed by this new pandemic on various stakeholders including employees & their families, customers, suppliers and business partners as well as governments.

For many companies around the world, the most important consideration from the first ten weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak has been the effect on supply chains that begin in or go through China. As a result of the factory shutdowns in China during Q1, many disruptions have been felt across the supply chain, though the full effects are of course still unclear.

A global slowdown would affect all organizations with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) more acutely. Less developed economies would suffer more than advanced economies. Service sectors, including aviation, travel, and tourism, have been reported to be the hardest hit. Airlines have already experienced a steep fall in traffic on their highest-profit international routes.

The strongest business leaders are dealing with the short term—by acting rapidly to protect their employees, customers, business, and the public—while anticipating the eventual rebound. The situation remains fluid and even if the epidemic subsides in the coming weeks and months, how can organizations and leaders lead and engage their teams during these challenging times and normalize operations in the aftermath?

Managing the #VUCA Impact of #COVID-19 Crisis

Since the US War College started to use the term VUCA as far back as 1987, it has been in the business lexicon to describe the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity of the world after the Cold War. Today, the concept is gaining new relevance to characterizing the current COVID-19 pandemic and the leadership by all organizations required to navigate it successfully.

The degree of uncertainty confronting all of us with the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented. Where next? How bad? How long? Who can we rely on for the latest and most reliable information? How will our organization – our employees, customers, partners, supply chain – be impacted? How should we respond?

The main emphasis is and should be on containing and mitigating the disease itself. However, the economic impacts are also significant, and many companies are feeling their way towards understanding, reacting to, and learning lessons from rapidly unfolding events. Despite this, we frequently find ourselves managing in situations of absolute ambiguity—when it isn’t clear where you’re going or how you’ll get there. Why does this happen? Market conditions shift rapidly. Customers have more choices than ever. Resources are constrained compounded with your key talents leaving. The list continues.

Since the lockdown as well as the travel restrictions in many countries globally, several clients have contacted us for advice on how to ensure the sustainability of their business including leading and engaging their teams during the current challenging times. Effective leaders demonstrate calm and being present to provide steady, realistic direction and to lead authentically with a high degree of emotional and social intelligence, even when the strategy isn’t clear.

Your Role as Leader During Disruptive Events

To manage the VUCA impact of CIVOD-19, leaders need to focus on your team on delivering value and started to explore what’s possible, be prepared to move forward with a discrete set of priorities. The rate at which the virus can spread is astonishing. So is the rate at which information is changing. Sometimes it seems to change on a minute to minute basis. In this environment, it’s critical to stay flexible and consider that the best-laid plans may well be fluid. There be prepared to make necessary and relevant adjustments and reinvent your plans.

Reassure Your Team During Uncertainty

When the news is scary and the future is uncertain, many employees will look to managers for reassurance — even though you might not have the answers yourself. You can help by first finding your sense of focus.

First, leaders must make sure they are dealing with accurate information. Times of crisis can be confusing and frightening, resulting in an amplification of speculation, conspiracy theories, obfuscation and censorship. Leaders must ensure that they are dealing with facts and not fiction, real information and not a rumor.

During these times of uncertainty, leaders may need to communicate frequently with team members authentically and transparently. To demonstrate a high degree of emotional and social intelligence, share your own emotions and acknowledge those of your team in productive ways. Let team members know that what they feel is okay. Demonstrate active listening and talk with them about your commitment to be there for them and support them even during times of uncertainty. Ask them to do the same and come to you if they are frustrated or concerned. Maintaining open dialogue will keep your team engaged and aligned until a clear direction emerges. 

Before you start communicating, take a minute to pause and breathe. Then put yourself in your audience's shoes. What are their concerns, questions, or interests? What do they need an immediate answer to? You might use language such as, “I know many of you may be thinking…”

The quicker you can address what’s on their minds, the more likely you’ll be able to calm them down. Seek out credible sources of information, and read fully before distilling it into clear, concise language. You can confidently express doubt or uncertainty, while still maintaining authority. You might say, “Reports are still coming in, but what we understand so far is…” Communicate frequently, even if you don’t have news to report so that people know you are actively following the issue. And provide tangible action items. Use language such as, “Here are the steps we are taking,” or “Here’s what you can do,” to demonstrate action. 

Design and Development of the Leadership Masterclass

Each of the Modules is designed for the participants to benefit from elements of our “C.P.R.” adult learning framework:

• Contemporary – leveraging on the latest concepts on leadership development
• Practical – explore examples and experience using tools with expert guidance as well as learning a concept, process or tool immediately transferable to their workplace
• Relevant – to the participants’ role as a senior manager and also being able to connect the program to the participant's organizational context

Workshop Objectives

The participants will have the opportunity to be involved in a highly experiential action learning experience and examine critical questions such as:

What is the role of leaders in transforming the organization to succeed in the highly disruptive world? How do organizations develop disruptive leaders and ensure their readiness to meet the challenges of post COVID-19 and also during times of future disruption and crisis?

The workshop will include the latest research findings and best practices tools, approaches and frameworks that are included in the soon to be published book, "Leadership in Disruptive Times" (2020) which will be published by Business Expert Press LLC (BEP) and released globally in July 2020.

Participants will also be able to leverage the various frameworks and tools for developing the disruptive leaders in the book, "Transforming the Next Generation of Leaders: Developing Future Leaders for a Disruptive, Digital-Driven Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0)" which was published by Business Expert Press LLC in July 2019.

The workshop aims to guide leaders towards managing success in the current (and future) highly disruptive events such as the COVID-19 pandemic on the business by:

1.     providing insights into the role of leaders towards ensuring success in times of disruption of crisis such as COVID-19 pandemic at the workplace

2.     understanding the crucial competencies, best practices and contemporary approaches in ensuring the readiness of leaders for success in times of disruption

3.     leveraging on best practices tools and frameworks to lead and engage their team to achieve desired results in the highly disruptive business environment of COVID-19. 

4. developing an action plan to prepare the organization post-disruption to ensure that the organization returns to normalcy that the best they can with the resources on hand

This Leadership Masterclass will provide participants with the following:

1. Perspective on the nature of the various disruptive events part from COVID-19 pandemic
2. Understanding the threats and opportunities in the disruptive and VUCA-driven era of today's business environment
3. Learning how to resolve effectively complex problem solving and decision making to prevent organizational failure and demise in the post COVID-19 environment
4. Leverage on best practice frameworks, concepts and practical tools to lead their teams and sustain productivity during these disruptive and challenging times
5. Improve their ability to communicate and lead organizational change during a disruptive event or crisis
6. Learn how to influence key stakeholders and manage the power and political dynamics in change processes
7. Learn how to get started on leading organizational resilience back at the workplace
8. Best practice approaches in developing trust among stakeholders in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic or other disruptive events.

Pilot Masterclass on "Leading Through COVID-19 Crisis"

The Masterclass on "Leading Through COVID-19 Crisis" was successfully delivered for the leadership team of RHT Group of Companies and RHTLaw Asia on 12 and 19 March 2020 respectively.

Best Practice Briefings on “Leadership In Disruptive & VUCA-Driven COVID-19 Crisis”

These Best Practice Briefings on “Leading In Disruptive and VUCA-Driven COVID-19 Crisis” is to share the tips and insights on how to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on your business. The links to the previous briefings are appended below:

1. Best Practice Briefing #1 - Reassure Your Team During Uncertainty
2. Best Practice Briefing #2 – Managing the VUCA Impact
3. Best Practice Briefing #3 - Adopt Employee-Centric Strategic Approach
4. Best Practice Briefing #4 - Resolving Business Challenges with Cognitive Readiness

Webinar on "Leading Through COVID-19 Crisis"

About CEE and Leadership 4.0 Masterclass Series

The Centre for Executive Education (CEE) is an award-winning and the premier network for established human resource management and executive development consulting firms globally. We partner with clients to identify, select and develop their next generation of leaders who will navigate the organization through tomorrow’s business challenges.

The Leadership 4.0 Masterclass Series is designed to provide CEOs, C-Suite Leaders as well Business and HR leaders with a platform to develop from being good to great. The programs incorporate a number of unique increase the font size of the text for the whole content. It is designed to provide CEOs, C-Suite Leaders as well as Business and HR leaders with a platform to develop from being good to great.

The programs incorporate a number of unique features and work on a number of levels. It is specifically aimed at enhancing and developing the skills, knowledge, and behaviors of the participants. The participants will develop their understanding of Leadership Effectiveness and how it will lead to a creation of sustainable competitive advantage for their respective organizations through the development of an organizational climate that will contribute towards enhancing employee engagement and productivity.

Client Testimonials

Selected Client Testimonials could be found here.

Contact Details

For further details, contact us via email at [email protected] and visit www.cee-global.com/contact-us/

Reference

WHO Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports/

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-happen

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