Six things that 2020 reminded me

It’s February 2021, almost a year since we all started to feel the initial impacts of COVID-19. Few of us would have anticipated that we’d still be facing the ongoing challenges wrought by COVID, almost a year on. Many countries, and many markets ANZ operates in, are still in the midst of a COVID-19 health crisis, enduring lockdowns and restrictions on social and community activities.

As we move into a new year, we need to look forward with optimism and hope. At the same time, we also need a moment to pause, and reflect on 2020. I recently sent an email to all our staff globally, with my reflections on 2020. Below are some of my thoughts from that email.

From bushfires to pandemics, the stresses and challenges of 2020 taught us a lot about ourselves as individuals, organisations and communities. After such a year, it feels like an appropriate time for reflection and learning – as leaders but also for the organisation as a whole.

To begin with it’s important to acknowledge we are fortunate to operate in home markets that are well structured, highly developed and appropriately regulated. As a result, our direct experiences of financial crises is limited. However, as Australia’s and New Zealand’s most outward looking bank, we have witnessed, and in some cases directly experienced, global change and turmoil over many years.

In my own professional lifetime, that has included the 1987 Stockmarket crash, the 1997 Asian Financial crisis, the 1999 Dotcom Bubble and of course more recently, the Global Financial crisis in 2008.

In addition, there were numerous single market crises scattered throughout including the Swedish and Finnish banking crises in the 90s, the US Savings and Loans failures in the early 90s, the ‘91 Indian crisis, the Japanese bubble economy collapse in ‘92, the Tequila crisis (Mexico) in ‘95, Russian bond crisis in ‘98 (and again in 2008), Turkey in ‘01 (and again 2018), and a series of problems across Latin America.

Sadly, we have also had to experience natural disasters of all types from floods to droughts, fires to earthquakes and tsunamis. One could say we live in a world of perpetual crisis, just some more impactful than others.

Of course each crisis is different and a global pandemic impacted the way we live and the way we work in ways we couldn’t imagine. Drawing on my own experiences and observations of 2020, I was reminded of some core lessons we should draw upon as we navigate the inevitable challenges ahead to make ourselves and ANZ even more resilient:

1) Always expect the unexpected - planning is important but agility matters.

2) In times of change, people crave clarity – we created a four-pronged framework that guided our approach;

• ‘Protect’ our people, our customers, our balance sheet
• ‘Adapt’ to the changing environment
• ‘Engage’ with all our stakeholders
• ‘Prepare’ for the future and be ready for new opportunities

3) Never underestimate the power and resilience of culture – particularly in times of stress.

4) Trust your people – when guided by purpose, good people always rise to the challenge. ANZ has a team of great people who listen, learn, adapt and care.

5) Necessity really is the mother of invention – think of working from home, banking from home – so we need to approach every day with this level of creativity.

6) Greater capacity - capital, liquidity and management – allows better and more timely decisions.

Many of our people, particularly in the southern hemisphere, have returned to work after a well-deserved break, and I know they’re ready to take on 2021 and continue to show the courage, strength and resilience they did last year.

Photo credit: Jun Sawa