Are your leaders prepared for tomorrow?

Today’s world is marked by change: new modes of communicating and collaborating, blurry boundaries between professional and personal life, and the need to think out of box to make the most of this ever-changing environment. As a leader of leaders, you are navigating new and ever-changing priorities with limited time to react. Some small investments in support and coaching can go a long way toward boosting your leaders’ effectiveness. Consider how roles will change in the post crisis world and whether your teams are positioned for success. Last and most important, ask yourself whom you want at the table both in the current crisis and in the longed-for tomorrow when we emerge to a new normal.

The roles and responsibilities of business leaders have dramatically changed in the past few months. Before COVID-19, top leaders in high-growth companies were focused on fostering innovation, driving revenue, and gaining market share. Today, many of those same leaders must make rapid decisions by thinking about future keeping a balance of the present- about controlling costs and maintaining liquidity. They may encounter unforeseen roadblocks - that drastically alter the scope of their roles and priorities. All the while, they and their teams are navigating health and safety concerns, working remotely, and supporting their families through the pandemic. This is not an easy transition. Those in charge will be tested in areas where they have not fully developed their leadership muscles, and the learning curve will be steep. They will need coaching from their own bosses and others.

Leaders need to cultivate four behaviors in themselves and their teams. They must think ahead, adapt sharply, deliver responsibly, and engage for impact.?

1.???Think Ahead.

The situation is changing by the day — even by the hour. The best leaders quickly process available information, rapidly determine what matters most, and make decisions with conviction. During a crisis, cognitive overload looms; information is incomplete, interests and priorities may clash, and emotions and anxieties run high. Analysis paralysis can easily result, exacerbated by the natural tendency of matrixed organizations to build consensus. Leaders must break through the inertia to keep the organization trained on business continuity today while increasing the odds of mid- to long-term success by focusing on the few things that matter most. A simple, scalable framework for rapid decision-making and thinking ahead is critical.

Leaders must:

• Define priorities. Identify and communicate the three to five most important ones. Early in the crisis, those might include employee safety and care, financial liquidity, customer care, and operational continuity. Document the issues identified, ensure that leadership is fully aligned with them, and make course corrections as events unfold.
• Make smart trade-offs. What conflicts might arise among the priorities you have outlined? Between the urgent and the important? Between survival today and success tomorrow? Instead of thinking about all possibilities, the best leaders use their priorities as a scoring mechanism to force trade-offs.
• Name the decision makers. In your central command “war room,” establish who owns what. Empower the front line to make decisions where possible, and clearly state what needs to be escalated, by when, and to whom. Your default should be to push decisions downward, not up.
• Embrace action, and don’t punish mistakes. Missteps will happen, but failing to act is much worse.

2.?Adapt sharply.

Strong leaders get ahead of changing circumstances. They seek input and information from diverse sources, are not afraid to admit what they don’t know, and bring in outside expertise when needed.

Leaders must:

• Decide what?not?to do. Put a hold on large initiatives and expenses, and ruthlessly prioritize. Publicize your “what not to do” choices.
• Throw out yesterday’s playbook. The actions that previously drove results may no longer be relevant. The best leaders adjust quickly and develop new plans of attack.
• Strengthen (or build) direct connections to the front line. In triage situations, it’s crucial to have an accurate, current picture of what is happening on the ground. Irrespective of the business you are operating, leaders must get situational assessments early and often. Effective leaders extend their antennae across all the ecosystems in which they operate.

Behavior 3: Deliver Responsibly.

The best leaders take personal ownership in a crisis, even though many challenges and factors lie outside their control. They align team focus, establish new metrics to monitor performance, and create a culture of accountability. Each team member become a leader to display their own level of commitment and responsibility the cause. Leaders must:

• Stand up daily meeting - stay alert to and aligned on a daily dashboard of priorities. Leaders should succinctly document their top five priorities (on half a page or less) and ensure that those above them are in accord. Review performance against those items frequently — if not daily, perhaps weekly — and make sure that leaders share this information with direct reports. Review and update your “hit list” at the end of each day or week.
• Keep mind and body in fighting shape. To reliably deliver, leaders must maintain their equanimity even when others are losing their heads. Establish a routine of self-care: a healthy diet, exercise, meditation, or whatever works best for you. Stock up on energy, emotional reserves, and coping mechanisms.

Behavior 4: Engage for impact.

In times of crisis, no job is more important than taking care of your team. Effective leaders are understanding of their team’s circumstances and distractions, but they find ways to engage and motivate, clearly and thoroughly communicating important new goals and information. This point deserves extra attention, because although the COVID-19 pandemic is, of course, a health crisis, it has sparked a financial crisis as well. Your leaders need to reiterate new priorities frequently to ensure continued alignment in this time of constant and stressful change.

Leaders must:

• Connect with individual team members. Reach out daily for a “pulse check” with least a few; block out time on the calendar to do this. Relate on a personal level first, and then focus on work. Conduct a 30-minute “wind down” sessions with direct reports each Wednesday afternoon via Zoom. People share their states of mind along with the week’s highlights and low points.
• Ask for help as needed. The best leaders know they can’t do everything themselves. Identify team structures and assign individuals to support key efforts.
• Ensure a focus on both customers and employees. To support customers: Reach out, but first do no harm. To strengthen relationships and build trust, keep the focus off yourself and explore how you can truly help your customers. To support employees: Lead with empathy and a focus on safety and health. Compassion goes a long way during turbulent times.
• Collect and amplify positive messages —successes, acts of kindness, obstacles that have been overcome. Whatever your purpose, celebrate your daily (often unsung) heroes. Simply staying productive in these times is heroic. Simply put, celebrate more.?

Concluding, making each member special and valued in the team will be essentials keeping hard goals as the Everest of the crisis. None than any other times, organizations really witnessed VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world, however, this is the time when each of you will rise to essentials of leadership crisis and strive higher and better. All the best in coaching leaders of tomorrow!