You’ve taken on a new leadership role in a completely virtual world in the middle of a global pandemic… so now what?

5 lessons that made me rethink the meaning of leadership

July 2020 was an unusual time to step into a leadership role in any business. On the day I took over as EY’s Americas Consulting Vice Chair, we were in the midst of a pandemic, a global economic slowdown was underway, and subsequent impact of the consulting market, and remote working was already the new norm.

Rather than coming into the office to meet my senior team and travelling around the region to get to know my new colleagues and clients, I found myself leading a business via laptop, talking to them at kitchen tables, in bedrooms, home offices and even cars. Clearly, the priority was our own people’s wellbeing – physical and mental – but like every leader in a time of crisis, I also had to think about how we could maintain our ability to do fantastic work for our clients. The reality is those two things go hand in hand.

Since July, the most important part of my job has been ensuring we’re doing everything we can to support our employees through this time of transition. And because we’ve worked hard to get that right, we’ve been able to not only carry on delivering quality services for our clients, but also change how we expect the work of consultants to look moving forward.

Here are five things I’ve learned from taking over during the pandemic:

1.     Enable change, don’t fight it

At the start of the pandemic, it’s fair to say every business was concerned whether people would continue to be productive from home. It makes me very, very proud that our staff at all levels have pivoted, showing how efficient and effective they can be in this new situation over such a long period of time. The fact we chose to enable that change rather than resist it is key. Our people know they have the technology infrastructure and trust of leadership to deliver great work no matter where, when or how they do it. Crucially, we’ve also been able to demonstrate to clients that there’s no dilution in our commitment or quality of service when we can’t see them in-person. We can even help reduce the cost of the engagement, using collaboration tools to bring them the best of EY without the same travel expenses. It’s leapfrogged the consulting industry forward 10 years.

2.     Keep learning

Willingness to learn from a variety of sources is always a key leadership trait, but in times like these there’s a temptation to enter survival mode, concentrating only on the challenges immediately in front of you. Yet, the opposite is true: a crisis is when your learning process as a leader should become supercharged. For example, talking to other EY leaders in China and Europe (where COVID-19 hit first) helped me understand the strategies they used to successfully support their people and their clients – then tune them for our environment and apply them in the Americas. Of course, not everyone is lucky enough to have a global network to draw on, and even now we are learning from others, such as Israel, where a comprehensive vaccine rollout is leading to the return of some sense of normality. Yet, we all have people in our network to learn from. I’m also a big believer in looking outside your industry. Right now, seeing how businesses in other sectors have dealt with the pandemic is invaluable in sparking ideas to implement yourself.

3.     Empathy is key

One of the many challenges of this crisis is how diverse everyone’s experiences have been. We have young people living three, four or five to a city apartment who might be sat at the end of their bed trying to work on an overloaded wi-fi connection. Likewise, we’ve got people with families, working at home with kids and pets in the background or juggling childcare duties with a partner who’s also got a job. To feel supported and enabled in their role, these people need leaders who empathize with and respond to their individual circumstances. Starting at the top, we have to set the tone in assuring employees it’s OK to have a break, work unusual hours and manage their unique challenges. We need to be compassionate and considerate, encouraging them to take the time, space and flexibility they need to protect their own mental and physical health. And we must lead by example. Now more than ever, saying we understand isn’t enough; we have to show it.

4.     We’re all human 

Yes, fair enough, I knew this already! But one of the silver linings of COVID-19 is the way it’s helped us really understand each other as people. We’ve all been on calls or webinars in the past where there’s been some background noise or the connection’s dropped out and everyone’s raised their eyebrows. Working at home en masse has changed that. When we see someone’s kids run past the screen, we ask about them. If a cat suddenly appears on someone’s shoulders, we talk about it. Fantastic! My job is to make sure our people understand they don’t need to worry about these things; they’re part of life and we know they’re doing great work. Retaining that sense of personal, human connection will help us all be far more collaborative and tolerant in future.

5.     This is the beginning

COVID-19 has accelerated a change already happening, unlocking the tremendous potential of new technologies and new ways of working. For example, the EY organization’s target is to create net zero carbon emissions by 2025 and we know now that we can meet our client’s needs and expectations without being the road warriors of old. Remote working also opens the door to recruiting more diversely – both geographically and among people who are unable to travel. And clients have learned they can trust us to deliver even when we’re physically disconnected. With the right leadership, these changes will continue, and they will have a net-positive impact on our business, our society and our planet. There is no doubt that there is pent up demand to travel to spend time with our clients and teams, and it’s a natural human social trait to thrive in teams that are in the same room, but we now have the opportunity to find a better balance of in-person and virtual.

As I write this, there are constant reminders that there are countries and many people that are still deep into the dark days of COVID-19 and while some are celebrating increased freedom to return to something resembling normal, there are others who are yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

No doubt, there are more lessons to be learned from this extraordinary period – and I’d love to hear how you’ve adapted to the various challenges it has thrown up. But I firmly believe, one day, we’ll look back and recall not just the terrible impact COVID-19 had on so many people. We’ll remember it as a watershed moment for our industry. The moment we plunged into adversity and emerged from it even better. 

#Pandemic #Leadership #LeadingWithEmpathy #COVID19 #COVID