Currently, the world is living in times of exponential change as the economy is getting faced by frequent disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is, therefore, safe to mention that every leader has been faced with numerous crisis moments that range from precise bumps along the road and other more serious problems. Nonetheless, it is also true to say that the current COVID crisis is different than anything we have experienced ever in over a century. The situation is more prolonged, and it is an existential problem for companies. Effective leadership in such a crisis with diverse consequences is essential for a company and its workers and needs emotional, psychological and physical fortitude. Effective management for leaders in such situations blends crisis management core values, with the inclusion of dynamic adjustments in meeting their requirements plus those of the organizations they serve.
Effects of COVID on leadership
The pandemic has increasingly placed a wide range of extraordinary pressure on leaders in organizations and the whole society. According to the humanitarian toll undertaken, the crisis has created fear among shareholders and other employees. The high rate of the outbreak and its unpredictability state has made it hard for executives to respond. However, the outbreak possesses a hallmark of a high levelled crisis, which is an unexpected happening or an events sequence of overwhelming speed and enormous scale (Buehler et al., 2020). The pandemic has brought about a high uncertainty resulting in disorientation, strong emotional unrest and a feeling of lost control.
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Leaders were faced with the problem of decision making. Admitting the organization faces a crisis should be the first step during the pandemic. It is a hard step, mainly during a crisis onset which does not come suddenly but grow from familiar instances which mask their forms. The moment the leaders understands the crisis and does not underestimate it, the organizations can mount response strategies. Some leaders developed a work-from-home strategy due to the uncertainty and unfamiliarity of the pandemic. After all, what leaders require in a state of the pandemic is not a predefined response ideology but mindsets and behaviors which restricts them from overreacting from past developments and ids them to focus ahead.
What Did Leaders Do When COVID Came
The first thing that most leaders did was creating a central and clear list of priorities and implementing them with high autonomy. Nonetheless, in a dynamic condition, making the decision making a central idea hobbles the company capability to respond to the crisis effectively quickly (Halawi et al., 2020). An effective leader empowers managers in making the best decisions keeping in mind a good sense of business priorities. For instance, some leaders incorporated maintaining the safety of employees and ethically behaving towards customers. They fostered priorities which were clear like, the whole company requires to be efficient, effective, agile and work towards the high quality of work achievements. In these worst situations, disruptions can lead to an overload of contradicting information. In worst cases, most of the employees during a crisis are fed with incoherent or unclear priorities. That is why a clear set of procedures are essential at times of upheaval.
In the crisis moments, as most European neighbors were not sure how to respond to the crisis, Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen closed the borders of her country on 13th March. Some days later, she banned public gatherings and suspended schools, kindergartens and universities. The measures minimized the spread of the pandemic and reduction in deaths. Besides, the number of individuals seeking treatedment also declined. The steps were commendable and marked out this successful and skilled youngest-ever politician. Her speeches and straight-talking clear instructions have been highly praised widely in the nation.
In another instance which occurred in New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Arden is commented to be good in a crisis. She chooses to 'go hard and go early', she put the country in total lockdown by 25th March. Her move shocked many Kiwis, though the prime minister responded with an empathetic and clear language requesting citizens to be kind to each other resulting in the phrase becoming a slogan and put on billboards across the nation. Also, on the first night during the lockdown, she streamed live on Facebook wearing her tracksuit to reassure the people. Her humane, decisive and brilliant leadership played a major role in New Zealand fight and response to COVID-19 pandemic.
How Leaders Had to Adapt to be Successful
During any crisis, leaders opt to shift temporarily from command-and-control rule to application of a network of teams. Leaders also have to empower others into directing many organization's aspects of the crisis response. It involves giving them the authority to implement and make decisions without having to acquire approval. However, a major work of senior executives is in quickly establishing an architecture of making decisions, to ensure clear accountability and decisions are made by the right individuals at diverse levels.
Broadly, the business sector is very different from what we knew before the pandemic. Leaders now understand the need for narrative, inclusion, purpose and collaboration. Also, leaders have undergone irregular challenges all through the pandemic and have had to incorporate the highly uncertain plus diverse landscape. In short, leaders have been forced to juggle compassion with empathy with strategic, quick and complicated decision making. From these changes, the business sector is vastly different compared to the one we knew in the past.
However, there are several skills that leaders adapted and still incorporating during the crisis. Leaders had to provide a powerful narrative; it means creating a strong narrative that can boost innovation, loyalty, engagement, motivation and more essentially can aid individuals to cope with the future which is unpredictably evolving (Halawi et al., 2020). At these moments, communication is tricky, and also its power evolves. Some leaders became transparent concerning current realities, including what they do not know, also, by creating a compelling goal which encourages perseverance.
Leaders also adopted a leadership strategy led by purpose. If leaders want their counterparts to feel aligned, engaged and connected in business, they must establish a purpose which other individuals can be excited about; the one beyond generating money for shareholders. In general, colleagues and customers in a business setting require something to relate to, which is more provoking than just profit; thus, they tend to remain purposeful. Through this strategy, companies have been able to retain and attract talent and gaining customer loyalty.
Impact of COVID on Leadership
The fundamental quality that COVID impacted leadership is developing a resilient group of leaders. Apart from the uncertain risks set by the pandemic, business and other leaders are more concerned about the way organizations will be impacted and what they are required to do. In general, companies are at distinct phases in dealing with the pandemic, but there are ways in which resilient leaders have stood out all through the crisis.
Leaders have learned that they should always prioritize the mission statement, which allows them to stabilize their companies in fighting the crisis as well looking for growth opportunities amid the harsh constraints. Also, leaders have become genuinely empathetic. It means putting themselves in their employee's shoes and customers. Resilient leaders will choose a hard decision to protect the organization financial performance from invariable softness which come with such disruptions. COVID-19 has also taught leaders to embrace the longterm approach (Buehler et al., 2020). The approach means that leaders are now objected to focusing beyond the horizon by anticipating new business deigns likely to come up and innovations that will define tomorrow.
In conclusion, with the right strategies, the pandemic can become an opportunity for a business enterprise and the nation at large. As mentioned earlier, COVID-19 is a humanitarian crisis which proceeds to disrupt the lives of millions. Nonetheless, through rightful leadership, there is perhaps a silver lining, which is a chance for leaders to create more team innovation and cohesion in the face of diversity.
References
Buehler, K., Conjeaud, O., Giudici, V., Samandari, H., Serino, L., Vettori, M., ... & White, O. (2020). Leadership in the time of coronavirus: COVID-19 response and implications for banks. McKinsey Insights .
Halawi, M. J., Wang, D. D., & Hunt III, T. R. (2020). What's important: weathering the COVID-19 crisis: time for leadership, vigilance, and Unity. The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume , 102 (9), 759.
