COVID 19 – The Importance of Leadership in a Crisis

Africa has been through many crises before, but each one is different and none have reached the scale and diverse implications of COVID 19. Times like these require leadership at a national, company and peer group level. I want to share my thoughts and directions on this theme.

The COVID 19 virus is developing in unexpected directions and at an unprecedented pace – the reactions and decisions from the authorities around the world to mitigate the spread of the disease will generate collateral issues in terms of social, emotional and economic life in Africa – many of these will be health related. This dynamism will require us as leaders to have an open and flexible learning mind set and a display of courage, decisiveness, as well as a calming demeanour. We will need to do the thinking, anticipating and reassuring for the collective. I note below nine guidelines you may find useful:

1. Establish clear communication lines at the top and a predictable and effective communication feed to lower levels of management and departments. If done right, communication alleviates stress, serves as an outlet for new ideas and ensures information flow. Every staff member has a concern for their own welfare (survival), ideas and points of view that need to be heard – keep communications and feedback open, factual, calm and compassionate – be clear on what you know, don’t know and what you are doing to learn more about it – don’t be dogmatic or overconfident – no one has all the answers
2. Find a workable balance with those under your control – do not overwhelm them with requests for information and analyses that are not vital, do not overstep and over manage them – ask the right questions and test their assumptions, whilst framing our current challenges with appreciation and encouragement. Your soft skills will be vital in the coming weeks
3. Don’t lose sight of the long term and don’t be over-optimistic – challenge the optimism of your worst case scenario. The impact of COVID 19 will last longer than we all imagine, so we need to plan for this unprecedented scenario and work backwards to realistic decisions that are needed now. We all need to deep think the cause, spread and possible outcome of COVID 19
4. Decision making amid uncertainty is difficult – pause to assess, anticipate and then act with resolve. You will not have all the facts at hand, but cannot be purely instinctive either – the way you arrive at a decision after consultation and reflection will help create a state of calm and confidence that helps motivate staff to find solutions. The situation is dynamic, and so it is appropriate to revise ideas based on new information
5. This particular crisis requires us to imagine permanent changes will occur and how we can adapt to this new reality – this change will come in consumer behaviour, supply chains, operating models and viable price/cost/volume points
6. This all said, we need to elevate the post-recovery narrative and keep positive and forward looking. The best way to confront the points in 5. above are to start using this crisis and potential disruption to our business model to nurture new thinking, differentiate our approach and find a balance between being on the defence and the offence. This starts by listening to people – staff, customers and other stakeholders – use the crisis to build relationships
7. In such crises, putting people before profits typically pays off. We need to frame this principle in an African context – there is no safety net for companies without a buffer to cushion these events, and so we must survive to safeguard the wellbeing of the majority of our people. At times, this can seem cruel to the minority affected, but we must have conviction that we are doing the right things but also for the right reasons
8. There is no greater time to have our company values and behaviour tested than in a period of crisis. Everyone looks to their leaders for inspiration and guidance – we must lead from the front on this and promote aspirational values that instil confidence = clear thinking, precise communication, positive mind set, gratitude, caring and appreciation – the smallest gestures have a huge impact on those that are working hard to protect and resurrect the business. This is essential to reinvigorate a fatigued team and keep them energised for the long haul ahead
9. To ensure that we are getting the benefit of all sections of the company, put together a network of teams with different skills – medical and safety, strong communication skills, financial to assess the impact of our decisions, technological to allow us to work away from the office – at LHG, we are working on this basis and sharing our collective thoughts and actions. Skills and experience are important, but so is character and related traits – capable of uniting members around a single purpose, confident but humble, reflective but decisive

You will find many of the themes in the 9 bullet points covered above are core to this course, so please use the time created by the disruption to revisit the online course along with the opening theme of this email – the need for us to have a learning mind set.

Acknowledgement is given to the research of past crises done by Russel Reynold Associates and McKinsey.