Might there soon be a medical breakthrough that eradicates COVID-19 from the face of the earth? In that case humankind will declare victory and move on. Or the pandemic might unleash new waves across the world, forcing stricter lockdowns and cratering economies beyond repair. More likely perhaps is that contagion will continue, and the world’s societies resolve to live with the risk in ways they have not considered so far. What will that compromise look like?[…]
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Crisis always shifts people’s attention abruptly to the quality of their leaders. We are seeing this now, as the appalling spread of the COVID-19 virus and the alarming collapse of economicactivity worldwide have people in all quarters looking to leaders for guidance—and often being left far from reassured by what they see.
Why do people give so much more attention to their anointed leaders in such moments?[…]
Has there ever been a more telling test of leadership than the past nine months? It is hard to remember a time when the values and purpose of an enterprise have been thrust more sharply into the spotlight[…]
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There are some things we’ve learned in the past seven months that make sense to carry forward into the next normal. Chief among them is that the amount of partnering among firms occurring to combat the pandemic, the neighborhood tie-ups to support small businesses, and bubble quarantines in learning groups as well as professional sports teams, requires a collaborative leadership style[…]
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A critical function of leadership is to ask questions and not settle for answers. This protects uncertainty as a space for curiosity and imagination. When there are too many answers provided and too few questions asked, things stagnate and the atmosphere stifles. Protecting uncertainty is akin to keeping a window open for light and fresh air, maintaining a sense of opportunity and the ambiguity that keeps the spirit of humanity as a search for meaning[…]
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When US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg succumbed to cancer recently, the headline race was on once again. Instead of pausing for a moment to honor a great personality for her leadership and stamina in the quest for justice, most of the news media didn’t miss a beat. Who would President Donald Trump nominate as her successor, and how would that reshape American society? Reporting instantly took second place to speculation and opinion, drowning out the announcement of the 87-year-old’s death in a sea of noise[…]
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These months have proven to be emblematic of the dangers of a hyperconnected world. Coronavirus cases continue to grow and grow fast, and asymmetries rise around the world at a pace we may have not imagined when 2020 started. […]
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It is high time to rethink our parameters for dealing with the pandemic. What we need are leaders with judgment and common sense[…]
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In the midst of the perfect storm, driven by a global pandemic and the concomitant economic crisis, managers have to deal with an abundance of challenges popping up day to day. “No time for strategy and planning” is a frequently overheard claim in executive offices and boardrooms these days. Many leaders like to address the pandemic as a “Black Swan”. A nice try to excuse oneself from thorough and critical thinking[…]
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Reversed leadership makes organizations more resilient. The need for resilience has never been greater than now. As Peter Drucker said, “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.” How can management go beyond yesterday’s logic? By practicing reversed leadership[…]
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