Leadership in 2021

Dear Leaders, let us be honest enough to accept that the pandemic will not go away as fast as it came. Eradicating the virus will take time even if an antivirus is made available today. The manufacturing and deployment of the anti-virus is a massive undertaking. We need to take into account the population of the world.

After the virus has been eradicated, it will take time also for businesses to recover their former glory. Business processes would have changed or will have to change given the new way of work. Consumer consumption will not automatically switch back to pre-pandemic values.

Given the business climate for the following years, our Leadership competencies have become even more important than before.

Great organizations do not run under singular leadership. Under the new normal stress and challenges, the quality of the second and third line of leaders becomes more important. Their competencies play a role. Their ability to set aside their differences and work as a cohesive leadership team is even more important.

Empathy for employees is another critical value. We have to remember that rank and file employees are already barely making enough in pre-pandemic times. Reduced pay and getting safely to work has added an extra layer of burden in their minds.

We need to accept the fact that we cannot know everything no matter how smart we are. We cannot anticipate everything no matter how much we plan. We need to learn to get input from others who are smarter than us in particular areas of our business.

We also need to understand that given the volatility of the economy, we cannot always get the result we planned for. We need to be agile enough to accept the result and adjust accordingly. We need to be more innovative than before.

Extreme stress can also push us to blame others. It’s normal to delegate work. However, we need to remember that accountability is still ours and ours alone. The people around us may be trying their very best to deliver for their love of the company. However, they may not get the results they planned for. There is so much indecisiveness out there because of uncertainty.

We have a great responsibility to our customers and employees.

That is why we are here. That is why we are leaders.