COVID recovery requires resilient leadership: 10 critical traits
- marc21078
- Jun 11, 2020
- 5 min read
If there's one thing that the last 25 years of business turnaround has taught me, it's that back-to-the-wall resilience is crucial in leading out of a crisis. Now more than ever we need calm heads at the helm, engaging leaders that give us belief and clear direction, yet are bold enough to tell it like it is. Focused as much on today and tomorrow as they are on next 25 years.
Winning in Fergie Time
It's 1999. It's the 90th minute of the Champions League Final between Manchester United and Bayern Munich. Alex Ferguson's team are 1-0 down with the clock ticking, when in 'Fergie Time', Sheringham and Solskjaer score and his team famously bounce back to win 2-1 and record a historic treble.
This was no accident nor a stroke of luck. This wasn't the first time they won this way and it wasn't to be the last. They were never going to lose. This was a result of the conditioning that Fergie brought to that team through his resilient style of leadership that saw his teams break records, winning 46 trophies in 35 years. This included multiple rebuilds and bounce-backs at Aberdeen and Manchester United to stay at the top for so long. Let's consider the characteristics that make a resilient leader.
Bouncebackability. Apologies for another footballing term. It was coined by Iain Dowie, who's Crystal Palace side fought off relegation to be promoted to the Premier League in 2004. I use the term to describe that ability to bounce back from setbacks. The ability to dust yourself down and go again with calm and purpose. Without seemingly a scratch or a bruise.
The Swan: calm, rational and considered. Self awareness and self conduct are imperative. While all around you may be busy and frenetic, you need to rise above the water and create a calmness. People look to their captain for rational guidance to bring their pulse rate down and help them stay focused, not show dysfunctional breakouts of emotion that only add fuel to the fire.
Positivity and inspiration. Resilient leaders believe that anything can be achieved with hearts and minds and they instil an authentic belief in their colleagues. This is different to blind optimism. Inspiring leaders create a positive outlook. They have a clear vision, a plan and the agility to navigate a number of courses to get there. It's the clear articulation of this through word and deed that earns mutual respect and engagement with people.
Walk a mile in my shoes. Being able to truly connect with colleagues, to be able to empathise and to genuinely resonate with them is rare amongst leaders, yet compassion is at the heart of what makes us human. Do you understand Sandra the Security Guard? Do you know what makes Amardeep in legal tick? Do you know why Pat's job in the factory is difficult? Why is the current upheaval affecting Doreen so much? Can you talk to each of them in their language and on their terms so that you sincerely understand each other. Do you get them? Do they get you?
Compartmentalise your thinking. Some people love a good crisis. It's often a welcome distraction from the humdrum and there's a chance to become a hero, often leaving a trail of chaos and confusion. A resilient leader is calm, clear and compartmentalises everything in their mind. Providing clear distinction between the short term needs and the long term direction. In any moment they can think clearly about 'business as usual', 'crisis', 'recovery', 'growth' and switch between each to create clear thinking and behaviour in their teams.
The A to Z. It has alarmed me during the lockdown how many leaders are advocating a 'wait and see' approach because they don't know what's coming. This fatalism is madness. Surely you've built a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and so on. To build resilience you need to be adaptive and have thought through the options. You have to ask, what could happen? What might happen? What is likely to happen? And then build an agile operating model that can switch between Plan A and Plan Z.
Clear communication of the winning playbook. In every game that they played, Alex Ferguson's players clearly understood the game plan and he left them in no doubt exactly what was needed from each of them. Alex was clear about their weaknesses, their strengths and exactly how the game was going to play out and with their name on the trophy. Use powerful messaging. Seize the narrative and paint a compelling picture so that your team know how you are going to win and get your name on the Cup.
Purpose and the 'why?' Being clear about purpose is what gets everyone out of bed. I need a purpose and a reason for being here. You need a purpose and a reason for being here. People need to be able to hear, see and feel the 'why?'. Why are we here today? What do our customers expect of us? What do we expect of each other? Why is what we do important to the mission? What is our vision and why does it need us all on board to get there?
Decisiveness. In some entities there is the luxury of time. The time to throw ideas around and socialise ideas for months at a time. In turnaround, time is something you don't have. The resilient leader is decisive and runs with a decision often based on less than 100% of the facts. However, they clearly articulate why they have made the decision and continue to build missing knowledge, mitigating risk along the way. In doing so, they are adaptive to be able to make course corrections. They create an environment for their people that encourages them to be brave and succeed.
The resilience engine. It takes a huge amount of self awareness and energy to keep fired up under pressure. Resilient leaders know how much stamina is needed both physically and mentally to help their people and their business through tough situations. You're useless, if not dangerous on an empty battery. They know to plan ahead and build in time to build up their reserves. Each to their own. Whether it's walking, playing tennis, mindfulness or cooking - whatever fuels your mojo and gets you firing.
Recovery through resilience
It's already been a tough few months and the shadows of lockdown could hit our economy for a couple of years at least. You have the opportunity to strike a V-shaped recovery in your fortunes, but only if you have resilience in your leadership teams now. You will get there quicker and with much less damage, with your people and reputation intact.
Don't be afraid to ask for help if you have doubts. Seek out seasoned expertise that can provide a flexble solution, bolstering your C-suite during recovery.
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