Holding Firm In The Storm, Aligning For The Future
While so much of the world around us is changing, there will come a time when people around the world will look for signs, evidence and leaders in whom they can believe and put their trust for better things to come in the future.
There is no better economic and social flashpoint to prove this point than the continuing global struggle to contain the spread of COVID-19, the pandemic that has dealt death and political division like no previous scourge of humanity.
And thus, there may be no higher calling for today’s global executive leaders than to answer the challenge with the confidence of their convictions and the resolve to keep employees safe while taking steps as individuals to lead by example and follow the guidance of public health policymakers.
The simple act of wearing a facemask can not only protect oneself but also bring some comfort to employees whose children are too young to qualify for the vaccines now available to otherwise healthy adolescents and adults.
Individual support for vaccination against COVID-19 also helps reinforce the notion that each person can – and should – do their part to act in their own self-interest and, concurrently, to act for the greater good by helping build a wall against a virus that mutates and multiplies its risk to human life every time it infects a new victim.
To take things even a step further, there are individuals within each employer tasked with actively managing and implementing workplace countermeasures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
These days, corporate leadership proactively moves to thank the Human Resources, Environmental Health & Safety, Regulatory and Operations leaders and support the very difficult decision-making (and, yes, criticism) they continue to face and policy enforcement they must ensure as they fight to keep businesses running and supply chains moving.
The entire business world is indebted to the frontline doctors, healthcare workers and support staff teams who are staring the virus straight in the eyes every day. Further, we remain indebted to airline pilots and crews, and logistics workers driving ships, trains, trucks and other transportation to keep the global flow of goods moving at a time when economic certainty fuels confidence for tomorrow.
Now more than ever before, leadership in any business management function now beckons leaders to lead.
Increasingly, there is no getting around the issue that concern for the greater good – and the sustainability of organisations in every industry – now hinges on a unified front supporting vaccines and masks and any other weapon in the fight against COVID-19.
Where there is not sufficient supply of vaccines, business leaders must do their parts to enable such distribution and encourage uptake by their employees and families who qualify, allowing for the required medical and religious exemptions.
Where there is oversupply, and the option for some to deny science and stand on personal liberty in the face of a deadly virus, leaders must make stark choices that may lead to the ultimate separation from individuals who decide not to protect themselves, and in so doing, needlessly threaten others.
These are the times that test the relationships we, as leaders, have built with employees, with peers and business partners. Everything we put into these will now be summoned as people look for trust and support in others in trying times.
And although none of us wishes to relive the virus challenges we faced through most of 2020, we must stand together in 2021 and hold firm amid the storm. Only togetherness, compassion, care and belief in others will move us closer to better days for the companies that employ us, and which we sustain.
It’s time to unite with others, and for leaders to be reservoirs of strength, example and belief for others. We must align with one another to sustain our business ventures and put us back on the course for long-term business growth and prosperity. Let this important work begin, and be renewed in each one of us now.
Copyright © TRANSEARCH International
Other Thought Leadership
TRANSEARCH hosted various c-suite executives in 2022 to discuss challenges like high energy costs and supply chain disruptions. The results revealed six key levers for companies to survive these challenges: People, Culture, Leadership, Reputation, Resilience, and Proactive, Empathic Communication. The study will continue in the 3rd quarter of 2023.
Dr. Carlos Davidovich MD. explores the neuroscience of biases and where they are located in our brain, the negative consequences of unconscious cognitive biases and the connection between biases and Diversity and Inclusion.
Ponder long enough and you might recall hearing at a business conference or reading a blog post from a renowned futurist, author or social commentator some time ago that while things to come remained as always unpredictable, it was likely that the pace of change in our times would indeed accelerate. Looking around at the ways our lives and work have been altered in the past 24 months alone,
Breakthrough technology, uncertainty, the increasing speed of change and the redefinition of 'work' demand an organisation that is a fit for the 21st century (built to change). We refer to it as 'succession planning.' A better description would be 'planning for success.'
TRANSEARCH India invited a panel of CEOs and board members, to discuss the topic – 'CEO Conversations: What Boards Expect'. The panellists also debate the importance of agility, culture, succession planning and diversity as key tenets of good governance and purpose-led leadership.
More than anything, agility is a way to think, it’s a mindset, and as such, without 'leadership' you still don't have much. The type of leadership required exudes, encompasses, encourages, and expresses agility in everything the leader does. Which leads us to the 'The Way of the Dolphin'.
One of the reasons a weekend respite from one’s executive leadership responsibilities – or a longer holiday break away from the office – can be so productive for one’s state of mind is because it allows us the time to reflect on our work and absorb important lessons learned by others. There is no shortage of illuminating quotes, allegories and simple epiphanies circulating on the Internet,
Diversity and Inclusion are founding principles of a more sustainable business model, and even if they encompass several components, including that of gender equity, it is obvious that good intentions are not enough.