As millions of doses of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines are being shipped across the globe, there are glimmers of hope beginning to appear on the horizon. Leaders can now start to contemplate how they will lead post-pandemic and consider how they will help to shape the new normal.
I spoke to Carrie Guthrie, Vice President of Corporate Human Resources at Minnesota-based Polaris Inc. She said that while Polaris has traversed the pandemic quite well, many companies have had to focus on survival and not had the luxury of being intentional about culture and people development. Many have had to focus on profitability, business operations, and the challenges of execution via remote settings. She offered some sage advice to leaders out there (and the coaches like me who support them) as they emerge from COVID survival mode to face and embrace post-pandemic challenges and opportunities.
“. . . much of what we experienced before [as leaders] may not come back the same way.”
The Emerging Virtual Landscape
“Leaders have long had to adjust to the styles of the individuals they lead, to some degree. Now, they will have to adjust their styles to [emergent] communication modalities. For example, a leader who has been charismatic in gatherings and face-to-face meetings may have to adjust because most of her interactions are going to be remote now. It’s possible that one-on-one or small-group connections will be more valuable in the future because much of what we experienced before may not come back in the same way.”
There is no doubt that the genie of connecting virtually has been let out of the bottle. Mark Zuckerberg, for instance, has suggested that up to half of Facebook’s workforce will be working remotely in the next decade[i], and countless mental health professionals are meeting with their clients via teletherapy now. (They and their clients may resist a return to drivetimes and parking.) A remote workforce will generate challenges to managing and preserving culture and will likely make cultural change more difficult than it already was. Leaders will have to get clear about how the emerging virtual landscape portends for them.
“The lines between work and home have been blurred now more than ever.”
Greater Authenticity
“The lines between work and home have been blurred now more than ever,” Guthrie says. “Someone you’ve never seen in anything but a sport coat or khakis is now in your Zoom room wearing a hoody. This presents a challenge for leaders to adapt, but it also offers opportunities to open up and connect to people as they really are. Leaders are going to have to ask themselves, ‘Where do we go from here? How do we evolve our culture to best face the new reality? How do we develop people we sometimes can’t see in person?’”
Guthrie advises that the fundamentals of general leadership will probably not change drastically. Rather, leaders will have to make nuanced style adjustments in the way they assess and engage, and they will be challenged to shape the new normal as the evolving realities shape them.
Diversity and Inclusion
“As the dust settles, there may be unexpected opportunities in the area of diversity and inclusion,” Guthrie says. “Part of diversity is embracing different settings, different styles, different ways people dress and wear their hair. A progressive leader could seize the opportunity to lead and connect in more authentic ways. The new remote landscape may provide opportunities to look at his or her employees as whole persons with all the nuance and variety that goes with that.”
“Leaders will have to be intentional about how they come out the other side of this pandemic crisis.”
Expanding Leadership EQ
Finally, the tragedy of COVID 19 can present opportunities for leaders to stretch their EQ. There is no doubt that the pandemic will touch the lives of almost everyone by the time it has run its course. Leaders will have opportunities to get comfortable with conversations about loss, grief, and trauma. They will have the chance to engage their employees more authentically in these ways, as well. And workers, according to Guthrie, are likely to want deeper and more profound connections to the companies they work for because of what their communities and families have gone through. If handled properly, this, too, is an opportunity for leaders to strengthen bonds with their employees.
All of this will require leaders, more than ever, to approach issues, circumstances, and events with more complex thinking and depth. Ultimately, as Guthrie says, “Leaders will have to be intentional about how they come out the other side of this pandemic crisis.”
Brad Fern is a certified Immunity to Change executive coach based in Minneapolis. You can find out more about Brad at fernepc.com.
[i] Herbst, J., 3 Lessons COVID-19 Has Taught Us About Remote Work, fastcompany.com, Dec 2020
