Business leaders deal with uncertainties and disruptions all the time. Monitoring and addressing threats from the competition, glitches in the supply chain, and other business-related complications … they all come with the job. Uncertainty does not lead inexorably to calamity.

​

The job changes and the stakes get higher in the face of disruptions to society at large — like the Ukraine war, pandemic, and the systemic racism that spurred riots and activism in the US in recent years. These situations levy different challenges on business leaders — sensitive, urgent, dynamic challenges.

​

There’s pressure to meet the needs of all stakeholders, including employees, consumers, shareholders, and boards — fast. It is not an exaggeration to say that in these situations, business leaders are sometimes called upon to make life-or-death decisions on matters that affect employees and consumers. And there’s pressure to present to the world the organisation’s stance on the crisis, meaning that leaders must also make quick judgments that will affect the health and longevity of the organisation overall.

​

LEAD WITH YOUR HEART AND HAVE THE COURAGE OF YOUR CONVICTIONS​

​

One of the ways we characterise leadership is as a combination of the head, heart, and hands. Briefly, the head is the aspect of leadership that focuses on envisioning and planning for the future, the heart is about inspiring and empowering people, and the hands relates to execution and innovation.

​

What we have seen in times of crisis and uncertainty — when people are living amid constant change and, more broadly, massive societal upheaval — is that employees look for leadership from the heart. They seek a sense of purpose, recognition, coaching and development, empathetic listening, and deep caring for their physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

​

I want to emphasise the importance of purpose in a crisis. In such situations, people need not only a clear sense of purpose but also confidence in their leaders — that leaders have the personal conviction to authentically follow that purpose as their North Star, guiding themselves and their organisations. In a crisis, clarity regarding purpose is particularly critical because in heated moments, when decisions are often being made at a fast pace and with limited information, it is essential that leaders have a North Star to guide their actions. Purpose can also help to provide much-needed inspiration at a time when people can feel overwhelmed and even burned out by the pace of change and disruption to their lives.

​

So, in times of crisis, more than ever, leaders need the courage of their convictions.

​

I also want to emphasise the importance of leading from the heart during crisis and disruption. For leaders, the concept of caring deeply for their people — in their personal lives and in terms of their humanity — is amped up in times like that. During the pandemic, we saw that leaders were, somewhat instinctually, placing a priority on the aspects of leadership that relate to the heart. And the war in Ukraine is clearly an extreme humanitarian crisis that called on the same kind of “heart” response.

The big question after a period of crisis or uncertainty is whether leaders will maintain that approach or just say, We’re done with that; we can go back to the way we used to lead.

​

Does the growing emphasis on the “heart” signal a different concept of business leadership?

​

Our research shows that leaders rise to the challenges and embrace an approach we call generative leadership, which is well suited to uncertain times, when leaders face high-stakes demands from many stakeholders.

​

Everything generative leaders do is guided by their deep desire to positively impact not just their organisation but also society, to strive to leave the world a better place than they found it. It’s a moral compass that directs every decision.

​

When people hear the term generative leadership, they initially think it’s all about protecting the planet. But it’s also about shareholders, customers, employees, and society more broadly.

​

Do leaders need to interact differently with different stakeholders during a time of crisis?

​

The two big differences relate to internal alignment and external alignment. Leaders have to put themselves in the shoes of multiple stakeholders — to actively seek to understand their needs, desires, and aspirations. Empathy is king.

​

It might seem odd, but if you’re a CEO, you think that you’re actually directing the company. But in reality, on any given day, your employees are voting whether to stay as employees or not — a là the Great Resignation. Customers are deciding if they still want to be your customers. The communities you operate in are deciding whether they’ll give you a license to operate or not. The reality is that those different stakeholders have a lot of power.

​

In a multistakeholder world, leaders need to pay attention to that. Failing to do so could cost them.

​

A leader needs accurate and timely pulse checks — information about where there’s support and where there’s resistance — to really understand where they stand with those different stakeholders, and then they’ve got to address concerns. Leaders need to conduct ongoing communication campaigns, but it’s ideally in the form of dialogues: they are actually constantly dialoguing with representatives from different stakeholder groups to make sure that they are understanding where you are coming from, where you’re going, and how you’re responding to their needs.

​

We'd like to see leaders fully embrace the mission to leave the world a better place than they found it. If leaders everywhere would truly embrace that ethos, I think it would go a long way to moving us toward a better and brighter future.

​

​

BUSINESS RESILIENCE IN TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY​
 

In times of volatility, the most successful leaders turn uncertainty into opportunity, activating a business resilience strategy that is forward-looking, resilient, and competitive. No matter their starting point, Culture Shock can help.

​

Business resilience is the capacity to absorb stress, recover critical functionality, and thrive in altered circumstances, and it has become a key indicator of a company’s overall health. Resilient companies enjoy better outcomes than their peers in three ways: an external shock can have a lesser impact on their performance, the speed of their recovery can be faster, and the extent of their recovery can be greater.

​

Downturns and disruptions are inevitable. Whether companies lose momentum or — preferably — adapt and advance comes down to one thing: business resiliency.

​

​