Leaders are building new muscles to deal with the pandemic

The practice of certain core leadership skills that everyone knows are important (yet many struggle to implement) is suddenly becoming a daily habit. Leaders are building new muscles and seeing an immediate payoff in these three key areas.

Getting better at prioritizing, innovating, and leading with humanity.

As the pandemic has broadsided the global economy, one of its striking features — for executives, at least — is how each month of the crisis has had a distinct feel to it, based on how companies and their leaders were coping.

March was the month of reeling and reacting. What just happened? We’re shutting down the offices, and everybody who can work from home needs to do so. Can we do this? April was more about taking stock of the economic damage. We’re clearly in this for the long haul. We need to run our models, plan for grim scenarios, and take whatever drastic actions are needed to save the company.

And starting in May, across the many interviews I’ve been conducting with senior leaders, I’ve heard more optimism in their voices — a sense that their companies were settling into a new normal, and that for all the health and economic damage the pandemic has caused and all the uncertainty that remains, they were seeing positive developments in the cultures of their companies.

Continue reading…

The ExCo Group’s Adam Bryant wrote this article for his column in Strategy + Business. It was originally published here.

More from Our Art of Leading Series

ART OF LEADING

When I Hire Someone, I Empower Them Completely And Give Them 100% Support

With Janet Garcia

with Janet Garcia, CEO of PSI Services

ART OF LEADING

If You Give Someone An Opportunity To Step Up, You Have To Give Them Space To Learn

With David Fields

with David Fields, CEO of Navitus Health Solutions

ART OF LEADING

It’s Important For Me To Hear Everyone Out, Even If I Vehemently Disagree With Them

With Victor Riparbelli

with Victor Riparbelli, Co-founder and CEO of Synthesia

Subscribe to our Interview Series on LinkedIn

B Suite

Leading in the B-suite

Powerful conversations about life, race and leadership.

Leading in the B-suite

Go to LinkedIn

Strategic CHRO

Strategic CHRO

Conversations with leaders who are transforming the world of HR

Strategic CHRO

Go to LinkedIn

The Director’s Chair

The Director’s Chair

Conversations with leaders about changing board dynamics in an age of disruption

The Director’s Chair

Go to LinkedIn

AI Plus

AI + Leadership

Transformative conversations on the implications of AI in leadership

AI + Leadership

Go to LinkedIn

Art of Leading

Art of Leading

Powerful insights from top leaders

Art of Leading

Go to LinkedIn