There is tremendous uncertainty about today and tomorrow, questions about today and tomorrow lead to more uncertainty as the answers result in more confusion and more ambiguity. Economists and scientists are at ‘headlock’ to determine how the current world crisis will ‘pan’ out. It is difficult to respond to ethical questions such as ‘do we save people, or the economy?’ and ‘is it possible to do both?’.  Apart from reputable information, we are also bombarded with a great deal of so-called ‘expert advice’ and ‘fake news’, which only exacerbates this uncertainty.  What we do know is that we are emerging and that we are being shaped to adapt as our surroundings change. 

It might be seen as pointless to search for the correct answers as the relationship between cause & effect is seen only as turbulence blurring the vision of business leaders, thus preventing them to discern if manageable patterns exist. In the midst of chaos, it is conventionally expected from the leader not to discover patterns but to stanch the bleeding. 

The challenges for business leaders today, in the midst of a crisis, are to firstly establish order, get a sense of where stability is present and where it is absent. With a sense of stability in the organisation the business leader and his team should work together to transform the chaos situation into clarity, where emerging patterns must be identified in order to mitigate future crises, but most importantly, to differentiate and realise new opportunities. 

Chaotic circumstances are nearly always the best place for leaders to impel innovation. It is here where people are more open to innovation and directive leadership. Manage chaos and innovation in parallel: When a crisis emerges, engage with a dependable person or team to resolve the issue, and simultaneously, task a detached team and focus its members on the opportunities of doing things differently. Don’t wait until the chaos is over as the opportunity will soon be gone, and possibly detrimental to your business.

Change leadership necessitates an openness to change at an individual level as a leader will not be able to assist and repair something with the same mindset as when the problem was created. It might be time to get rid of all the old leadership paradigms, stop holding onto the past, let go of the things that prevent you from becoming a leader of a learning community. Truly skillful leaders will know how to recognise the context at any given time and they are able to change their behaviour and their decisions to match that context. 

In the complex and dynamic business world, leaders are most likely called upon to act against their instincts. Leaders have to distinguish between when to share power and when to wield it alone, when to seek wisdom of the team and when to follow their own counsel. In a time of increasing uncertainty, a deep comprehension of context, the capacity to embrace intricacies and paradox, and a willingness to a flexibly change-leadership style is essential for leaders who want to make things happen.

COVID-19 changed the orthodox context of business. Leaders stuck in the old traditional way of business are now forced to change their businesses. There is a limitation on physical interaction, affecting issues such as meetings, interviews and classroom training amongst many other interventions. A clear understanding of this new context (Business Landscape), compels leadership to embrace intricacies and inconsistencies. 

Companies must explore their fitness to remain viable during the COVID-19 pandemic; assess their capability to remain relevant & accessible to their clients' requirements as well as the extent to which they are able to adapt their offering in order to meet their clients' demands. Furthermore, it must address how employees are best supported to adapt to a changing landscape in the workplace and the extent to which companies can continue their operations in a sustainable and profitable way.

It is so ingrained into who we are as a company; our team decided that we should build a free offering to any company that finds themselves in the same position. If you are a business leader and relate to this, you are welcome to click on the link to our COVID-19 Business Agility landing page to complete a company-wide survey, where you will get a free report that will assist you to analyse your current readiness to deal with this changing landscape. The results will provide clarity on how to make strategic decisions, not only to survive the storm but to come out thriving. On this page you can send a survey link to your whole team where they can complete the survey. I urge you not to allow this pandemic to determine your organisation’s future.

Written by Hugo Botha