Leading Through a Pandemic
By Fred Argir, Chairman/CEO, The Argir Group & Former CDO/CIO, Maurices
With the sudden change in business conditions, companies were forced to go into a survival mentality. Projects were put on hold, investments to connect with the digital consumer were paramount and the budgets were scrutinized, thus, expense reductions became daily discussions. Offices closed, remote infrastructure was tested and enhanced, and remote workforces became the new paradigm.
The digital consumer represented the only source of revenue. Brick and mortar retail became a heavy burden on the P&L, with supply chain challenges limiting the depth of assortment. Many companies leaned into their core business and operations were reduced as a reaction to reduced revenue.
There was a dichotomy in leadership: those who said, “ok, let’s find a new way to win” and those who went fetal. Wartime generals focused on the challenges, while others couldn’t find a new path to success. Innovation was required and many in the management ladder had to find a new way to do business. All options needed to be discussed and the thought of failure couldn’t be allowed to serve as a roadblock to change.
The future will certainly provide challenges. With the consumer leaning further into digital, security will continue to be a challenge; AI and advanced analytics will now be necessary assets and levers in companies and the supply chain will be further pressured, given product flows.
Did the pandemic bring to light the concept of hyper-innovation? The actions to survive market change forced us to think differently, to prove that business can change quickly, and the forces called “team” required the company to hire differently.
Remote users used to be thought of as too far from the cohesive team. We suddenly needed a process to innovate and execute all deliverables over an internet line overnight. The two-minute hallway discussions went away and reading the audience of a presentation was now limited to head and eye movement. Even though we became intimate with peers’ homes and dog sounds, the process of leading change. For the leaders who say they can read the room, an adjustment was required. The process of listening became a key initiative of leadership and the internet lines that separated us from the screen at the other end of the call became the conference rooms.
Complex projects with business partners, IT, SI’s and third-party vendors immediately required a new normal. Personal relationships were now two dimensional and lunch was an afterthought.
Team members were very sick, friends and families were impacted by the loss of others via the pandemic, and the fear of “what’s next” loomed over the combined team. Distractions were never this prevalent. The concept of “One Team” was the glue that linked the teams together. Breaking down “us and them” and “you and I” needed to be set aside with the focus on “us” to align objectives to meet the expectations of consumers and shareholders. Project Management Offices needed to modify team processes to ensure optimal communication and alignment. With potential illnesses impacting team members, backup team members needed to be identified early in projects with a new requirement to post meeting notes, project related documents and status reports.
In this new environment, leadership became critical, requiring leaders to change their leadership approach. The distance of the team discussions to the whiteboard in the conference room netted a new language that intensified listening, clarity and even compassion.
The new leadership paradigm adjusted priorities. I found that personal relationships were important, as team members often dealt with personal concerns – and that awareness led to managing each team member differently. Although some team members were not impacted, many were finding new contribution boundaries because of the focus on friends and family. Further, the need to get the signature skills and contributions from these team members became a science that had no manual.
The pandemic fueled an already active wave of technological innovation. Suddenly everything digital was top of mind and the projects to address legacy were put on hold. Budgets were reduced in alignment with a reduction in company revenue and team reductions were implemented.
The future will certainly provide challenges. With the consumer leaning further into digital, security will continue to be a challenge; AI and advanced analytics will now be necessary assets and levers in companies and the supply chain will be further pressured, given product flows.
Technology, now thought of as strategic, has never moved so fast. The intersection of business strategy, technical enablement and security serves as a framework for many major business decisions. Leadership serves as the consumer controls the governance and the levers. What used to be the creation of new ideas which resulted in custom solutions – all with the hope that consumers would embrace the solution is now the customer pulling business to their preferred shopping behaviors. This has resulted in a balance of the playing field for the digital customer. The boutique has become fashionable, and customers have said that individuality is important in purchasing. Therefore, small or large companies compete in an open market more equally than ever.
So what defines the new leader? Yes, it would be easy to say humility, curiosity, knowledge and communication. I would suggest “student.” The quest to understand the fast-moving technical platform with the alignment to what is attracting consumer actions. I would suggest ‘listener” as the magic happens with trusted advisors and not settling with a partial understanding of the risks and opportunities. The need to be clear in expectations across more contributors, in house or across the globe, is now a table stake to win.