It is a leadership issue

Many, many years ago, in a land far, far away, before the pandemic happened.... After more than 15 months of delivering talks, training, and conducting webinars from home, this is how I feel.

During my pre-COVID days and in my in-person training and speaking engagements, I informed seminar participants about the seven disruptors of modern-day living that necessitate leadership agility amid a volatile environment. These are:

·      Time

·      Uncertainty

·      Complexity

·      Technology

·      Competition

·      Globalization

·      Black swan events

Changes and disruptions were already happening even before the pandemic. The crisis accelerated the changes and added a list of new ones. In the pre-COVID days, companies’ traditional management view was that its function is focused on reducing risk and complexity. Through the processes, systems and operations, and under an atmosphere of predictability, the organization can reduce drag, increase efficiency and scale. But within a few decades alone, the business world experienced seismic shifts of demand crises – remember the aftermath of 9-11. Supply and financial crises – remember the upsurge in oil prices and the subprime mortgage debacle in 2007-2009.

The pandemic has seemingly collected all these crises and put them together in one package for the whole world to experience at an unprecedented scale. While management’s role and function are essential, the emerging situation requires more leadership to deal with change and transformation.

Consider hybrid. This term became popular as it referred to cars that are powered by batteries and gas. Today, leaders will have to experiment and determine the direction for future work and commerce carefully. HR people are now instituting a blended model of people working at home and in the physical offices. Many employees dread that they will have to go back to their offices, especially those who now know they can work from home. Others understand that their job entails work in their physical spaces, and they deal with the daily fear of getting infected despite the precautions and health protocols companies provide. The “hybrid” issues are not just management, but also leadership issues.

Consider phygital. So many rookies in the online game of commerce, from banking to payments to physically buying groceries from traditional markets and malls, leave us wondering how this will play out and what marketing and logistical strategies are needed to support the emerging trend. Senior citizens, who used to be the most resistant to anything digital, now enjoy online shopping and have fun doing Tiktok – emboldened by vaccinations, they are now making travel plans.

Consider agility. What many businesses have discovered (forced by necessity) is the concept of smart work. From traditional hierarchical silo-driven managerial structures, many have discovered that smart is possible. Technology is available, and the benefits are undeniable.

People improvise with the limited resources they have. Ideas fly faster because of the urgency to get things done and the need to experiment with new methods of doing things. Managers realize that there is no instruction manual and cannot replicate solutions from other companies or apply previous models. Hence, command and control have to give away to agile leadership and flexible planning. This is no longer a management issue, but a leadership issue.

Consider competition. Leaders understand the need for collaboration with other parties, even those perceived as “competitors” in the same industry. Even in speaking and training, I am in partnership with many companies. My company, led by my daughter-boss Rachel and her team, has built systems with partners. The individual parts function as a single entity to provide high-value-added services to final customers in a more or less continual way. Trust is the fuel that empowers such collaboration. This is a leadership move.

Consider post-COVID recovery. The current business situation is akin to a startup. Leaders will have to be humble. Today there is very little appreciation for individualism. Leaders will have to rethink the learning process, emphasize relationship dynamics, carve out their value proposition daily, and engage in continuous improvement. They will have to take on the task to lead their people, inspire them, guide them through the business recovery post-pandemic.

More and more business entities are now claiming that as technology continues to drive the trajectory of change, there is a need to train people and infuse in them their passion, creativity, curiosity, entrepreneurship, and even technology. A mix of hard and soft skills. Obviously, this is a validation of what I have been claiming all along that today: “Soft is hard and hard is soft.” Yes. It is a leadership issue!

(Francis Kong’s highly acclaimed Level Up Leadership Master Class online will be held from Aug. 25 to 27. Develop your leadership skills that translate into personal, career, and business growth. For inquiries and reservations, contact April at +63928-559-1798 or and for more information, visit www.levelupleadership.ph)