Leadership Will Never Be The Same Post-Covid

Organizations need to focus on three pillars of specific skills and capabilities

As the coronavirus crisis continues to impact global organizations and digital adoption and transformation accelerate, leaders across the globe have found that the requirements of their position have rapidly shifted. A widening gap between those leaders equipped for these new realities and those who are not has emerged, especially among midlevel managers and leaders.  

Despite these challenges, many organizations have found ways to thrive. Some had the sheer luck of being in a market that rapidly expanded, while others displayed a unique type of leadership that enabled the agility to pivot, despite not having the same favorable conditions. To understand how these companies adapted, we wanted to explore what leadership factors were making a difference so their organizations could thrive.

Our report, which surveys 47 senior talent and learning leaders across North America, Europe, APAC, India, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand, found that requirements for leaders in all industries have rapidly shifted, resulting in a widening gap between those leaders equipped for these new realities and those who are not. As such, leaders need to think differently about both business strategy and managing people to navigate the next phase of Covid-19 and successfully build for the future. 

We began by asking about how Covid-19 had impacted each organization. For example, two firms we interviewed saw drops in revenue of over 80%, while others who did not see immediate revenue drops expected to see declines in the months ahead as fallout from the pandemic continued. 

However, several organizations were able to offset losses with gains, making strategic pivots quickly to capitalize on new growth opportunities in current or adjacent markets. These pivots often leveraged digital solutions that enabled either a new way of doing what they already do (e.g., servicing customers digitally instead of through a field service organization), or even creating a new business model or market opportunity through digital. 

Beyond this, remote collaboration capabilities became the lifeblood for many industries as lockdowns were put in place and employees were encouraged to stay home. With that, many companies had to reinvent their businesses on the fly, learning that they were able to make the transition to a digitally enabled, remote workforce much faster than they thought. For example, a telecommunications company took its technicians out of the field and had them service clients through a newly integrated virtual technology.  

Similarly, employees quickly adapted to working from home, reporting that they were able to be more productive, and overall, were happy with the experience. As such, remote work is now seen as a viable solution for the future, with added benefits like reducing an organization’s carbon footprint, changing its real estate requirements, and opening up access to a bigger and wider talent pool. Many organizations have already taken the step to have remote work become permanent, as they have cut business travel completely and shifted how work gets done and how decisions are made. 

With many of these changes becoming permanent, what does this mean for leadership? 

The most successful organizations that handled the transition well doubled down on employee well-being, so employees will expect this same kind of care moving forward. Leaders are having honest and more frequent conversations with their teams, and employees will expect these personal conversations and regular check-ins to continue. 

Next, leaders will become nimbler and will be able to better adapt to increased pressures and responsibilities. Transformation will become the norm, especially in global firms, as they have the added complexity of ensuring a good balance between global requirements and local needs. At the same time, the dispersal of the workforce has meant decision making has shifted to a streamlined and more decentralized approach that empowers leaders at all levels. Leaders now need to pursue a set of conflicting priorities, creating a difficult tension to balance. Successful leaders will be those who are able to see this tension as an asset rather than seeing it as a sign of something broken. 

Last, more purposeful, committed cultures are on the rise, causing leaders to step into a role they might not be fully comfortable with, as company cultures become more purposeful. Instead of employees becoming disengaged during lockdown, people have seen their missions and purpose reinvigorated. Employees have stepped up to find solutions to help their organizations overcome the challenges and thrive and work has become more personal as internal boundaries and silos have been broken down. Organizations have been embraced as communities, therefore demanding a leader who can build trust and deeper connections. 

To help close the leadership gap and help leaders move forward post-pandemic, organizations need to focus on three pillars of specific skills and capabilities: leading through uncertainty, cultivating trust and reskilling for the opportunity. 

The first pillar is the “sense-making” pillar, because it is as much about being able to make sense of what is happening around them as it is about guiding others through it. To help leaders deal with post-covid uncertainty, L&D teams must develop leaders who aren’t bothered by ambiguity, who can process new information and rapidly adapt when the dynamics are changing, and who are able to make decisions in a world of unknowns. Further, leaders must take on a growth mindset, conditioning themselves to question the mental models they’ve been working under, and removing any aspects of those models that are no longer relevant. Underlying all of this is the need to let go of any expectation of certainty. Leaders need to become more comfortable with the idea that they’re not always going to have clear answers to provide and that they won’t always be able to project certainty. 

The second pillar can be thought of as the “connecting” or “engaging” pillar. During times of disruption and uncertainty, it is important for leaders to create the emotional and relational foundation needed to connect with and engage with employees. This starts by creating a climate of purpose and belonging—providing a “north star” that connects their work to the larger purpose of the organization and the social good, while providing the autonomy and empowerment to move the team toward that purpose. Additionally, leaders need to value differences. Employees want more than to have their differences “tolerated” by the organization—they want the organization to leverage their uniqueness to make the organization better. By connecting to purpose and valuing differences, leaders can cultivate trust and demonstrate empathy and authenticity. 

The third pillar is the “business-building” pillar, because it focuses on propelling the business into the future. Organizations need to pivot quicker, so leaders need to be forward-thinking about the business and talent. To make that happen, leaders should focus on building an environment where teams naturally engage in the innovation process continuously. Here, they create a culture of psychological safety, curiosity, and experimentation that allows innovation to become an organic, ongoing part of the environment. Additionally, many of the changes we are seeing with the pandemic are either driven by—or heavily dependent on—technology, data, and analytics. It will be essential for leaders to become conversant in key digital trends, and advance the use of technology and analytics to improve the business or create new business models.

Threaded through all of these are the requirements of leading virtually. Leaders today need to manage performance in new ways, such as shifting from tracking hours to assessing outcomes. They also need to lead collaborative, virtual work by helping employees build discipline and structure around new ways of working. Leading virtually is not a skill all leaders have, but it can be built alongside these pivotal capabilities. 

Despite the challenges of Covid-19, the crisis has opened up many exciting opportunities around accelerating digital transformation, serving new customers and markets, making organizations more purpose-driven, implementing new models for working, and reimagining the workplace. We believe this moment will force organizations to think differently about their leadership development strategy – which capabilities are most important to thrive, and what’s the best way for leaders to develop these capabilities. Overall, L&D will play a key role in helping their organizations close this leadership capability gap.