With the coronavirus pandemic instilling fear among the masses and countries and businesses around the globe facing an economic slowdown, what becomes paramount to ensure organizational and communal strength in a time like this, is effective leadership.
Becoming an effective leader is a continuous process, for no one is a born leader. It requires a great deal of introspection, vision, a willingness to learn and an ability to transform potential into reality through sound execution. If you are in a leadership position, you want to have the right answers and take the right decisions, but these past few months have plunged most of us into situations that are devoid of clarity.
By the end of this article, you will acquire a better understanding of what it is that makes some leaders stand out even in the face of adversity, and how perhaps you too stand a chance of leading a top performing team in the post-pandemic world.
If you have noticed one thing during these trying times, it is that exemplary leadership stems from a place of empathy. Stick to your values and principles, stay committed to nurturing your team, develop a deeper understanding with them, strive for flexibility and take charge. View this pandemic as a challenge to evolve and set an example for others.
Competence & Credibility
In a crisis economy, people will look up to their leaders for guidance, which is why being competent is crucial for anyone in a leadership position. Your behaviour, skills and proactive efforts will be assessed before concluding whether you, as a leader, deserve the respect that your position demands. Be sure to instill confidence, provide your team with credible information and hope in these unsettling times. If you are unable to prove your credibility, then your team will lose trust in you for they won’t see a figure worthy of being guided by. You must step up and put in continuous efforts to prove yourself and earn their trust and respect.
This is how you can breeze through this pandemic:
• Make feedback a two-way street. Ask for feedback and try to introspect on how you can become better at leading your team. Nurture an environment in which your employees feel that they can share their views with you.
• Assign tasks and create exciting opportunities for your team to learn and grow whilst keeping their strengths in mind. Make sure they enjoy what they’re doing and aren’t becoming robotic.
• Sign up for online courses that will help you become a more competent leader. Pick up one of the many leadership bestsellers and start reading, because becoming a good leader is a process and cannot be achieved overnight.
• Demonstrate behaviour that you want to see in your team. Your attitude and actions are observed whether or not you know, so always be conscious that you’re being looked up to.
• Stay true to your word because people appreciate integrity and lose respect if promises aren’t kept
Prove Yourself Consistently
Competence and credibility are two wheels for success. Credibility comes in play on a consistent display of competence. One must bear in mind that credibility is not about talking and is never built overnight. It has to be proven over a period of time and displayed consistently. It’s only then that your word has value and as a business leader, your influence can grow.
Of late, I have been visiting old clients to seek their custom. Very few have refused us business. It is largely because they do not doubt our competence or the ability to deliver on our quality and promise. We are proud to have proven our credibility with our customers.
Another example is about our tie-up with an international giant in machineries. The Pai Kane Group is known for manufacturing top-class generators. But this customer came to us for manufacturing wheel loaders ten years ago. After years of consistent delivery and meeting exacting international standards, today our discussion is about manufacturing something that we have never ventured into before. I believe, we have won the confidence of a company that is used to best practices, by consistently proving our competence. Atul Pai Kane, Chairman, Pai Kane Group.
A leader is only as good as his team
There is a big difference in being a boss and being a leader. A competent leader knows his subject well; and takes the trouble to understand the nuances of his business, organisation or goal. With competence comes a sense of guiding and that is the road to true leadership.
Credibility is an aspect of leadership when you take the entire team along – in the right spirit – on a journey to discover the true potential of a business idea. Your team should have the confidence that you are going to not just build a business, but also ensure growth of the team and build future leadership. One has to earn credibility by example. As they say “It is not I, but we.” A leader is only as good as his team. Manoj Caculo, Chairman & Managing Director, Caculo Group
Care & Connect
Everyone is grappling with different personal circumstances right now in isolation. As a leader you must show your team that you care for them. Once you start caring, you will naturally be sensitized and delegate well. Do a virtual townhall where you can talk to your team about what is their driving force or what problems they may be facing with the current work from home situation.
Be empathetic and ask them how they are doing and how you can support them. People are more responsive to those who are genuinely interested in them. Build a rapport with them to find out their strengths and weaknesses and use that information to focus on their development. This will also encourage them to approach you without any hesitation and make you their go-to person.
Celebrate their little wins and don’t criticize them if they fail. Instead, give constructive feedback to help them stand on their feet again. Working remotely means you have to be more conscious and proactive while offering feedback. Keep it continuous so they know how they are faring. All of this will keep them motivated throughout the pandemic and help foster a healthy and positive work relationship
Employee engagement has to be continuous and regular
Contrary to popular perception, leadership is hardwork. Leaders who succeed work very hard to fine tune their leadership style; and I think in the new world – especially after Covid, leadership has become more difficult. We at Tangentia have tried hard as a leadership team to push the envelope on employee engagement and thought leadership. Especially with the new normal of remote work, employee engagement has to be continuous and regular and with our daily ‘Tangentia Talkies,’ we think that we might have found a good solution. As a company, we also decided to start a Business & Technology Quiz in 2017 in Goa, which in our 4th year in 2020 had more than 200 top teams from across India participate with prelims in 6 cities across India. Next year, it will be even bigger. We have realised that creating something, requires long term vision, passion, team engagement and agile incremental delivery. Vijay Thomas, Founder-CEO, Tangentia Technologies
Goodwill is a great asset
Care for the people around you is not just good for leadership – it is the essence of humanity. In these uncertain Covid-19 days, I felt the need to open our bakeries and coffee shops, although the move wasn’t commercially viable – in order to help my staff and villagers to earn some living, as the tourism business is totally shut down. One has to ask oneself the question as to what can I do for society. Try and understand the logic that when society thrives, it is bound to spread the benefits to everyone around. I personally have a strong belief that most people are good – and when you show your care and concern and do good to others, good comes back to you.
I have seen these from close quarters over the last few months, when we tried to meet the daily needs of some people. Their goodwill has been a great force multiplier.
Business is all about people and when you treat people with dignity and care, you are doing the finest thing in life. Ricardo de Souza, Partner, Tito’s Group
Confidence & Courage
It is important you recognize the current situation for what it is – a crisis that requires strong team effort and working together to draw a solution. But this can only be achieved if you have a self-assured, decisive, unfazed and a confident leader at the forefront. This is one quality that distinguishes good leaders from great leaders.
Exude confidence in the team and don’t doubt them. For instance, if an employee is working from home, trust that the work they’re given will be done. You don’t need to ask for an hour-on-hour report. It can be frustrating for the employee and they, in turn, will distrust you for being a micro-manager. Besides no one has ever liked being led by a spineless leader who crumbles down in demanding situations.
A leader must be able to trust, take risks, ask questions, clear doubts and be inventive and innovative in their approach. This will help your team gain the courage and confidence necessary to cope with the new normal
Surround yourself with high-calibre people
The exuding of confidence/courage and being confident/courageous, are not the same thing. Personally, the latter is a pre-requisite for the former’s efficacy.
I have always gained my confidence and courage at work and sometimes in other parts of life by surrounding myself with people smarter and more committed than me. The motivation and exhilaration through debate, feeding of energy, ideas and emotions gives me the ability to be confident in facing the ever changing syllabus that presents itself every day.
As a business leader, I find my confidence and the courage to hold fast comes from the teams and colleagues I have around me. Ambar Timblo, Managing Director, Fomento Resources
Confidence and courage is 50% of business success
Confidence and courage are an integral part of business leadership. One has to put all the planning and brainstorming behind making a business decision. But when you take up a stand, you have to be consistent in displaying your confidence in seeing it through. That is when you send the right signals to all your stakeholders – customers, staff, investors, society. I feel courage and confidence would account for 50% of business success.
When we started out, we had no funds to start business. Securing lakhs of rupees worth loans in a pre-liberalised economy was no laughing matter. The confidence of attaining success and the courage to overcome any obstacle, has seen our group grow from strength to strength.
When we were in talks to buy the property in Porvorim on which Delfino’s is built, we were pitted against some of Goa’s biggest business entities. We outbid everyone by purchasing the property way beyond its market value. While others looked at the land for its real estate potential, we saw the commercial potential of establishing a top-line retail supermarket there. I believe the courage behind the decision has worked in our favour. Prakash Pereira, Managing Director, Armacar Group
Commitment
A leader displays passion towards work in more ways than one. They take ownership of tasks in hand, do not crib and never think of taking shortcuts for they might not always be the best way out. No matter the struggle, they are passionate and know how to deal with adversity. They are known and highly respected for their executional abilities. Any job given to them is considered done in the first go. Be this resilient and persistent in your approach as a leader and don’t give up easily. Think of this difficult time as an opportunity to learn, grow and to emerge stronger in the post pandemic world.
No substitute for commitment and hard work
The quality of leadership largely determines the contours of success of any business enterprise. Especially in the current times, businesses and business leaders, the world over, are faced with unprecedented challenges that call for innovative thinking, risk-taking and action-oriented approach to sustain their business models.
The path to success is invariably full of challenges that test the mettle of business leaders. It is important for business leaders to be decisive and set clear goals; inspire, motivate and effectively communicate with all stakeholders; and, in general, lead from the front in pursuit of common goals.
Above all, I believe that commitment to the cherished institutional goals is the key ingredient to success. Whether in business or in any other facet of our lives, there is truly no substitute for commitment, dedication, and hard work that is driven by a sense of purpose. Pallavi Dempo, Director, Dempo Industries Pvt Ltd
Commitment works alongside with the Laws of Attraction
Commitment is often fraught with roadblocks or excuses to not keep it or break it by not completing a task. Words once spoken or written should be final. In Hindi/Urdu ‘Zubaan’ meaning unwritten word or spoken word, means a committment not to be broken.
In these Covid times, with constant lock-down, lock-off, it’s very difficult to keep ‘commitments’ to your clients or customers. The worst of which is if you have to pay your suppliers / vendors /manufacturer – by not receiving their calls, one can only aggravate the matter.
At age 21, I joined our family business of ‘Lawrence & Mayo’ Group at our branch office in Pune Camp. I learnt ‘commitment’ when I kept the company’s name and reputation intact and slept overnight at Dehu Road Station on the railway bench, past midnight after meeting a deadline.
Landmark Education, the world’s largest off-campus education in India, teaches you how to keep ‘commitments’ in a 3-day program.
Some people are prone to lies, delays, excuses and they have got used to being that way. Commitment and the Law of Attraction are parallels which work side by side. In business, you have to keep your promises, come what may.
To keep commitments is easy, don’t say or promise anything that you cannot do. Use Post-It notes, ‘To-Do’ lists, alarms on mobiles to make them happen. Finish the most difficult, unpleasant task right in beginning with high energy and determination to complete it. Dr Vivek Mendonsa, Group Director, Marketing, Lawrence & Mayo
Credit
We’ve all been witness to instances where a wrong person is credited for the work done or a leader basks in glory for something not done by them at all. That stings hard, doesn’t it?
A good leader on the contrary will never let that happen and keeps no bias in mind. They will never hog the limelight and know that recognition and appreciation go a long way in boosting an individual’s morale and commitment towards work. As a leader, keep track of your team, even if your entire workforce is now working remotely. If you see behaviour that needs to be rewarded, don’t wait.
Give your team the necessary recognition for the work accomplished. This also helps to raise the bar, motivate the team and encourages others to follow suit.
Build a culture of mutual respect
Sharing credit is all about showing appreciation. It’s a great feeling, when clients who use our post-production facilities, are generous in sharing credit with us. It is only natural for us to show the same courtesy to every member of our team.
I personally believe that it is about creating a culture in your organisation – the display of good values, courtesy and basic good manners are what augments the human capital of your business.
Once a culture of an organisation is established, it is easy for team members to follow the principles – and ensure that your corporate vision doesn’t suffer from any infirmities. In a creative business that I own, every person from top down is part of the process of the business – be it the creative aspect of film making, post production or something more organisational like administration. Leadership is very much about people management. Deepak Bandekar, Founder-CEO, Big Banner Entertainment & Media LLP
Every member of your team should feel a sense of ownership
I run a creative business where every aspect is about team work. Although the idea originates from one person, its actual value gets realised only when it is executed as per its vision. Transformation of that idea into reality is a process, where effective communication is vital. It is a point where you have to make the entire team a part of that idea. Over the years, we have built a solid reputation for having a team that can execute large scale, complicated, time-bound projects. The handling and transforming an idea into reality is a constant struggle – and this is possible only when every member of the team feels ownership about the idea and thereby his commitment to execution gets accentuated.
Everyone part of the job can perform to their best ability when they know that their place in the organisation is valued. That nobody will take from them the credit that is due to them. I am proud to say that people who have worked in our organisation have a certain reputation in the market for the sheer power of our team work. Sushant Tari, Managing Director, TPT Productions Pvt Ltd
Cool, Calm & Collected
Uncertain times increase feelings of anxiety and stress. As a leader, you have your own share of worries that keep you up at night. But what can differentiate you from the rest is a calm, collected and level-headed approach. When people fear uncertain times, they rely on you as a leader to project that sense of calmness amidst the mayhem.
What can you do?
• Never let the tension trickle down to the team.
• Work like a sponge and absorb as much stress as you can and then go down to getting the team to take the right amount of pressure to work responsibly and efficiently.
• Since taking any decision in the fit of a moment isn’t the best policy, rationalise everything before pronouncing any decision.
Instill Confidence. Do not show panic
Why in business alone, in every part of our life we need to be cool, calm and collected so that we can look at the issues at hand in a dispassionate way.
By being outside rather than inside the problem at hand, we can get a wider view of issues at stake to make an informed choice.
There are more than enough studies to demonstrate that you are more likely to take rash decisions when excited or angry than when you are calm and composed.
Our colleagues also look to us and they can observe the subtle clues that we emit to discern if we are in control. Being in control will give them a sense that we are confident and aware.
A leader needs to instill confidence in his colleagues rather than transfer his panic to them. Dean Menezes, Managing Director, CMM Pvt Ltd
The buck stops with you
At some level, leadership is a position of isolation. The buck stops with you. As a business leader, one has to assimilate into one’s subconscious mind that failure is part of the game called success. Panic often sets in when you are not ready for failure. As an entrepreneur, I have been reporting to my investors and a few times I have had the unpleasant task to report that a particular project that we have been working on has failed. So far as your processes are transparent and you have given it your all, nothing can shake you off. Your ability to own failures is essential to remain cool and composed in your business. And I have often witnessed that you can navigate a crisis if you can stay calm. Shekhar Sardessai, Managing Director, Kineco Group
Check
To be an effective leader in a crisis, it is important to keep everything under check. Ensure your team dynamics are in decent shape by laying down a well-organized plan of action, set achievable targets and work out deadlines so that assignments get done within a stipulated timeframe, without much handholding.
There also needs to be accountability, so even if there are too many departments involved, there is still a single decision-maker. If intervention is required, make it seamless and give constructive feedback so as to get the team back on track. If you think the results are not as expected, then look at the situation from a fresh perspective and reorient. Analyse what went wrong and where and try and synergise with the team. Give them a pep talk and get things going rather than dwelling on what went wrong
Managing People is Key
Managing people is the key. People then manage stores. We believe very strongly that if we believe in our associates and treat them well, they will in turn treat their work and their customers well. This is the key to what one sees as seamless and efficient workings across our stores. Our people are respected both internally and externally and that I think adds value to their work culture. I should say we are truly blessed to have them all working their elbows around our wheel of success!
Apart from real estate and rental costs, the biggest cost to our trade are carrying costs, or inventory holding costs. This means we need to control inventory and remain as lean and just-in-time as possible. In Goa, that is not possible since the supply chain is highly fractured and we are totally dependent on sourcing from outside the state.
This puts additional stress on us on inventory and supply chain logistics which is what we have learnt over a period of time. Frankly, we still have a long way to go in mastering this. Kirit Maganlal, Managing Director, Magsons Group
Prioritizing is important as your business grows
Keeping all aspects of your business in check is an utopian dream. Very often time demands which area you are going to focus on. You may wish to take control of every aspect of work, but then prioritizing is important as your business grows. Sometimes you have to hand over control of a particular aspect to someone else, knowing well that you could do the job better. But this is how you build teams and develop competencies in the junior rank and file.
Only experience and age allows you to take an overview of the entire business cycle.
During the on-going coronavirus crisis, the focus for us has shifted from production to sales and deliveries. You wouldn’t want inventory to lie idle. Also with a lesser work force, you have to get the optimum output from your factory. Also other functions of finance and receivables have taken precedence over aspects like business development.
The other big change is video conferencing. We developed a new product with the designers sitting at three different locations. This was unheard of before, but today is the new normal. Blaise Costabir, Managing Director, GMI Zarhak Moulders Pvt Ltd
