Flattening the Curve with Effective Leadership

In times of crisis, leaders tend to emerge and carve a new path for others to follow. This is perhaps what Ralph Waldo Emerson was thinking when he wrote, “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Throughout history, we have seen strong men and women emerge to navigate communities and countries through rough seas, from Mahatma Ghandi to Nelson Mandela, Ida B Wells and Martin Luther King Junior. Currently, we have had to take bold courses of action, develop unique product solutions and marketing campaigns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, during these past four months I have been inspired by the heroic, altruistic manner in which colleagues from across our organisation have been the ones to innovate, share and support others in the Bank.

This is the time that we need to empower individuals to take that step forward and lead through innovation and education. Whether it is by creating software that shares data more effectively or training sessions to teach much-needed skills – gaps will emerge, now that face-to-face inhouse teamwork is less frequent. Similarly, those at the upper echelons of the organisation should communicate with stakeholders, including staff, customers and suppliers. Many team members can feel isolated and fearful of the future. It is therefore important that the path going forward be communicated with the team in an inclusive, systemic, progressive manner.

The harsh realities of the Coronavirus pandemic have allowed cracks to emerge in our socio-economic edifice, but it also presents opportunity for change. There have been demands on our telecommunication network, healthcare, education system, social services and food-production systems. We have seen waves of global protests with communities demanding social equality, like Black Lives Matter, to those who have immediate needs having lost their jobs during the closure of businesses.

In turn, companies like Disney, National Geographic and Amazon have respond by ramping-up platforms for discourse, creating special diversity-centric committees and reviewing policies and procedures. And here is where there is a fundamental need to ensure each niche audience is given the opportunity to access information and share varying views; for instance millennials may find themselves more comfortable with communicating through a variety of devices and platforms from Instagram, Whats App, Facebook, Twitter, Tik-Tok, whereas senior citizens my use more traditional media to get information, radio, TV, print. Regardless, you need to ensure that your strategies are inclusive and offer opportunities for diverse groups to gain access and share information with all tiers of the organisation.

You may find these three key strategies to embrace diversity and encourage leadership helpful:
1. Encourage Intrapreneurship
Encourage disruption and dislodging cultural norms that are integral to advancing collaboration and acceptance. There’s always a need to add to the current cultural narrative of any organisation reflect changing norms and to ensure progress.

2. Broaden your Networks
Advance new platforms and channels of communication whether through more frequent virtual town hall meetings with the CEO or President of the company, or media platforms– management and development of new avenues to reach a variety of audiences will work to your benefit. Ensure however, that your content is timely, fresh, appropriate and innovative or you may do more damage than good.

3. Defy Discrimination
Encourage team members to stand up for the rights of all. We have fought hard, standing up for the rights of our workers, regardless of gender or ethnicity; underscore unity, labour laws and the rights of the individual in your communication, policies and programmes.

As we move towards a new phase of re-opening our economy, share with us some ways you have embraced change and innovation in your workplace.