Leadership in the time of a crisis - Part 1 of 2

As Leaders, managing change is the name of the game! But, 2020 has seen a level of disruption never seen before in at least my lifetime and many would say, not in over a century! Not many who survived the Spanish influenza are still alive to share first hand insights of what 1918 looked like anyways…

2020 – Global Depression is here (2008 was recession, 2020 is depression)

Early estimates from most rating agencies talk about a decline this year. Early estimates from some of the larger economies of the world like China for Q1 and USA, UK and Singapore forecasts for 2020 are all negative. And we all know estimates most often than not in an aggregate situation tend to follow the wave, upwards or downwards and in this case it is more likely downwards. 

What does this mean for us? We are indeed in a territory where no one really knows. And when there is so much uncertainty and countries, agencies and organisations are still figuring out how to ride this wave and come up with action plans, we have to focus on the “controllables” and communicate more than ever before! In my personal view, the world will soon refer things in a context of pre-COVID and post-COVID world. Almost like a pre WW1/WW2 and post WW1/WW2.

1.       Communicate, Communicate and Communicate

Don’t be shy of over-communicating. Do not under-estimate the common sense of people across levels in the organization. At the same time, do not expect them to know what you know as leaders. This is the time to talk to them, message them and show them!!! No single method works, but together all methods work. Personally, I have run a weekly live stream to all staff to update them on the week that passed by. I also do a Daily video catch up with my DRs to see people, talk to them and make them feel a part. Finally, I have met every single staff in the company, in groups of 10-15 to ensure they have a space and place to communicate and express themselves.

2.       Make yourself vulnerable

Leadership authenticity is key. Yes, people need to see you leading. But, that doesn’t mean you have all the answers. Quite the opposite frankly! Tell them what you know and more importantly tell them what you don’t and how we can engage them in the process of discovery.

3.       Small actions go a long way

We recently sent a box of sanitizers, masks and a couple of other related items with a personalized letter to each of our staff. It was received very positively by our employees, despite it being a very small token of appreciation to the hard work and difficulties they are going through.

4.       Women, Mental health and the silent sufferers!

Women across the world and in particular in emerging countries are donning multiple hats. Lockdown has meant even more hats to wear and this has created a certain level of stress. Recent studies have also shown an increase in domestic abuse in some countries. It is vital for us to provide means and ways to help those who are less vocal and may need newer ways of engagement. Beyond this group, there are many others who can do with that little help from a professional on how to handle the “new norm” or “Work-from-home” challenges better.
We have launched a programme with Naluri to provide mental health professional support to our staff through a digital platform. We also run activities with our partners – BookDoc to keep our staff more active by way of rewarding them for walking more and so on.

5.       Great time to fix your basics

It’s often an over-used term that is in practice under-used! There is no better time for us as an industry to review many of our processes, clear backlogs, challenge status quo and establish new norms as volumes are lower and people have more time to think and solve problems that were kept in the cold storage due to the pressures of day-to-day sales

6.       Technology works, it was always us!

When things demanded, technology worked. From softphones to new business submission and Agency/customer portals. The same people who complained about technology are using it more than ever before and we hear lesser complaints than ever before as well. It once again goes back to the same topic – change management and how can we drive faster adoption during normal times!

7.       The value of strong governance and a challenge system within

I remember sitting through those endless debates on what if a pandemic hits us, what if an equity and bond market crash happens and so on. Worst of all simulating what happens if all the three happens together and how would we look like as an organization. Many a times I enjoyed these stimulating conversations and sometimes wondered how theoretical they can also be at some level!!! Come 2020, no one is saying that was theoretical and most are thanking our stars for such strong risk management practices that permeates through robust organisations. I do believe that 2008 global financial crisis made organisations stronger and 2020 will make us even stronger

People – The secret sauce!

“A Leader is only as good as his team” - During good and bad times, there is only one secret sauce and that is people! People helped us become the fastest growing insurer in the country last year and the same people will find ways to tackle this new challenge. Bet on your talent. They are your best bet during good and bad times!!!  

These are just some of my preliminary thoughts. I welcome your feedback and thoughts to learn better.

In part 2, I will write about what I think are the top trends for 2020/2021 across the three dimensions of customer, distributor and employees!!

(Disclaimer: These are my personal observations and may not represent the views of the organisation I work for.)