When the situation is uncertain, human instinct and basic management training can cause leaders to delay action and downplay the threat until the situation becomes clearer. This fails the coronavirus leadership test.
Takeaways of Note:
4 lessons for leaders in a novel crisis:
1- Act with Urgency – means leaders jump into the fray without all the information they would dearly like (wasting time hoping for greater clarity is dangerous)
2- Communicate with transparency – provide honest, accurate description in ways people can understand; include a hopeful vision for people to direct energy; without hope, resolve is impossible.
3- Respond productively to missteps – must not revert to defensiveness or blame. Instead, stay focused on the goal & continue solving the next and most pressing problems.
4- Engage in constant updating – steadiness is required, (but) it is wrong to think that the work of the leader is to set a course & stick to it
Michaela J. Kerrissey, assistant professor of management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, Harvard Business School