Leadership when the Chips are Down!

• The economic abyss that we are all in will eventually level off just like the 18 recessions and the 3 depressions that have come and gone in the last 100 years!! It will take some time though! As organizations face persistent uncertainty and the necessity to adapt to rapidly fluctuating fiscal and monetary situations, leaders are facing some truly exciting time to demonstrate their core abilities or the lack of it!!! Organizations that are used to regular home runs will also not be spared not to mention the big names which have already sunk in the dark choppy waters in 2008!.
  This ‘negative’ shift in paradigm will impact employees, customer loyalty, security, budgets and everyday organizational decisions. As strange as it may sound, it is far easier to find leaders who know how to cope with success rather than those who can cope with success AND failure alike and still triumph!! Knowing how to lead during these extended times of uncertainty can help organizations maintain their leadership advantage, weather the immediate storms, and emerge stronger in the process.
  
  Make ‘Caring’ People Decisions
  
  Downturns normally herald missed revenue, margin and productivity goals. As organizations review their performance and ability to perform given these circumstances, leaders are often tempted to scale down or eliminate employees and employee development initiatives.
  While this may be necessary (not that I absolutely subscribe to them outside of sheer practicality), utmost care must be taken to communicate and implement the decision in a way that will still reinforce the organization’s commitment to its workforce. If done poorly, it may seem like a “panic attack” to the workforce and create a self-reinforcing cycle that loosens the bonds of loyalty across the business.
  Poor or un-weighed decisions at this stage can very adversely impact immediate priorities and have larger long term ramifications that the immediate gratifications that these actions were intended to serve not to mention the dent to the organization’s credo that these actions often deliver.
  It is crucial to bear in mind that these dark clouds will ultimately go away – the way in which the organizations and its leaders have dealt with this period will largely determine how strongly the organization shines when the sun comes out!!!
  
  Lead Well in Tough Times
  
  As I have repeatedly said, leadership is about rallying people behind shared vision, mission, and goals through awareness, collaboration, accountability and empowerment. It is about connecting human action with specific objectives and aligning people and groups to work together toward those ends.
  In the midst of circumstances that spell fear, uncertainty and doubt leaders are responsible to ensure calmness while providing clear guidance and directions to the teams that they lead. They are responsible for keeping the team focused on its immediate short-medium, term objectives while making them aware of the changing circumstances which might need them to re-evaluate the mode of attaining the goals that they seek and flag any associated risks.
  The leader’s ability to generate a collective feeling of existence and accomplishment within the team is crucial!
  
  Align Talent base to Business Strategy
  
  Organizations need to strengthen the link between its business strategy and its talent pools. The commander of the ship needs to consider: are short-term commitments vulnerable due to lack of talent to help achieve core strategies? Are the right people in the critical roles, how are they being retained?
  Leaders need to focus their teams to address the short-mid term exigencies. The status quo questioned, reviewed while a new set of behaviors need to be cultured, monitored, and reinforced. All of this is best done through collaboration rather than a autocratic mandate. Collaboration drives broader buy-in, larger ownership and better execution
  The resurrection might call for attainment of multiple targets. This will demand a sense of balance. People will need to be explained the ‘Why’ and encouraged to find ways to determine how their goals can be connected without the need for a binary choice. Most leader5s and teams struggle with this balance. While there is no perfect solution, but the desire to question status quo, adopting a change in how things are while aiming for the best possible solution for the current situation sounds pretty darn good to me!
  If a restructure or a reduction in force is absolutely needed, set progressive expectations and ensure that the remaining workforce is re-engaged. Cutbacks create a sense of helplessness in the organization. Leaders need to acknowledge the associated pain and frustration and ask teams what they believe are the top priorities at this time. Effective leaders will always take steps to ensure that the newly created groups become effective teams in the new setting and do not just consider themselves as “survivors.”
  
  Treat your Employees and Customers right
  
  Know your people very well! Tough times (as goes the adage) bring out the best in many people. High-potential staffers and teams may be ready to step up sooner than expected. This is a time to help people learn from experience, to let the capable ones soar! This is the time to share the best practices that demonstrate the depth of the talent already on board!
  Ensure that top performers are retained at all cost. Besides providing the results, they are also capable of setting and driving the right attitude, mood and tone across the whole organization. Get closer to these people and show your ‘love and support’ for what they are doing.
  Take customer loyalty very seriously! Don’t just respond to customer expectations; find out proactive ways to anticipate what the customer wants as the environment, industry and markets change. Make these changes faster than anyone else. Accelerate the implementation by leveraging technology. Reinvent the depth and breadth of relationship with top customers before your competitor does it!
  
  Overdo the Communication bit
  
  There is a reason why we have two ears and one mouth. Spend twice the time listening rather than talking. By the way do not do both at the same time! These times require leaders to listen to their teams and provide them the right guidance, advice, directions or inspiration. Leaders need to use every tool in the bag to accomplish this.
  Communicate business challenges, the gaps and the associated risks with absolute candor. It is crucial to communicate even when there is nothing to communicate. This helps employees realize that communication channels have stayed open.
  Create timely forums to host collaborative discussions regarding the organization your company wants to be in say three years from now and what needs to be done right now to attain that. An exercise of this nature helps disperse hope, a sense of belonging and a shared future within the employees. Use these forums to share demonstrated best practices regarding employee collaboration, customer satisfaction, employee driven initiatives, skills development, workplace and work force efficiencies etc.
  State the key takeaways, the individual accountabilities and the follow up actions. Rally support for the initiative. Ask people what assistance they need to deliver what is expected of them.
  
  Set a GPS for the Future
  
  An organization becomes what its people and the leaders guide it to be. When there is proper alignment between the business strategy that the organization wants to drive and the internal or outsourced
  Talent that it has access to, when the organization and its leaders relate well to employees and customers and when the leader practices honest, clear and open communication, the organizations can take on uncertain circumstances, weather the macro economic storms and consequently create a brighter and fundamentally stronger future as the dust begins to settle!t.