How the crown crisis can have a positive impact on tomorrow’s leadership



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The VUCADD abbreviation for the world of economics means “volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, diverse, dynamic“: The VUCADD world has been a topic of discussion in business and scientific circles. We would increasingly live in a volatile, uncertain, ambiguous, dynamic and diverse world, he said. It’s almost an understatement now.

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From one day to the next, the crisis in the crown catapulted us into the eye of Hurricane VUCADD: “Suddenly, it is about” Expecting the unexpected “, and that as a predetermined scenario for our lives in general. It is no longer necessary to theorize, The practice has long since caught up with us, “said Kathrin Köster, a faculty member at the WU Executive Academy, and Helga Pattart-Drexler, the Head of Executive Education at the WU Executive Academy. The two transformation experts discussed the opportunities offered by the crisis for tomorrow’s leadership and the positive effects that will result for both managers and companies.

How do we get out of the stiffness of the crown shock?

Kathrin Köster. (c) WU Executive Academy

The Covid19 virus has led to drastic measures: people stay home and work in the home office as much as possible, the economy is down. No one knows how long the condition will last. “The question is: how do we get out of this state of shock?” Says Köster: “Now we can use the crisis, together and individually, to create a better new normal for all of us,” says Pattart-Drexler. . Both expect a “collective leap in consciousness.”

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Heraclitus was right, there has always been a change in the sense of “Panta rhei”: “But what we are experiencing is a huge acceleration: transformation at the speed of light.” The only thing is that the change in this force affects everyone equally: “We all experience the same thing in areas where we previously had completely different experiences,” says Helga Pattart-Drexler.

Post-Crown: Seven Positive Leadership Effects for the Future

According to the two transformation experts, the crown crisis is giving mega-trends in the new world of work an unprecedented strong boost, with enormous potential for companies and managers alike. This is shown in the following 14 positive leadership effects of the crown crisis, which Köster and Pattart-Drexler summarized in their analysis.

  1. The brave are making visible progress
Helga Pattart-Drexler. (c) WU Executive Academy

The crisis itself is like a giant magnifying glass, says Köster. Behaviors that were previously considered normal are now carefully examined. Therefore, brave leaders ask themselves if strength means making decisions on your own and if that is expected of others, or if it is not more effective to obtain multiple perspectives from others. Many new management approaches are becoming popular, says Köster: “‘New Pay’, for example, focuses more on the emotional needs of newly discovered employees, along the lines of ‘Help you build personal resilience instead of money ‘. Or the 80-20 rule: the independent division of working hours into’ core projects’ (20%) versus’ mandatory projects’ (80%). “

  1. Uncertainty means new freedom

No one currently knows what will be tomorrow. In a very short time, entire companies had to change their way of working to remote work and digital and virtual communication. The change to new things always creates uncertainty. But the understanding must be that there is a positive downside to the coin. “At the same time, uncertainty always means new freedom: freedom for creativity, new ideas and new forms of cooperation,” says Helga Pattart-Drexler.

  1. Trust instead of control

According to a 2019 Deloitte study, 97 percent of companies had already offered their employees the home office. Which seems like a lot, however, it was closer to just 40% when looking at it closely. Physical presence in the office was dominant in 85 percent of companies. That should change after the Corona crisis. For years there have been repeated discussions with company managers on the issue of control versus trust, says Köster: “Now we have all received a prescribed trust deposit on a large scale, and it works.” The control “that we used to have in the industrial economic system Society is no longer necessary”, says Helga Pattart-Drexler. It is important not to fall back into old control patterns after the Corona crisis. “Now we need a reflected practice that show the benefits of the new way of working for everyone, no more theories, “said Köster.

  1. Be careful with each other

Social interaction between them would also change: “In a video call, people tend not to interrupt each other in order to focus. They get closer, they listen better than in a physical meeting. “Kathrin Köster also observes:” Forced resignation and social isolation allow people to develop a greater awareness of others. “The value of appreciation is also increasingly visible For example, recognizing people’s performance in so-called “systemically relevant” jobs.

  1. Count intangible assets

The crisis has fundamentally changed the behavior of consumers and purchases. “The house itself and the garden are more of a luxury theme. Suddenly, it matters a lot that colleagues ask you how you are doing. The really important things become visible: a tangible change in values, “says Kathrin Köster. And Helga Pattart-Drexler adds: “The crisis offers an opportunity to bring new values ​​to the surface. You can question things that were once more strongly tolerated: dividends distributed to shareholders despite short-term work? Let’s proactively discuss the We used to trust less and needed a lot of control. Sounds like a time of change, right?

  1. New way of dealing with failure

Almost all companies will experience a decrease in sales due to this crisis, some will not survive. “We should not see this as an individual failure, but rather show solidarity towards others and see it as an opportunity of how we, as a society, can learn from it,” says Helga Pattart-Drexler. This shows that our current economic system is not crisis-proof, says Kathrin Köster. It is important to move from fearlessness to experimental mode, says Köster. Learning and always trying new things, that allows new perspectives, says Helga Pattart-Drexler.

  1. Leading the internal team becomes essential

The new job begins with itself. “It is essential for managers in particular to recognize their own needs: physical, mental, emotional,” says Köster. This is where working with the internal team helps. In his book “United States of IT,” he personified the different parts: Here, for example, Mr. Mind (spirit) interacts with Buddy Body (body) and Conscious Me (the inner observer). “We have a lot in us. Constraining ourselves to the mind, as has been the case in business up until now, would be a pure waste of resources.” Recognizing internal diversity also makes it easier for managers to accept the difference between people and appreciate more than each other. individual makes team

Managers must reflect on their crown learning

The two experts advise managers to reflect precisely on these points in their own “Corona retrospectives with feeling and reason.” Teams around the world are going through their highlights and least important moments of the Closing Weeks, and together they learn to work with each other more flexibly and effectively. “What has gone well so far, what has not, what can we learn from it and do differently?” Are the questions that must now be asked.

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