A new beginning, not a new normal

The leaders that will best emerge from this experience are those who fully understand what just happened. This is not about going back to the way we were. We have all experienced a global megaevent life and work interruption – and now what?! Leaders need to step back and press the reset button on how their business model functions and how to serve customer needs now. Forget how things worked before, and previous models of success and what the customer previously prioritised.

What just happened, what matters now and what are you going to do about it?

– Customers stayed at home and this rapidly accelerated the trajectory to participating in the online marketplace. A business which had not yet shifted to online platforms were immediately exposed and will stay exposed.

Leadership Lesson to learn;

Rapidly pivot your business and investment for the online marketplace. Adjust your products, services and delivery platforms accordingly. Up-skill and re-orient your employee skillsets accordingly.

– Businesses realised they are overly reliant on traditional employee presentee-ism model and customer presentee-ism in real life (IRL).

Leadership Lesson to learn;

Keep and improve remote working employee models, backed up with better motivation and engagement strategies which emerged as a major area of weakness despite the previous trend towards virtual working. If your business relies only on customer IRL presentee-ism, it is time to build an alternative model and be ready to shift from IRL to fully online within a few days without too much disruption. Perhaps in-real-life (‘IRL’) represents a whole new industry opportunity now; it brings more risk and is seen as more ‘special’ now. Should restaurants and retail stores realise they are in the IRL entertainment and experience business. Perhaps Selfridges in London should charge an entry fee?

– Non-resilient people disengaged first. Resilient people stepped up – regardless of title or position in the hierarchy

Leadership Lesson to learn;

Immediately incorporate ‘resilience’ as a core competency in recruitment and promotion criteria – particularly for managers and leaders. Notice who was resilient in your organisation – perhaps it was those with prior experience of crisis, of working in emerging markets; perhaps it was women or minority groups who have had to cultivate resilience from the beginning of their career; perhaps it was older people who have more experience of big life and work events.

– Customers went on a profound re-evaluation journey – triggered by near-death experience of themselves and death/near-death of loved ones – and are recalibrating what matters to them. For example, they zoned in on essential items which exposed everything else as premium brands and non-important activities.

Leadership Lesson to learn;

What does the customer journey mean for your business in the new normal? Understand what really matters to your customers now and why. Customers will continue to question what they really need now. Recalibrate your products and services accordingly.

– All of us have been irreversibly reshaped by this experience – no one is untouched by the experience. New truths came into being, now seared forever into our consciousness e.g. Home as a refuge.

Leadership Lesson to learn;

Entrepreneurial companies and new product and services opportunities can emerge – e.g. for ‘stay at home’ cocooners, for ‘home as refuge’, for ‘safe transport’, for ‘remote worker engagement’, ‘home entertainment’, ‘return to family values and connectedness’. Are these entirely new businesses or could your business incorporate such new products and services? It seems to me that ‘Home’ and ‘Health’ are leading categories now – with ‘Happiness’ as the closest third priority category of customer need.

– Employers moved into a more prominent role of key monitors/providers of healthcare of employees e.g. taking care of employee well-being and mental health became a central employer issue.

Leadership Lesson to learn;

‘Health & safety’ for employers will take on new meaning – e.g. temperature checking machines at the entry of workplace, employee assistance programs, other employee support/care packages. These also represent opportunities for entrepreneurs and new products and services.

– No one was ready. The pandemic exposed major area of weaknesses in business and government risk management, scenario-planning, readiness, contingency plans.

Leadership Lesson to learn;

In the short term, you need to be reassuring and rebuild confidence. You also need to consider what people and plans you need to put in place to be better ready for the next big mega-event. Uncertainty is the new certainty.