What if this is an opportunity to think differently?
How quickly our world has shifted in just a few weeks. The speed of change created by the worldwide pandemic of COVID 19 is unprecedented in peace time. This week as the economic impact of the virus starts to hit home, Murray Cook and I have been discussing what this means for business as they lean into these economic realities with a social responsibility.
The pressure on leaders of business is enormous right now. The disruption we are experiencing is presenting a real opportunity for leaders to do work from the balcony and we have been inspired by some of the examples we have seen. From FTSE 100 companies to small businesses, there are leaders out there imagining a future.
Take the UK supermarket chain Morrisons PLC. The CEO David Potts has described how the company has paid attention to its core purpose. He explained; “we currently believe the biggest contribution we can make in in the country is playing our part in the feeding the nation.” You can see how this has guided their actions. Morrisons took the decision to make an immediate payment to all their small suppliers and to redefine their definition of a small supplier, adding an additional 1000 suppliers into the small supplier category. Keeping the supply chain healthy is key to enabling their purpose. Having observed a dramatic shift in consumer behaviour, they are now turning to new ways for customers to order food parcels and collaborating in new ways to expand their access and distribution capacity.
Wessex Internet, a local internet provided to homes and businesses in Dorset, South Wiltshire, South Somerset and parts of Hampshire has written to customers to say in order to support people who maybe working at home and using internet -based home entertainment more as they isolate, the company has doubled customer data limits free of charge for the next two weeks. Inspiring customer loyalty.
Small businesses are playing their part too. Michael Finnigan owner of i2i a leadership development company is broadcasting a daily tip to help people stay motivated in adversity. Stella Sansom, owner of Neon Warrior Fitness has seen her business model shift as she puts classes on line because people are avoiding the gyms. Stella said “exercise is so important to people’s mental wellbeing that it is an important to find a way to keep active despite the restrictions we are facing.” Creating a space for people to chat as well as exercise on line, is a vital life line to Stella’s clients. Simon Heath, artist, animator, facilitator, is releasing a daily doodling tutorial on twitter. So many people are feeding back how enriching it is to them to do something positive and engage the creative brain. All these businesses big and small have re-imagined their purpose in the face of the crisis.
Leaders can do important balcony work now. Look for new patterns, think about what it means to business not just in the crisis but beyond it too.
Three questions from the Vickers strategy model can help.
Vickers was the Minister of Coal in Churchill’s war ministry and was interested in what makes a good decision. His model asks us to think about situational context, what our values are and what our capability is.
He asks “where” the decisions are being made “what is going on?”
“How does the decision fit in with our values”, sometimes this gets missed as we struggle with targets, KPIs or shareholder value
“What can we do?”, given the context and our values what do we have the capability to do?
In the examples quoted above it is not so much the quality of the decisions as the future can’t be second guessed but the authenticity and quality of the judgements.
Anne McCarthy is an experienced leader of change and transformation, supporting business with their people strategy. (+44) 7801 091538.
Murray Cook is experienced at delivering change in complex situations and developing creative solutions to strategic challenges. (+44) 7547 504277.
As the current situation evolves, we will be blogging regularly and if there is a particular topic you think would be of value for us to discuss get in touch and let us know.
