Published in the New Orleans City Business on April 21, 2020. Read the original article here.
“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.” This famous, and perhaps overused, quote by Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzy is a great metaphor for transformational times in business.
The coronavirus is not going away soon. For many leaders, survival requires getting out of your comfort zone and leading in a way that defies the trusted ways of the past. The old normal is not the new normal. Regardless of what your company does, where you operate, or who your customers are, addressing the challenges and recognizing the uncertainty ahead, will assure you a greater chance of success when this unprecedented chaos wanes.
Abnormal times demand atypical leadership.
First, recognize your new reality. We do not have the vaccine to inoculate the hundreds of millions of Americans necessary to put out this fire, nor will we anytime soon. We may figure out better ways to treat it effectively, but the contagion will continue to spread without a vaccine. Social distancing and remote working are effective to “bend the curve,” but it also creates unique challenges. Some employees don’t have the ability to work from home. It’s time to rethink your old approach for the abnormal problems ahead of you.
Move past crisis mode and plan how you can deliver your products or services. “Be guided by your best thinking, not your worst fears.” This brilliant quote from Dr. Stephanie Moore at the Harvard School of Medicine informs us to rethink our future. Great leaders are scenario planning and making choices that allow their companies and employees to survive today and thrive tomorrow.