What do you need to do as a leader as we continue to grapple with COVID-19?
I’ve been a fan of Tom Peters since I cut my teeth on Total Quality Management (TQM) in the late 1980s. I liked his no-nonsense, no-excuses approach of challenging leaders to become better leaders, to pursue excellence, and to achieve great results. However, in more recent years, his intense focus has been on putting people first.
So, what has Tom been doing during this pandemic? He wrote and published his latest (and he swears, his last) book (Say it isn’t so, Tom!), Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism. https://tompeters.com/writing/
“Is it possible to savor a book and devour it at the same time? That’s what I’ve been doing with Tom Peters’ latest book. The format is sheer genius – infinitely accessible whether one has ten minutes or two hours. Organized by topics with inspirational quotes from numerous renowned leaders – in addition to Tom himself – and accompanied by practical “To Do” recommendations. Dive into the first topic that piques your fancy, and be prepared to be challenged, enlightened, and motivated to become your best self as a leader and one who brings followers along to unimagined excellence in workforce engagement, customer loyalty, and enviable business results.”
We rarely do book endorsements, so why now and why this book? Leadership that demonstrates unwavering attention to those “soft” skills will be even more important as all of us start to be thrown into these uncharted deep waters as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. The “new normal” isn’t mapped out yet. We will need to find our way since many previous assumptions and constructs were tossed out the window as we faced the pandemic. How many of you as leaders previously rejected the often-requested remote work option but were rapidly able to pivot to many, if not all, of your workforce, working from home? Many of us as consultants have long assumed that we needed to work in person with our clients as part of that all-important relationship building. Hello, Zoom and MS Teams. Health care has been forever changed as telemedicine and telepsych became viable alternatives to in-person appointments. Education has been reshaped with many modes of distance learning. I cannot identify a single industry that has been unchanged in response to this pandemic.
But as we start to reconnect, I believe it’s even more important to take the time to connect on a personal level, to understand what the pandemic has meant to our employees, our customers, our partners and collaborators and suppliers, and our community. For some, it means experiencing the loss of a loved one, dealing with one’s own infection, financial challenges, food insecurity, serving as parent and teacher to school-age children, plans put on hold, in-person family interactions put on hold and a pervasive sense of uncertainty and anxiety. As leaders, we need to ask for others to share their stories, and we should be willing to share ours.
In his latest book, Tom has defined The Leadership 7/ COVID-19:
Be Kind.
Be Caring.
Be Patient.
Be Forgiving.
Be Positive.
Be Present.
Walk in the Other Person’s Shoes.
Which of these will be your greatest challenge?