5 Principles to Cultivate Ethical Leadership During COVID-19
The current coronavirus situation poses an enormous challenge for leaders across the business world. For a long time, many organizations’ primary concern has been to focus on protecting the employees, the firm and getting business back to its tracks while working remotely. Employees expect their leaders to make decisions that would keep them healthy and safe.
Though leaders embrace digitalization to enhance the operational capability as we begin to recover from the crisis, there’s a continuous demand to increase the agility and insight of the remote workforce. Companies are looking to develop new ideas and strategies to offer better services and products in such times.
Other than planning, what leaders need most right now are the excellent behavior and mindsets necessary for navigating the coronavirus pandemic and future crises. Here are the five leadership tactics that can serve you and your team for years to come.
1. Smart Decision making
COVID-19 is pushing many executive leaders to make wise decisions regarding employees, customer safety, business strategy, and other critical issues at a pace and risk level that they have never experienced before. Small choices that leaders make today may affect the business over the long term as the crisis unfolds. Thus, to avoid less than ideal outcomes, leaders need to anticipate the effects of their decisions and begin to act accordingly.
Here are some tips for leaders to make wise decisions:
● Create a central list of priorities and implement them.
● Pursue a nonbinary approach to solve problems.
● Be honest and empathic with the approach.
2. Collaborative team structure
Effective collaboration within the teams is a sign of a productive workplace. In these times of remote working, leaders need to step into the role of catalyst and coach. Collaborating with teams makes employees more responsible and raises their motivation level.
While working in teams, leaders can identify opportunities, make connections, spark ideas, resolve workloads and help employees work through challenges. Leaders can check in on the progress made, find ways to support teams, and ensure they are using first-order problem-solving principles.
3. Clear communication
In these times of social distancing, a people-centric approach to leadership is vital. Employees are more eager than ever to hear from their organization’s top leaders. Hence, leaders need clear and frequent communications.
Leaders can cultivate open, compassionate conversations about the company’s plans amidst the pandemic. Transparency in discussions and sharing your personal view on the past turmoil help build trust. Share positive stories and uplifting moments.
Finally, your actions speak louder than words when building trust––so lead by example. It will play a significant part in determining how your organizations perform during these difficult times.
4. Plan and Prepare
Planning and preparing ahead of a crisis is one of the most important things business leaders must do. When a company has a planning process, leaders are better equipped to prepare for the future. A business plan creates a focus for the company, encouraging the employees to work towards a common goal.
Being well prepared makes it easier to manage time and resources to position the growing company. Having a strategic plan helps leaders identify business opportunities. Various factors can affect us as we move forward, hence the importance of readdressing the methods as time changes.
5. Lead by Example
Leading by example is one of the leader’s most valuable traits. When you lead by example, you demonstrate what’s possible. You influence others’ behavior, attitude, and thoughts to do the best they can do for the organization’s benefit.
To lead by example, the leader must guide the employees by getting involved in the process, setting the direction by helping others see what lies ahead, and allowing them to rise to the challenges. This helps to effectively translate intention into reality and eventually proves your credibility as a leader.
What’s next?
As organizations begin to recover from the pandemic and transition into a thriving phase, good leadership serves as a strong foundation for building a business model and addressing the new emerging market. The above principle will help leaders establish and reinforce behaviors and values that can support their organization as the world recovers from the pandemic.
