Lessons of Leadership During this Pain-in-the-Ass Pandemic

January 20, 2022 - As we begin 2022, it is with a mixture of both optimism and uncertainty. Optimism that once we get through the current spike of covid, there will be a gradual return to freedom and the pandemic will become endemic. Uncertainty because nothing has been certain or the same since March 2020. Our world has been completely disrupted and we all yearn for the way back.

As CEO, I certainly felt unprepared to face and react to the wrenching and difficult times we have faced these past two years (soon to be entering year three). Yet, the incomprehensible happens all the time. How we as leaders (and remember, all of us are leaders) face adversity is crucial to our personal and professional survival and stability. Author Ryan Holiday of The Obstacle is The Way and The Daily Stoic podcast series expresses it perfectly: “Certain things in life will cut you open like a knife. When that happens-at that exposing moment-the world gets a glimpse of what’s truly inside you. So what will be revealed when you’re sliced open by tension and pressure? Iron? Or air? Or bullshit?”

Before the pandemic, we all faced business headwinds -- client challenges, exceeding their expectations, driving business performance, ensuring talent productivity and retention, maintaining differentiation and innovation, and driving culture and collaboration, among other areas. When I reflect on those times, those issues seem like a walk on the beach versus how we’ve had to change the rules for leadership in this even more volatile and complex world. What makes it all the more challenging is our lack of physical connections and keeping the ship afloat in a virtual ocean.

The past two years have accentuated valuable leadership lessons that I want to share in the hope that it will provide readers with enhanced strength, renewed perspective, and ideas to steal heading into 2022.

How to feel empowered when you feel pandemic powerless.

Take control. Many of us are still working from home after nearly two years. On many levels, it has accelerated our productivity and innovation. However, it has also hindered our ability as leaders to take certain actions together and implement bigger bet decisions. Do not let isolation stand in the way. Yes, its impact is real. But we are still in charge of ourselves and our priorities. We are still in control. Making decisions each day, whether small or large, is highly empowering and drives gratification and feelings of accomplishment. It says “Pandemic you are not going to get the best of us.” Despite these uncertain times, we can still focus our attention on the issues at hand with certainty and power.

There’s no playbook for how to tackle what’s happened to our lives and the world these past two years. But what we can do is draw inspiration and wisdom from the past to guide us. Leaders throughout history have had to face daunting circumstances for which there was no playbook. For those of you already familiar with Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor, he was a Stoic philosopher whose teachings emphasized how to turn adversity into advantage. His writings and lessons have been followed and adapted by modern day businessmen from John Rockefeller to Steve Jobs. One of his most powerful messages, simply states, “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” I encourage those not familiar with the wisdom and writings of Marcus Aurelius to take just a few minutes each day and tune into the Daily Stoic podcasts. They are brief three-to-eight-minute calming teachings on wisdom and resilience that provide advice on confronting obstacles in our lives and turning them upside down.

Covid has changed how we communicate with each other. Prior to the pandemic, I espoused to our team how important consistent communication, internally and externally, is to drive collaboration and accountability. Never have those words been more important now than before. At the onset of the pandemic, with fears and confusion by many colleagues within the agency at an all-time high, it was imperative as a leader to help alleviate peoples’ fears as much as possible. As a result, on a regular basis, I scheduled “checks in” with everyone in the agency every week to do my part to help our team understand what was going on and share information about what we were doing to respond to the crisis. I also wanted to ascertain if any employees were struggling and needed support. It was equally meaningful for me to ‘see’ everyone on a regular basis to put my mind at ease and help me get through the isolation. Two years later, our group check-ins and one-on-one check-ins are a new communication best practice that has gone a long way in keeping our team connected. They’re not formal, they’re informal. Sometimes we have an agenda and other times we just talk. Leaders at all levels must understand the importance of an accessible voice that they believe in. How we behave during crises leaves a lasting mark on people.

Focus on the future and communicate your company’s Path Ahead. If there’s one lesson I’ve learned over the years, it’s that employees deserve and want transparency and clarity. They want to understand a company’s purpose, mission and values. They want to know that there is Path Ahead with key goals and ambitions and how their role impacts success. Effective strategic planning is essential to every organization. Covid has taught us that charting our Path Ahead at the beginning of each year is mission critical during times of crisis. In the beginning of 2020, we conveyed our goals and objectives for the year. Once the pandemic struck, we acted quickly to implement crisis management and resilience measures while continuing to focus on the business priorities we had set and communicated to the agency. The takeaway here: certain best laid plans can get torn apart by crisis. We must be ready to act in new and progressive ways while maintaining the foundation of the key drivers that influence our performance and success. 

Don’t let the pandemic ruin your culture. In many ways, the pandemic has brought our agency closer together. But the lack of physical interaction and pandemic fatigue has had a profound impact on all of us. As leaders, we must do everything we can to support the people with whom we work closely. These past two years have taught us how to be more understanding, compassionate and supportive of our colleagues, both personally and professionally, as we all confront obstacles. Beanstalk had a great team in place before the pandemic and this unifying strength has been an important lifeline heading into 2022. We have focused on wellness and mental health, new methods of connections, an ongoing commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, among other training and development initiatives. This gives the team a sense of pride and commitment to each other. The best leaders are a resource to everyone and understand that it’s more about people than yourself.

One final reflection: Change is the only constant in life. We know that. But remember, mindset matters. It’s okay to have good days and bad days. Focus on the future. Focus on the work. Focus on pushing yourselves to be progressive and empowered. And you will turn trial into triumph.