19 Mar NOW IS THE TIME FOR CEOs TO LEAD WITH IMMEDIACY
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Do you have an active crisis management team right now?
I am speaking to all my clients about the importance of proactively leading through the most significant global energy crisis in 50 years. The current conflict in the Middle East has serious implications.
Not only is the oil supply compromised, the oil production facilities in that region of the world are also being compromised. The shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz are also constricted, which impacts a wide range of industries.
So, here is what I am suggesting my clients consider. How are they dealing with this scenario?
When we faced COVID six years ago, so many households, organisations, institutions, and communities simply were not prepared. And so much of the decision making was made from a very reactive space.
Now we can see the crisis coming and we all need to progress into a much more proactive leadership stance.
In Australia, we have a few months of fuel supply. Other countries have even less. This means decisions needs to be made about what to do should the supply of oil and fuel not be replenished.
Governments, of course, will be strategizing on their best way forward to conserve fuel supply, and to ration fuel supply if that becomes necessary to ensure that essential services and production are maintained.
So, what should you be doing?
I think it is essential leadership to be considering the potential eventualities of the current global situation, and be treating it as a potential crisis or emergency.
For clarity, an emergency is an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action. (Webster Dictionary)
Here are the four stages of an emergency as defined by the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience.
1. PREVENTION
Where we do whatever we can to stop the event from happening, to minimise it or mitigate the risk.
2. PREPAREDNESS
The focus here is on all the things that we can do to get ready for the potential state of emergency. What questions we ask, what plans we have in place, what preventative activity we do, how capable we are of responding, and so on. How often we practise our response, whether we audit and assess our readiness.
3. RESPONSE
The event has happened and now it is about how do we respond to it? Those are all the things we do from the very early minutes and moments, right through to, I guess, the end of the event.
4. RECOVERY
Recovery, of course, is all the things that we do to get ourselves back on track or determine a new way of operating and being, that is sustainable and the way that we want the future to develop.
As leaders, we need to show up in all these stages and be proactively leading. If you have not done so yet, this means standing up a cross organisational team now to begin, or activate existing, preparedness and response.
As you do this, here are some of the questions that need to be considered. The most important questions leaders must be asking and answering right now.
- What if…. this happens? …that happens? …. And so on
- What then?
- What next?
- What else?
If you need a lens to help you focus these questions a simple approach is to use your 4P’s of business planning:
1. PROJECTS
For example:
- What if…this happens … to a project?
- What if the supply chain is compromised for this project?
- What if people can’t get to the workplace for this project?
- What if this project is no longer relevant?
2. PEOPLE
For example:
- Where do people work from?
- How do you support your people through another significant period of uncertainty and unpredictability?
- What do your people need from you right now?
3. PERFORMANCE
This is the day-to-day, week to week, month to month, year-to-year activity that forms the backbone of your organisation.
For example:
- What do we do to maintain performance?
- How do you need to alter your services?
- How do you support your customers in delivery of your service and products?
- How do you protect supply chain?
- What impacts on transport and logistics?
4. PERSONAL
For example:
- What do you need to support yourself, your family, your household?
- How do you stay in a proactive space?
- How do you remain positive, and maintain the right kind of energy?
Four key lenses you can use to consider the stages of emergency. With a focus on preparedness and response, and then subsequently recovery.
It is imperative for leaders to be proactive and lead with immediacy. This is happening around us right now. You need to get on the front foot so that your people have certainty in your leadership. They have certainty that you, your team and organisation are as well-prepared as you can be.
I’ll leave you with these questions and reflections, and the strong encouragement for you to stand up your cross organisational response team for this crisis period.
I believe it is better to be ready and not need to be, than to need to be and not be ready.
I’d love to know your thoughts.
P.S. If you missed my video on this topic, you can watch it here.
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