In times of fear, leaders need to be clear and concise
Governments can teach us many lessons for leading a business through this pandemic — some positive and others clearly not.
Most of us appreciated our president’s wise approach, explaining things with an authoritative, measured and calm tone. He won our support. One of the capabilities of good leaders is to tell the truth in a way that inspires confidence with “bounded optimism”.
Too pessimistic a message can create despondency or even panic, while Trump-style bluster makes us doubt everything. It can have the opposite effect to that intended, destroying trust, generating anxiety and aggravating the flood of conspiracy theories.
Similarly, a company’s staff need to know the truth but also enough about the boss’s plans and efforts to save their jobs to help them trust the leadership.
On the other hand, some cabinet ministers have offered textbook examples of how not to communicate. Companies could check their own communications against this list of things not to do:
● Confuse people. The top team should speak with one voice. In normal times President Cyril Ramaphosa’s inclusive approach of allowing ministers to communicate details with us would be commendable, but in a crisis we need a clear message with no contradictions. New York mayor Bill de Blasio has this one right. Bore people. A slow, meandering delivery like that of one minister who came within a few votes of becoming our president fails to generate hope or confidence.
● Irritate people. Enough has been written about silly rules such as limiting exercise to 6am-9am and pushing people together, or continuing the ban on cigarettes. Sometimes a company has to introduce rules that seem silly to those who don’t know the context, but then explain them! Communication is always important, but in a time of uncertainty and threat it becomes even more so. Otherwise people will assume the bosses have not given sufficient thought to their decisions and begin ignoring even the good rules — with potentially tragic consequences. Leadership is about helping people to do what they need to do voluntarily.
● “Inspire, inspire, inspire” should be painted in bright colours on the wall above every leader’s desk, whether in national or local government, big or small business, or community organisations.
● Kill initiative. Most bosses think they can do things better than anyone else, but the power of initiative set free at all levels is extraordinary and delivers results no boss could achieve on their own. I heard a rumour at the weekend that all private collectors of food aid in Gauteng would be required to give it to the government for delivery instead of doing it themselves. If true, that would be a silly mistake. Affirming people’s generosity and initiative can liberate amazing levels of resource and is important for morale and for social cohesion. Even if little community projects are an inefficient way to manage distribution (almost certainly not true), their other benefits are incalculable. And of course it invites suspicion that the real motive is that those in power can extort either money or political support. People need to be active and believe they are making a useful contribution. Are the staff in your company liberated to make a significant contribution to your business? Or are they battered down to sullen submission?
● The most important task for leaders now is to manage what is happening in the heads of their followers. Effective leaders help them find meaning in what they do. This is essential for mental health. A constructive contribution for top leaders would be to coach their middle managers to understand leadership as something that inspires enthusiastic following, rather than sullen compliance. ●
Cook, a former director of the Gordon Institute of Business Science, is cofounder of the African Management Institute.