| | MARCH 202319WHILE IT IS EASY TO SET ASIDE PURPOSE IN A CRISIS AS SURVIVAL BECOMES THE PRIORITY, A STRONG LEADER WOULD ALWAYS REALISE THAT PURPOSE ELEVATES US FROM SURVIVE TO THRIVETalking about the ongoing crisis, many organisa-tions run by great leaders have removed boundaries in ways no one thought was possible. It has resulted in accelerated decision making, higher tolerance for mistakes, technological transformation overnight, reinventing core processes and adopting new collab-oration tools. As the uncertainty continues to linger, let us highlight the key leadership traits required to recover from a crisis:1. Realigning Business StrategyDuring a crisis, leaders are supposed to make some hard, critical and quick decisions. What you plan and strategise to achieve by end of a financial year might seem a distant reality. It is the time when leaders are expected to quickly yet efficiently realign the busi-ness strategy, come up with revival plans to ensure minimum impact on revenues while making sure that the expectations of clients/customers are not compromised. Hence, leaders who are decisive, con-fident, action oriented and open to adapting their de-cisions to suit the needs of a situation usually have more success weathering a crisis than a leader who keeps waiting for normalcy to return. After all, a cri-sis is not the time when you can evaluate the pros and cons of a decision at a leisurely pace.2. People ManagementDuring difficult times, there is panic across the work-place and chances of mis-information spreading through verticals. From layoffs to salary cuts, em-ployees are worried about many aspects surrounding their survival and future. Hence, people manage-ment and preventing misinformation from spread-ing ignorance and ambiguity becomes one of the key responsibilities of leaders. The unrest within the organisation can have cata-strophic effects on the company's image, brand val-ue and revenues, rising suspicions about its future. Hence, it is crucial to keep your employees updated about the current situation of the company as well as keep them in confidence that they are the most valu-able asset of the company. The goal is to build a sense of belongingness and help teams to create open lines of communication.3. Growth HackingEvery leader will do whatever needed to grow the business and their persistence towards survival and re-gaining the growth trajectory of a business is most desired during difficult times. A greater leader is the one who comes up with innovative ways to get things on track and achieve a definite result. In today's com-petitive environment, successful leaders will be the one who constantly adapt and adopt strategic meth-ods for getting the results that they want.4. Resource OptimisationLeaders are expected to come up with innovative pro-cesses and methods to match the available resources with the needs of the organisation to achieve estab-lished goals, more so during a crisis. It is an important skill of a leader as during a crisis, the organisation's demands tend to saturate or exceed the resources available with the company, making it more crucial than ever to achieve the desired results within a set timeframe and budget.5. Stay Calm & Act WiselyThis might sound easy but very difficult to imple-ment. If not anyone else in the organisation, at least a leader must act positively during a crisis. However, being positive does not mean to be blindly optimistic. A positive attitude helps in executing hard decisions, staying calm and ultimately preventing panic waves.Summing-UpThe business leaders need to act immediately dur-ing a crisis - identify the critical job roles, map the skill requirements, and make the workforce ready for the evolving world of work. Instead of fearing the situation, leaders should leverage a crisis an opportu-nity to acknowledge responsibility, prove capabilities, take ownership and enact change."It is in times of crisis that good leaders emerge". - Rudolph W. Giuliani.
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