What Kind of Leader Do You Want to Be in 2022?
This week we discuss the execution data we have seen while working with clients throughout the pandemic. We will be taking a look at leadership and how executives can extend the positive attributes of their crisis management into the post-pandemic phase of 2021 and into 2022.
With over a year of operating in a crisis environment, we know what the attributes of good crisis leadership are: resilience to absorb unforeseen shocks, adaptability to pivot based on new circumstances, and the ability to predict future scenarios.
Based on thousands of samples of behavioral data pulled from the Predictive Index platform, we know that many CEOs tend to be what we categorize as “explorer” types. These are leaders with a high-risk tolerance, self-confidence, autonomy to make decisions, and a positive and enthusiastic demeanour that contributes to maintaining an action-oriented culture. In the early stages of the pandemic, these behavioral attributes allowed them to step up.
Leadership is one of five key execution success factors or KSEs. When advising our clients we use Line-of-Sight, an execution optimization solution in order to objectively measure organizations’ execution capabilities, or “execution health”. Our clients score each KSE on a scale from 0 to 100, allowing us to identify and execution vulnerability.
We looked back at the scores of clients we benchmarked during the pandemic. In normal times, an initial execution health assessment will yield a score in the mid-40s. Remarkably though, our “pandemic cohort” clients showed much higher leadership scores from the outset, reaching into the mid-70s. The highest score was a stunning 81% — a score we would normally see after intensive leadership coaching.
Therefore, based on our Line-of-Sight client sample, our data confirmed that leadership teams have significantly stepped up during the pandemic, which is great news in terms of execution. However, as we move forward the question becomes: how long can leaders sustain the high-adrenalin pace of crisis leadership?
Without a high degree of self-awareness, leaders are bound to run out of energy and focus. But as early as April 2020, McKinsey saw an opening for the development of a new type of leader, one who can retain the “muscle memory” of crisis management’s positive attributes.
We always encourage our clients to seize the opportunity to up their leadership. This is achieved by clarifying strategic intent, communicating it broadly, simplifying the dashboard and caring for talent.
What are your expectations in the evolution of your leadership?
To learn more about enhancing your own execution, please contact us, and we will initiate an assessment of your execution capabilities.