Leading into the “New Normal”

As governments around the world are under increased demands to reopen, leaders everywhere are making decisions in the face of staggering uncertainty and conflicting information. In many ways, the decisions that first closed down businesses and quarantined cities, although certainly difficult, were much easier exercises in short-term decision making and execution than those that leaders will have to make for the longer-term journey.

And now everyone is asking, what will this “new normal” look like?

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Look for the Helpers: Humble Leadership in Times of Crisis

Many people are involved in a basketball game: A coach provides strategy, a shooting guard is agile, and a point guard assists in providing direction. In the heat of the game, the coach knows when to put in strong players, when to bench someone, and when to encourage every player to step up and give 110%. But winning does not depend on just the coach. Winning depends on each player contributing, whether by hustling down the court, putting up a three-pointer, or being in the best possible position when the game is on the line.

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The Importance of Staff Development During an Economic Downturn

To say that these are interesting times that we are living in is an understatement.

Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen panic-buying at supermarkets; a rout on global stock markets; racism and bigotry rearing their ugly heads; all coupled with a disturbing lack of leadership by many of our global leaders during trying and uncertain times.

It has been said that “People can deal with bad news better than they can deal with uncertainty." I agree with this, and believe that during times of uncertainty – such as the current COVID-19 pandemic – the role of effective leadership becomes even more critical.

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Middle Managers: Your Company’s Most Important Line of Defense in Crisis

“Are we going to lose our jobs because of this coronavirus?” asked Kelly, an account executive with a tenure of 11 years.

“I — I don’t quite know,” replied Marla, Kelly’s practice manager. “The senior leadership team has said that there won’t be immediate layoffs, but we don’t know how long these shutdowns will last. Just keep working from home.”

There is no doubt that thousands of similar interactions have occurred in the past three weeks. These times are scary, and much is unknown. One thing you might not know is that the directors or senior leaders in your organization are not necessarily the glue that is keeping everyone together. It’s the middle managers.

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How Times of Crisis and Uncertainty Can Help You Spot High Potential

In any company, few things are more important than having a strong pipeline of high-performing leaders. In this new COVID-19 era, leadership teams everywhere are now faced with making critical decisions in an environment that changes hourly. Leaders from every size of organization are required to exercise judgment in unprecedented scenarios.

At Hogan, we have long researched the personality characteristics of effective leaders in the midst of high-pressure situations. We have also closely studied the identification of high-potential talent, or talent that has the ability to build and lead teams that can consistently outperform. This is a unique moment in time to identify high potentials (HIPOs) and next-generation leaders. Such moments of crisis often provide incredible opportunities for HIPOs to be identified, as the demands for high-risk and high-visibility decisions increase.

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The “Now What” in a COVID-19 World

At Hogan, we view the assessment results as the “what” (what are your strengths and areas for development?), the interpretation of your results by your Hogan coach as the “so what” (so what do these mean to me, and how do they impact my reputation and performance?), and the coaching discussion and action planning with your coach as the “now what” (now what can you do to be more effective?).

Further, we emphasize the importance of considering context in interpreting and acting on your assessment results. Consider factors such as your job requirements, the demands of your situation, the challenges you face, the business goals you need to achieve, the team you manage, and the culture of your organization. Behaviors that are strengths in one context could be derailers in another and vice versa, so context truly matters in interpreting and acting on your Hogan scores.

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What It Takes to Lead Through Organizational Crisis

On April 17, 2017, Southwest flight 1380 from New York to Dallas was in serious danger. A failed fan blade had struck the plane, creating a window-sized hole on the left side of the plane. Oxygen masks were deployed and, unsurprisingly, the passengers began to panic. Captain Tammie Jo Shults remained calm, took command of the situation, adapted to the circumstances, and safely landed the plane in Philadelphia, saving hundreds of lives. Her audio call is worth a listen. More recently, the Diamond Princess cruise ship was quarantined with more than 700 passengers testing positive for COVID-19. Captain Gennaro Arma was credited for preventing panic with his calm and reassuring leadership style. There are many examples of extraordinary leaders rising to the occasion in crisis situations. Because many organizations are currently facing the crisis caused by COVID-19, we thought it would be a good time to review what we know about organizational crisis and what makes a leader most effective during such times. Read More »

Don’t Become an Absentee Leader While Working Remotely

Even during the best of times, research shows that absentee leadership is quite common and destructive to teams and organizations. What’s an absentee leader? One who displays neither actively positive leadership nor actively negative leadership; an absentee leader seems uninvolved and uncommunicative. For leaders whose teams are all working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, the possibility of showing up as an absentee leader increases, even for leaders who typically are engaged with their teams in the office.

Employees whose leaders are absentee report less direction, delayed decisions, and a lack of feedback and involvement. Role ambiguity results, along with decreased job satisfaction, higher intentions to leave, and added conflicts with co-workers. Add to that the increased stress of the pandemic, and negative outcomes for organizations and employees could be exponentially increased.

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Hogan Delivers Leadership Presentation to Rotary Club of Tulsa

On December 4, Hogan Managing Consultants Amber Burkhart, PhD, and Erin Laxson, PhD, were the featured speakers at the Rotary Club of Tulsa’s weekly meeting. One of the most notable speaking engagements in the Tulsa area, the event was attended by 200 business leaders, one of whom described Burkhart and Laxson as “world-class professionals.” As featured speakers, Burkhart and Laxson joined the likes of prominent business magnates, such as oil and gas entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens and billionaire philanthropist George Kaiser. Notable elected representatives, such as Sen. Jim Inhofe, Sen. James Lankford, and Gov. Kevin Stitt, have also spoken at the Rotary Club of Tulsa. Here are just a few of the highlights of Burkhart and Laxson’s presentation. Read More »