A land inhabited by a virtually bankrupt government weighed down by the pandemic, businesses trying to chase the ever-elusive profits and hapless people in search of a purpose. In this scenario visualise for a moment the plight of the hitherto profitable professions in the era just gone by, that of the priest and the prostitute, struggling to survive tells you the extent of the economic distress. Welcome to the afterlife post lockdown.
It is rare, if at all, that one starts planning about one’s life after death (almost). Covid-19, the pandemic has changed everything so profoundly in a matter of days. The only thing that is certain now is the uncertainty of life consequent to the pandemic. Whatever skills that the human race has developed over generations now seem to be of limited value for our lives post lockdown. Our knowledge, no doubt, will come in handy but the competencies that are required to navigate our lives in a changed new world would be quite different. The first task before us is to reconcile ourselves to the fact that our lives are about to change even when the physical surroundings remain the same as before. A new order in the old world! We know instinctively that our lives are about to change. And you also know that you are not ready or prepared to face the new unfamiliar world, for you have only a vague idea about how the new world would be like. We are intelligent enough to know that the new world would be a different place; but we do not know exactly in what respect. This article is on what competencies that we need while dealing with a new normal.
We are good at analysing data, interpreting the consequences of our analyses and react to the requirements based on our past experiences. We do this all the time every day to take important decisions. But then, how would we take decisions without the comfort the data provides to take decisions in the as yet unknown world? You may yet survive in the new world. But to thrive in this new world you need different skillsets. That comes from a different space and not from your conventional intelligence known as IQ. IQ helps you build your knowledge base by analyising and interpreting data and arriving at logical conclusions without which you cannot pass examinations and succeed in careers. There is enough evidence to suggest that higher IQ alone is not a predictor of success. Examples of the most intelligent people not being the most successful ones in their professions and lives are legion. The
X-factor that makes people succeed more often than not comes from another space called EQ
(Emotional Quotient). In economics there is this famous saying “money is what money does” meaning thereby that money is a means to an end and is not an end in itself. So is the case with intelligence. Intelligence helps you develop certain abilities. For example, IQ helps you in logical thinking. Emotional Intelligence gives entirely different sets of abilities to manage relations in the real world. This Intelligence helps you develop certain competencies that are critical for your success in life. If IQ is all about capabilities, EQ is all about ‘capabilities’. Mind you, there is no such word as capability in the Dictionary; but I am sure you get the meaning of what it is all about. These competencies developed out of EQ are the ones that will be much more in demand in the post Covid world. Charles Darwin said famously: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, but rather, that which is most adaptable to change”. But then, which university teaches you “adaptability” though it is the most important skill that you will need to survive? These are competencies that are developed out of Emotional Intelligence by individuals. In the afterlife post lockdown these competencies would determine your success and not your intelligence the way we have been led to believe. There are a number of competencies that are particularly relevant for the new world each as important as the other. I have tried to capture those that in my opinion are critical in the afterlife. That is not to say that other competencies are not important. I have gone by the principle of relevance here. Given below are those competencies, listed not in any particular order of importance.
- Self-Assessment: Correctly stated it should be called realistic self-assessment. No improvement takes place without a critical and honest self-assessment. This is like the starting block for an athlete doing a sprint. This competency should give you a means to assess your current situation realistically and objectively to tell you where you stand at the moment in time in order to prepare yourself to face the challenges that awaits you. A realistic assessment of one’s business prospects is called for, keeping in mind that all businesses that existed before the lockdown may not be able to survive. Leadership alert – Be objective to a fault when it comes to appraising your business decisions.
- Resilience: In my opinion this is one of the most important competences in our lives, particularly in our professional lives. Whenever I have got up after falling down, all along I have thanked God for his kindness in helping me get back on my feet. Believe me, there have been a number of occasions when I had fallen. Looking back, today I realise that I should have thanked God for giving me the competence of resilience and not just for helping me get up whenever I had fallen. No one can give you a guarantee that you will not fail and fall occasionally in your journey of life. But you can guarantee that even a champion athlete would fall and fail. The key to success is how soon you get up when you fall and pick up the pieces and resume your journey. In the new world post Covid about which you know so little you are bound to make mistakes, even grave ones, but what would matter is how quickly you bounce back. Leadership alert – Encourage your employees to take risks and partake in the process of their resurrection.
- Optimism: Success is crafted either by optimists or it just happens. Only an optimist can hope to succeed in an uncertain world with little to hold on to except his or her belief. Only an optimist has the ability to negotiate and the willingness to roll with the punches. An optimist sees an opportunity in any problem; a pessimist sees a problem in every solution. Unless you are an optimist you will not be able to wade into a world fraught with uncertainties as the post Covid world is going to be. The good news is that Optimism is something that can be learnt. Martin Seligman, the renowned author on the subject shows you how, in his bestselling book “Learned Optimism”. Leadership alert – Be a messenger of hope among the doom and gloom.
- Adaptability: We are used to certain level of uncertainties especially in our professional lives. That will be nothing compared to what we would witness tomorrow. The nature of work is all set to change in the new world. This will call for an enormous amount of flexibility, nimbleness and above all a capacity to live with ambiguities that the new paradigm would offer. Gone are the days of stability associated with predictability. A manager will now be required to adapt himself to changes in a constantly evolving environment. Be prepared to accept changes and be prepared to juggle multiple demands. Stay focused on your goal but also be prepared to shift the goal post if the situation so demands. Leadership alert – Go ahead and change what you can, if the situation demands.
- Empathy: All those who are fortunate enough to transit to the post Covid era would be battered not only economically but also emotionally. At work associates, employees, suppliers, customers, et al would need so much emotional support that only a genuinely empathetic leader can provide. It is easy to show compassion, extend sympathies but it is another matter to step into another person’s shoes and feel his pain. This is one competency that very few people understand, and fewer still genuinely bring to bear. In a totally devastated world after the pandemic with people looking for emotional support and understanding, leaders will have to go out of their way to extend a helping hand. Listen to others, attune your position and try to understand the other person’s perspectives. A leader without empathy is like a human being with a defective soul. Leadership alert –Genuinely help the employees to deal with their anxieties and pains
- Inspirational Leadership: Embody what you expect from others. Ability to motivate others is a priceless talent. Leaders who want to inspire others around them have to focus on things larger than their own personal success. Be a leader that others want to follow out of their own free will and choice. Over time others follow the leader for fulfilment of their own personal satisfaction. An inspirational leader can change the behavioral signature of an organisation. Inspiring leadership acts as the catalyst that help release employees’ discretionary energy. Individual talents can win games; but you need an inspiring leader to motivate the team to win championships. Leadership alert – Lead by example
By no means the above list of competencies are neither exhaustive nor are they mutually exclusive. This is a rough and ready toolkit of skillsets that a corporate leader needs going forward. These competencies should stand any leader in good stead when he (or she) transits to a new world. Old ways of doing business that have got us here not only may not work in the future, but they could also become stumbling blocks to our progress. While shortlisting the competencies that a leader would need in the afterlife I was also guided by two factors. People in general including the employees are likely to be more irreverent to authority at an organisational level having been subjected to a life and death threat caused by the pandemic. That will mean that our familiar feudal approach to dealing with people in an organisation is unlikely to work going forward. The successful corporate leaders would be genuine folk heroes for all those who deal with them. Who knows this pandemic may end up weeding out the pretenders and throwing up really competent leaders in their place.
Thank you
Venkat R Venkitachalam
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