Maintaining tension between now and the future

Lots of CEOs I am talking to say the biggest challenge they face is holding and maintaining the tension between the ‘here and now’ and the future - and not dropping one at the expense of the other. 

The crisis we are dealing with is dominating our attention and focus. There are demands on multiple fronts. We are constantly watching and responding to daily announcements from government and health experts, as well as dealing with the board, external environment and employee team. This makes for a very busy holding pattern with a major focus on ‘right now’. 

Now we have entered our sixth month of this pandemic with no end in sight, and alarmists are talking about the worst economic downfall we have ever experienced. Futurists say we need to work towards a new normal, become more agile and pivot when the new way of working becomes clearer. It’s said that those companies that will capitalise on opportunities quickly are already acting boldly and putting future plans in place.

Maintaining a holding pattern is not the solution. You need balance – manage the now, while continuing to move forward. Here are six questions to ask yourself that will keep you moving forward, while also focussing on right now.

·      What are we measuring? 

What are our measures telling us? Are they predicting the future or telling us what we already know?

·      Are we fit for purpose? 

Is the core function of the business functioning effectively and efficiently? Are we giving the core of our business the focus and resources it needs? Or has our attention been distracted elsewhere? 

·      Have we reviewed our risks - and mitigated them appropriately?

What are our risks right now and what are our future risks?

Many companies have experienced financial loss because they only had a single way of attracting customers or were dependent on a couple of key clients to bring in revenue and had not appropriately assessed the risk of their situation. And internationally focusing on only one country

·      How are we measuring and monitoring the wellbeing of our team? 

What are we doing to support mental health, engagement and mindset? How are we listening and engaging with teams, keeping them connected? Are they going to be engaged with the company and ambassadors as we come out the other end? 

·      Have we reviewed our strategic plan?

Does the strategic plan need to be reviewed, does what we know now change the focus for the future? What do we need to be focused on, what needs to be included from our risk assessment? 

·      How are we supporting our leaders through change?

The new norm is going to be heavily dominated by technology in many different ways than what we have previously experienced. We will be operating in an environment where there is less face to face contact. 

There will be a greater expectation on managers being able to connect, communicate and manage in these circumstances. Many managers lack strong soft skills such as emotional intelligence, empathy, compassion, connection, communicating vision, and the ability to listen and understand. In the past, managers have been successful through command and control, but how effective will this be as we change the way we work? Will managers struggle to influence people working remotely?

What are the expectations on your managers, and what is now a priority for development? How are you measuring performance and ability? How do we help managers and leaders successfully transition to the new normal?