PLEASE VISIT OUR SPONSORS

---

Performance Management

Published March 2010

Recession as Litmus Test

  Richard McGourty, Ph.D. and Carl Robinson, Ph.D.

The best opportunity to improve the quality of leadership in an organization may be right now, and oddly, talent leaders have the recession to thank for it.

The brutal challenges associated with the economic downturn have formed a natural experiment — a true test of leadership that offers an opportunity to refine expectations and assess managers and executives against the backdrop of the extraordinary demands of the day. Talent leaders should consider who has effectively stepped up and into the fray during the past year or so and who has backed away.

To take full advantage of this uninvited opportunity, talent leaders will need to conduct an honest and rigorous review of their leadership teams and then brace for action.

1. Focus first on those aspects of leadership that have proven most valuable and essential during this difficult period.
2. Carefully examine assumptions about leaders and then look back on events tied to the crisis to see which have revealed their true character and temperament.
3. Aggressively integrate this new information into strategic talent management practices by sorting those who have impressed from the rest of the pack.

Four Distinguishing Aspects of Leadership

Leadership can take many forms, but in the foggy mix of the downturn, there is a premium on disciplined thinking; a bias for action; timely and transparent communication; and the ability to inspire followership. These aspects of leadership have been made highly relevant by the downturn and, because the business world is likely to remain an unsettled and unpredictable place for the foreseeable future, they will certainly have significant value going forward.

Disciplined Thinking

Disciplined thinking means the ability to identify meaningful information amid the noisy clutter of conflicting reports and pressure-filled, often circular discussions. Leaders with this capability tenaciously scan the business environment for relevant data and emerging trends. They consider novel approaches and outside perspectives. Disciplined thinkers typically formulate and reformulate their ideas. Their thinking is nimble, and they keep their balance. They are naturally curious, open to new solutions and avoid retreating behind the stale thinking of the old guard. Most importantly, they bring a welcome degree of focus and clarity around core business requirements, and they never lose track of the bigger picture.

A Bias for Action

Endless talk is the graveyard of action. A bias for action refers to a willingness and capacity to lead change in the face of uncertainty. Error is found on either side — hesitance and impulsivity — and the leader who knows how to navigate between them serves the organization well. This is particularly true in today's dynamic business context, where the future is likely to be discontinuous from the past. The leader with a bias for effective action has an intuitive grasp of which projects to push, which to abandon and which resource trade-offs are worth making in the long run. This leader knows when there has been enough debate and then has the courage to choose a wise path forward.

---

 

---