Lady-er-ship amid COVID-19

Why are Women managers and leaders told to be more like Men?

Taiwan, Iceland, New Zealand, Germany, Finland, Norway and Denmark have 2 things in common at the moment: a woman that is Head of State and an outstanding response to the COVID crisis.

This article details their responses to the crisis and the outstanding leadership these Women displayed during the crisis. The response from leaders has been empathetic yet tough when required, to beat the crisis.

For me, its not about feminism or decrying the responses of male Heads of State; its just about playing to your strengths.

Women have often been instructed to behave more like their male counterparts to be effective leaders. However, I feel that by being authentic and playing to their strength, these women leaders have come out ahead and been trailblazers.

For all of Women leaders and Managers, it’s a Powerful lesson to take inspiration from and to implement in our lives!!!!!!

Read on:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/2020/04/13/what-do-countries-with-the-best-coronavirus-reponses-have-in-common-women-leaders/

Work from Home has gained status of the New Normal. Do we have the necessary skills to Work from Home?

Ask yourself the following questions to get an answer:

Communication: Can you accurately convey ideas & interpret thought/ideas using Technology?

Self Motivation: Can you take initiative without being prompted or rewarded?

Trust Worthiness: Can you fulfill expectations without supervision?

Discipline: Are you in control of your own time, tasks, and energy?

Can you independently analyze, evaluate, and strategize an issue?

Adaptability: Can you adapt to and accurately prioritize tasks based on the changes around?

Accountability: Can you measure your own productivity?

Empathy: Are you aware & considerate of other peoples’ feelings?

To my mind the skills required to flourish in a Virtual environment aren’t very different from those required to do well in a Brick & Mortar environment. What makes it a little more challenging is that we need to do it largely by ourselves.

As the workforce becomes Virtual, it isn’t the Technology that will make or break the situation, it’s YOU!!!

This article expands on the 8 Critical Skills required to succeed while Working from Home. Very interesting read !!!!!

https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurelfarrer/2020/03/19/academic-research-proves-8-skills-critical-to-work-from-home-success/

One of the Key Themes of the Webinar “Attitude for Altitude” that we recently conducted was: How do you” Change Proof your Career”?

The Solution is really to enhance your “Go To” Skills.

What are your “Go To” skills?

If you are sitting in a job interview and you are asked to quantify what you bring to the table; your answer will largely be around your “Go To” skills.

Why is it Critical to Build “Go To” Skills Today?

Change is the only Constant. The Post pandemic economy will affect the employment landscape tremendously. The Pace of Change is only set to quicken in the immediate future.

It is very likely that we will see a definitive shift towards a Work from Home culture. This will result in many categories of jobs becoming redundant & many being lost.

A preventive and long term solution would be Up- Skilling and Re- Skilling yourself & mentoring team members do the same. In order to remain relevant, employers and employees need to identify skills that will be essential to function in the new normal.

At Individuals & at an Organization level, I personally would look at this as a Growth Opportunity as opposed to a negative Change. It will require everyone to make that stretch but I do feel it will be well worth the effort, given the current situation.

If we look at the Macro picture, the current scenario isn’t necessarily bleak. If we play our cards right, the Pandemic could turn out to be a huge opportunity for the Indian economy. US, Japan and South Korea among other countries are relocating businesses out of China, which was so far the factory of the world. India, Thailand, Vietnam and other Asian countries are preferred hubs. This would be the perfect time for India to leverage its demographic dividend and approach the lockdown and post lockdown period with hope and optimism.

At a Country level, this would again require a huge stretch. Our “Go To” skills would need to to be enhanced: put processes in place to make the eco system more “Business Friendly”, Deliver Quality & Productivity and have the necessary skilled manpower in place to deliver.

This calls for an integrated approach, where Stakeholders in the economy should collectively devise a strategy to promote life long learning.

We are clearly at a juncture; how we respond NOW will determine our direction, as individuals, at an organization level and as a country.

When I came across this article, I couldn’t help but notice its perfect timing. Amid the COVID-19 lockdown, Work From Home and Social Distancing are posing as challenges of unprecedented magnitude.

https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/feelings/are-you-emotionally-intelligent-enough-to-deal-with-work-stress-6351965/

This is an extremely stressful situation and the need for emotional intelligence as a coping mechanism has been highlighted.

The first step is Self – Awareness which eventually leads to Self – Management. Introspection and Organizing one’s thoughts help us understand and analyze our trigger points.

Additionally, ability to look at a situation you are involved in from a third person’s perspective is a sign of an emotionally intelligent person.

This doesn’t imply that people with higher EQ are immune to Stress, it only means that they are better equipped to handle it.

It is important to note that Emotional Intelligence doesn’t develop overnight, to help you tap this potential and practice it in a consistent manner.

At SHRD, Emotional Intelligence forms the foundation on which our programs on Personal Transformation rest.