These differences are especially noticeable when a disruption like COVID-19 affects your company. Instead of letting that disruption drive you, however, flip the script and be a leader who acts preemptively and makes internal alignment a priority.
We’ve been living and reacting to COVID for so long that it’s easy to feel like we’ve got a handle on what leading through a crisis can and should look like. In reality, though, this crisis is an evolving situation, and even if you’ve been practicing the best crisis management techniques out there, you may not be leading as well as you could be.
There’s a significant difference between managing your team and leading them, and it’s a difference you need to be especially attuned to in the face of a crisis like this. “To chart a path forward, leaders must simultaneously anchor on what matters most and execute multiple initiatives well,” McKinsey says. “This means, first and foremost, that they must lead with purpose by taking care of their people, their customers, and their communities.”
As a leader, it’s your job to keep your teams aligned with each other and with the goals of the company at large. Even when a crisis disrupts tried-and-true routines, you need to make sure you’re still prioritizing and implementing as many sales and marketing alignment best practices as you can.
Before you can start to align anything, you need to make sure you know the difference between leading through a crisis and merely reacting to it. Reacting can get you through the worst parts of a situation, but it can result in a fatigued and unmotivated workforce.
Leading, however, focuses on guiding your people to the best possible outcome. “Your focus needs to be on what is likely to come next and readying to meet it,” Harvard Business Review says. That means looking beyond what’s immediately in front of you and anticipating “the next three, four, or five obstacles.”