Post pandemic governance: A time to re-learn, re-think and re-engineer governance, leadership and management.

A friend recently reached out to me distressed about the ongoing governance issues at his company. The Board of Directors was at war with management which in turn had a ripple effect on the rest of the teams. As we speak, most of the company’s employees are out job hunting. “No one wants to be here when it all comes down crumbling”, he said. I thought to myself, this is just one among the many companies that have been rattled by the profound changes brought upon by Covid 19. I wondered what would become of corporate governance; was it time to re-think and re-engineer? What skillset is required to manage and lead during such times? Was it time to develop a whole new set of rules to manage companies? Would we come back from this?

The pandemic has created a period of high stress for all company stakeholders; an unprecedented volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) ecosystem. Now more than ever companies look to robust governance, leadership and management. As leaders continue to navigate these uncertain times, it is clear that the north star will continue to be the principles of corporate governance; Fairness, Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency. Whereas the keys to being an effective and efficient leader have previously been creativity, communication, integrity, resilience to mention but a few, the pandemic will prompt leaders to cultivate more empathetic and compassionate leadership; to develop resilient governance architectures; policies, procedures, systems and structures — to look at governance through a fundamentally different prism.

Now more than ever, today’s leadership and governance requires a fine balance between profit maximization and strategic stakeholder management. Naturally, during uncertain times humans gravitate towards self-preservation and this means many and diverse things to different stakeholders. All these dynamics not only require change management skills but like a skilled marionettist, a leader must evenly balance the needs of the entire ecosystem. What is prevalent is that strategic and effective communication will be at the helm of managing during the new normal — whatever that means. Building back better will not only require more communication but also different ways of communication taking into account technology and the new ways of working.

As technology continues to form a part of every facet in companies, companies will need to zero in on data privacy strategies. Data Protection and Privacy is at the core of responsible use of technology and leaders must embed a data privacy culture to better ensure risk management and compliance requirements of the companies. This will require capabilities to merge corporate governance strategies with data privacy governance strategies. The early entrants to fostering data privacy cultures will inevitably better manage the ongoing technological revolutions coupled with the uncharted waters of this pandemic.

The pandemic has gradually acclimatized people into remote work as board and other collaborative meetings are being held virtually. Leaders have to develop new and more effective ways of managing boardroom dynamics. This challenge will be more amplified for public companies but equally crucial with private companies. Whereas companies have been accustomed to less frequent and more scheduled board meetings and reporting, there may be a need for more board meetings and more board involvement. This is due to the fact that the role of a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is burdensome enough for one person more so in these uncertain times. The pandemic needs all hands on deck; more leadership than management; more board involvement and more board oversight. Going forward, companies may have to be managed by more than one CEO, a strategy that some companies have already taken up.

Unfortunately, the pandemic has also increased the gap between women and men — a retrogressive reaction to the problem. More women have either been laid off or they have resigned due to the difficulties they face in balancing family and work. The discussion regarding women on boards and women in senior executive positions has to go beyond appointing more women but also provide more conducive working environment for women because the aim should be more than equality but rather equity. The dynamics have changed from simply providing breastfeeding areas and office child care to remote solutions. Such work cultures will ensure that we don’t retrogressively discriminate women (unintentionally or intentionally).

In conclusion, as corporate leaders steer through the storm and whirlwinds, it is important to be reminded that building trust through empathetic and compassionate leadership is extremely crucial. Persistent and effective communication is equally important; veering away from voluminous documentation and improvising with technology and videography. Corporate leaders have to re-learn, re-think and re-engineer new ways of leadership and governance because unfortunately for the them the pandemic occurred simultaneously with groundbreaking technological shifts that are equally shifting the tectonic plates underneath corporations.