Covid-19. A virus is challenging our leadership thinking and practice.

Vision matters. In a crisis, it takes foresight to factor in the day after and prepare for that too. Creating and communicating an image of a future we wish to achieve together is vital. The big decisions must consider the costs as well as the benefits of a course of action. Good leaders passionately inspire people to responsibly take on the hardships that will make the vision come true.

Innovation matters. Technology is know-how, innovation is about inventing new know-how or making current know-how deliver new value. Good leaders in times of coronavirus are already putting available technology to new and better uses and, they are re-designing technologies to address the challenges of the day.

Creativity matters. Creativity, as most CEOs said in a 2010 study by IBM, is the most important leadership skill. Not only is it important to create a vision and to activate innovation. It is everyone’s best friend in times of accelerating change. And in crisis too. Good leaders will not just rely on their own creativity but they will enable the creativity of others to flourish and be realized with new innovations, new mindsets and new cultures.

A good leader takes people to places those people have never been to before. A great leader takes people to places neither they nor she has ever been to before. She is navigating the unknown and inspiring others to follow.

What is your vision through and beyond Covid-19?                                                                                                                         
What new technology are you using, how many creative ideas do you have for leading your future?

Dimis Michaelides                          
Keynote speaker, author, trainer and consultant in Leadership, Creativity & Innovation.
www.dimis.org                                                                                               [email protected]

​​A humble invisible pathogen is revealing many truths about leadership.

Speed matters. Covid-19 spreads fast because it multiplies with normal human interaction. Controlling its outcomes calls for fast decisions not planning bureaus. This does not mean action without thinking, it means fast thinking and fast action. Moving ahead imperfectly is better than perfectly stalling, good leaders have already understood this.

Versatility matters. Leaders should be both authoritative and empowering. There are moments for barking out orders and moments of sharing opinions, moments where micro-management is crucial and moments where it is best to hand over full control. Adaptability is surely a mark of good leadership.

Co-operation matters. Even the most rugged individualists accept that the challenge of the day can only be confronted by working with other people, other organizations, other communities, other countries, sharing know-how and solutions. A spirit of compassion and collaboration goes much farther than one of competition and confrontation. Good leaders profoundly understand this and act giving credence to virtue or αρετή as described by Plato in ancient Athens. 

In what ways are you co-operating with others in the heyday of the coronavirus?

Dimis Michaelides                          
Keynote speaker, author, trainer and consultant in Leadership, Creativity & Innovation.
www.dimis.org                                                                                                                   [email protected]

 Covid-19, a microscopic piece of genetic material, is testing our leadership.

Competence matters. In the midst of our crisis today we turn to the leadership of experts – epidemiologists, researchers, pharmacologists, doctors, health professionals, food producers, food distributors, refuse collectors, public utilities. We turn to political leaders, company leaders, community leaders, volunteers, family and so many more. 

Character matters. Whether our leaders are considerate or brutal, honest or duplicitous, co-operative or combative, altruistic or narcissistic is very important.

Trust matters, and it matters more than ever, and trust is at its highest when leadership combines high competence with good character.

We matter too, you and I. Our own personal leadership skills are tested as we take on new responsibilities and make decisions that affect ourselves and others in situations that are new for everybody.

Think about this, dear reader: How are you exercising your leadership skills in the heyday of the coronavirus?

Dimis Michaelides  
Keynote speaker, author, trainer and consultant in Leadership, Creativity & Innovation.
www.dimis.org                                                                                                                         [email protected]

A private company in a capitalist system will innovate by starting up a new enterprise, or by improving its products and services, or by launching new products and services, or by extending its markets, or by reducing its cost base, or by changing its business model, strategy and structure. In competitive systems, private companies are learning to adapt to faster change because the alternative is to wither and die.

Government has many roles in innovation.
First, a direct role in innovation through public institutions such as universities and research centers. Government can undertake fundamental research which has large costs and few immediate commercial benefits like the large Hadron collider, space travel and renewable energy. Or it can subsidize such research or promising areas. Mariana Mazzucato, a public innovation expert, has shown how 6 of the 8 most important features of the first smartphone (Apple’s i-phone) were generated by government or with public funds. 

Second, government is an essential part of the ecosystem for Innovation.