In part five of the Small Business Survival Toolkit series, Professor Caren Scheepers addresses the subject of leadership and crisis in a Covid era.
Compiled by Tarren Bolton
Caren Scheepers is a Professor in Contextual Leadership; Organisational Design and Gender Studies and management consultant who has worked in various environments – the financial sector, e-commerce start-ups and international consulting environments across industries, which have allowed her to pursue her interest in improving performance of individuals, teams and organisations.
For the past six years, as an independent consultant, she has been involved with significant improvement of the performance of executives and executive teams. She lectures at various Business Schools on Leadership and Team Development, Emotional Intelligence, The People Factor, Change Management and CRM.
Caren is very passionate about leadership in the Covid era and has some practical advice about mapping. “There are four things that you need to map as a small business owner,” says Caren. “These are: seasons; people; capabilities; and processes.”
Mapping seasons
Caren says that as a psychologist and executive coach, as well as a lecturer at GIBS, she finds it helpful when her clients look at the world as a rhythm. There is a rhythm to life, and if we take the seasons as an example, we see that any one of them is temporary. She says that the same can be said of Covid – it is useful for our collective psyche and our collective internal ‘climate’ to think of Covid as having boundaries. Do not lose hope. As a business owner and leader, your job is to lead and to bring hope. The times we are living in now are all about having compassion – for self and for the people working with us.
Leadership is about having hindsight, insight, and foresight. The Covid situation is a marathon, not a sprint. The same aftermath of the pandemic is everywhere. But you can have two businesses in exactly the same industry, with the same situations, but one leader will see it as an opportunity and the other one as a threat. So how you perceive your ‘context influencers’, and how much have you stepped into the role as leader? To what extent are you taking advantage of the ‘season’ we find ourselves in? You need to think about these questions, and don’t give up. Make it a habit of interpreting setbacks as temporary – as seasonal.
Mapping people
It is important to think about the way that we respond to trauma (and the pandemic was definitely a trauma suffered by all). We need to enhance our mental toughness. Think of that fork in the road. There is always a choice. “I wonder what stories will we tell our children and their children about life in the time of Covid? Will we be able to say that it was a time when we actually improved and strengthened our relationships with others and realised that life itself should be appreciated? What new doors may have been opened due to Covid? A sign of a good leader is one who treats people with respect. Let’s rather make positivity infectious – let’s help people to think like optimists in this time,” says Caren, adding that people are hungry for encouragement and inspiration.
Mapping capability
A word used in entrepreneurship research is ‘effectuation’, which means that you actually use what you have. Use the resources and the context (situation) that you already have, and you make something with it. This may mean having to ‘evolve’ your capabilities to make your business work.
“Use the resources and the context (situation) that you already have, and you make something with it.”
Mapping the process
Imagine your business going through a turnaround. Stabilise the financials and then hopefully there will be growth again and you’ll be at the point you were before the decline. Don’t underestimate the power of the mind – often, the physical turnaround is a result of a psychological turnaround.
“What happens with a decline in the financials and the profits is that there’s also a decline in confidence. And that’s crucial for leaders to realise. Leaders need to rebuild confidence in order to rebuild growth. So what can we do? We need to create channels for more and better communication. Leaders need to reassure people – about the business values, not just the reassurance of having a job.
Create more opportunities for discussion and forums and get people to realise that bad times are only temporary. This will pass, so let’s look ahead, let’s have foresight about what’s coming our way,” concludes Caren.
