{"id":3173,"date":"2020-07-31T13:57:01","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T13:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thefinanceghost.com\/?p=3173"},"modified":"2020-07-31T13:57:01","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T13:57:01","slug":"courage-through-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefinanceghost.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/31\/courage-through-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Courage Through Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

I<\/span>t\u2019s a difficult word, courage. Brimming with emotive imagery, it unleashes thoughts of what you would do if you were plunged into the situations that heroes find themselves in.<\/p>\n

Getting to grips with the concept of courage requires us to consider potential scenarios that we hope won\u2019t come to pass. These scenarios sometimes become reality, which is when crisis sets in.<\/p>\n

\u201cCourage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions.\u201d \u00ad\u2013 C.S. Lewis<\/em><\/p>\n

The fallout of Covid-19 has turned everyone into a potential superhero. It has nothing to do with corporate hierarchies before the crisis or even social status, as heroes across the spectrum have stepped up to the challenge.<\/p>\n

The finest heroes are altruistic, of course. They give without expectation of receiving recognition or reward. You won\u2019t often find such heroes in a corporate environment, but they do exist.<\/p>\n

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Courage isn\u2019t the same as good PR<\/h4>\n

Most leaders see the opportunity to build brand equity through actions that are popular in the court of public opinion. An excellent example of this would be Outsurance\u2019s decision to pay business interruption claims at a time when competitors like Santam stubbornly decided not to.<\/p>\n

Whether this is genuinely reflective of Outsurance\u2019s approach to claims or not, there is no doubt that they polished the brand quite magnificently in the world of social media. Santam, in stark contrast, tarnished years of investment in their \u201cInsurance: Good and Proper\u201d tagline.<\/p>\n

To make it worse, it has subsequently become unavoidable for them to pay a significant proportion of the claims, so the brand damage has been accompanied by financial loss anyway.<\/p>\n

Courage must be authentic<\/h4>\n

Courage doesn\u2019t have to be altruistic, but it must be genuine. Employees and customers quickly see right through any attempts to window-dress a corporate culture in a time of crisis. Once a leader has been found out as an empty vessel, there is no coming back.<\/p>\n

Authenticity is only possible when your actions align with your purpose. When you are driven from the very depths of your soul to do something, otherwise insurmountable barriers become hurdles that can be overcome.<\/p>\n

You need to act with confidence even when you don\u2019t have the answers. This isn\u2019t possible unless your actions accord with your moral fibre.<\/p>\n

The very livelihoods of your staff members depend on your ability to navigate the toughest economic times we\u2019ve seen in a century. Nobody ever said that leadership was easy, but the challenge is exponentially higher when the world is burning.<\/p>\n

Empathy as the foundation<\/h4>\n

Courageous leadership is built on empathy. Everyone\u2019s circumstances are different, but the new world has thrown personal and corporate needs into a melting pot. This reality is going to stick to some extent as well, as many employees see the incredible value in working from home.<\/p>\n

Leaders who take the time to understand each person\u2019s needs will create loyalty that money cannot buy. Encouraging individuality and demonstrating trust will build employee goodwill, which is the ultimate retention tool.<\/p>\n

Resilience as the strongest competitive advantage<\/h4>\n

Industries are fluid. Technology is accelerating at a rate we\u2019ve never seen before. Today\u2019s competitive advantages may not be remotely relevant next year.<\/p>\n

The only true differentiator is your people. Companies that retain their most important minds are best placed to adapt and grow, navigating the trials that are constantly faced by market leaders and challengers alike.<\/p>\n

This crisis is a golden opportunity to build resilience into the fabric of your company culture. Respecting individualism and encouraging communication will empower your staff members to feel safe and valued, which will be rewarded for years to come.<\/p>\n

Retrenchments as the ultimate destroyer of culture<\/h4>\n

Sometimes, companies have no choice. If it\u2019s a case of retrench or liquidate, then it\u2019s difficult to argue that this isn\u2019t the right course of action.<\/p>\n

In many cases, companies are simply being opportunistic. A corporate workforce that was bloated can easily be culled under these circumstances using Covid-19 as the rationale. This is a cowardly decision by a management team who allowed the bloatedness in the first place, instead of managing things properly.<\/p>\n

This might do wonders for the income statement in 2021, but what happens in the years thereafter?<\/p>\n

Retrenchments hurt. Cultures are ripped apart. Everyone becomes paranoid and even those who are unaffected spend a lot of time questioning their futures with the company.<\/p>\n

You cannot retrench your way to resilience. Only courageous, authentic leadership can get you there.<\/p>\n

This article is a collaborative effort between The Finance Ghost and\u00a0Arete Advisors<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 all rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a difficult word, courage. Brimming with emotive imagery, it unleashes thoughts of what you would do if you were plunged into the situations that heroes find themselves in. Getting to grips with the concept of courage requires us to consider potential scenarios that we hope won\u2019t come to pass. These scenarios sometimes become reality, which is when crisis sets …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,26],"tags":[244,245,140,243],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefinanceghost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3173"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefinanceghost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefinanceghost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefinanceghost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefinanceghost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thefinanceghost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefinanceghost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefinanceghost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefinanceghost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefinanceghost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}