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WELCOME TO WHIPLASH LEADERSHIP

After several pandemic waves and now the delta variant, experts worry that
employees won’t believe leadership pronouncements. 


Home
 1. Insights
 2. This Week In Leadership

FOR MORE EXPERT INSIGHTS

Peter McDermott

Senior Client Partner, Global Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations

Paul Lambert

Senior Client Partner

David Vied

Global Sector Leader,
Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Andrés Tapia

Senior Client Partner, Global DE&I Strategist

Juan Pablo Gonzalez

Senior Client Partner, Sector Leader, Professional Services

“The conference is downtown in September.”

“Actually, the conference will be in November, online.”

“Our office reopens on the 15th!”

“We’ve decided to postpone our office return indefinitely.”

“Vaccines are not required.”

“Please get vaccinated by September 27th or we will consider dismissals.”

Welcome to whiplash leadership. For more than a year a half, organization
leaders have had to switch plans around on their staffs as one pandemic wave
after another struck. Now, with the delta variant of the virus reshuffling the
deck yet again—just as a “new normal” had appeared to be approaching—a growing
number of experts worry that leadership credibility is plunging.

Repeated corporate reversals and backtracking can cost firms dearly. “What’s at
stake is the entire reputation of the company, trust in corporate leadership,
and in turn the brand,” says Peter McDermott, a Korn Ferry senior client partner
who specializes in global corporate affairs and investor relations. He says
that’s important because leaders can potentially reach a “tipping point” where
stakeholders ranging from employees to investors and the press lose trust. “From
there,” he says, “the negative commercial implications can be extremely
challenging to turn around.”

McDermott says he is sympathetic to the challenge of making decisions based on
dynamics beyond an organization’s control. But the whiplash is also fueled by a
long history of training executives to be bold leaders who make clear,
declarative statements with tangible deadlines. This alone has caused numerous
reversals and cancellations. “A lot of leaders feel that they have to look
strong, which means not changing their minds,” says Paul Lambert, a Korn Ferry
senior client partner in London. That outcome is broadly on display, where
leaders don’t change plans until the evidence overwhelmingly indicates that a
reversal is necessary.

For their part, employees and customers are swiftly losing tolerance for change.
When the initial pandemic outbreak shut down public life, analysts say people
understood sudden disruptions. When restaurants and offices opened and closed
repeatedly in early 2021, people tolerated repeated reversals from school
districts, townships, health authorities, and numerous other organizations. But
this latest round of reopenings followed by the delta variant surge has pushed
people to the edge. Many are dealing with “information overload, tremendous
fatigue, and a yen for stability,” says David Vied, Korn Ferry’s global sector
leader for medical devices and diagnostics. Surveys this month capture a
widespread morale problem: eurozone investor morale is at a three-month low
point, dropping 25% from last month, and the consumer sentiment index just
plunged to its lowest level in a decade, dropping 13% in one month to levels
below April 2020, when the virus surge began.

The solutions here are not easy. Leaders can regain some control by emphasizing
the values and principles driving decisions, which allow employees and staff to
see a common thread from decision to decision. At many firms, the pandemic
values that have developed are safety, agility, and caution, so staffers expect
decisions that prioritize health, likely decided on slower timelines, which may
require nimbleness. “With consistent values, people will work with you even when
decisions change, and you retain some social capital,” says Lambert.

Smart leaders are buying themselves extra wiggle room by inserting ambiguity
into their messaging. “Leaders can preface new statements with more
uncertainty,” says Andrés Tapia, global diversity and inclusion strategist at
Korn Ferry. He suggests a general template: “What you say is, ‘We’ve got to make
a decision on this. Here’s what we know, here’s what we don’t know, so here’s
what we’re doing.’”.

Many experts also say less concrete messaging is advisable. “Resist the urge to
be declarative unless it’s necessary,” says Juan Pablo Gonzalez, Korn Ferry’s
sector leader for professional services. He is a fan of postponement in
uncertain times: “It’s always easier to postpone a decision than it is to undo
it. Undoing is much more disruptive.”

RELATED ARTICLES

 * This Week in Leadership (Aug 23 - Apr 29)
 * The New Top Job Qualification: Vaccinated


INSIGHTS TO YOUR INBOX

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