Leadership not easy in crisis: expert

According to Monika Rajska-Wolińska, managing partner of Colliers International in Poland, the COVID-19 pandemic has faced a huge challenge for all leaders. For a large number of them it is probably the most difficult moment in their professional career and the largest leadership test. The difficulty of the current situation is that none of us has ever dealt with a crisis of this nature and scale.

“Communication is really the key. Information is the basis of communication, which in crisis times becomes even more important than usual. Leaders should be active and always visible. This is especially important in a situation in which most companies in Poland and in the world found themselves, switching to a remote work model on a mass scale,” Rajska-Wolińska stresses.

In her opinion, it’s ignorance which is the foundation of fear. This, in turn, is destructive for mental comfort and disrupts our functioning, which obviously translates into how we work.

“The biggest challenge and real test for leaders while working remotely is to keep the company and team working at full speed. Technical preparation alone is not enough. We will pass this exam only if we are able to maintain energy and strength in people. And here managers have a huge role to play,” Colliers International adds.

She emphasizes that each crisis is a time to test and demonstrate our management skills in practice. But also what kind of people we are. In addition to trust, leaders should also show empathy and carefully listen to their employees to skillfully diagnose team moods. Companies should also learn from the current situation how important it is to build organizational culture.

“There is a sentence that I remember very strongly and inspires me in my daily work, especially now: a good leader makes his people feel good with him, but a real leader makes sure that people feel good alone together,” Monika Rajska-Wolińska sums up.

(WBJ)