After beating the virus, we are heading for another war

Yesterday, the Prime Minister addressed the nation for the third time in less than a month. For the moment, let us keep aside our personal and political assessment of what he said.

Let us imagine he was a CEO addressing over a billion employees. Was the communication clear? Check! Did it have a strategic intent? Check! Was there widespread curiosity before the address? Check! Was there a surprise element, an unexpected announcement? Check! Is it likely to have a lasting impact? Check!

Would something like this be a good template (again without getting into the content) for a CEO’s address during a crisis situation? What do you think?

The new normal will be anything but

Recently, a real-life CEO briefed me about the plight of a leading travel agency in the country.

After it started in the mid-1990s, this agency had registered steady growth. The number of employees and offices went up steadily to keep pace. Every year, 40% of the company’s business happened between March and July.

Last February, for obvious reasons, a large tour they had organized to China got cancelled. Instead, the company offered a tour to Japan. That too was cancelled. So was a third option to Eastern Europe. Now, the customers were demanding refunds.

A travel agency needs to work with 10 to 15 partners (including hotels and airlines) to put a tour in place. All of them are paid in advance.

After the series of cancellations, as they were busy pacifying agitated customers, they were also trying to figure out how to pay salaries.

This situation is not limited to the travel agency. The scene is being repeated in various forms across domains. We are not dealing with a natural calamity, where we hope to return to normal after the waters have receded or the debris cleared. Gone is the normal where liquidity was on tap even when there were dozens of leaks on account of defaults.

Steady growth was our normal right from the time of liberalization through the digital boom and rapid globalization. Presently, there is no normal anywhere in the globe. There is nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape. Neither is an option. The helping hands are largely missing. You are on your own.

There will be blood, but we shall heal

We have no option but to beat the virus and beat it we shall. After we get out of our homes, we will be heading for war, to save our corporate lives, to save jobs and to save our economy. There will be blood on the balance sheets. We will fight, we will win, and we will heal and help heal. But it will take time and strategy.

I am grateful to all the experts who have been sharing “how-to” tips to help businesses get back on track. However, I doubt if there is one solution that would fit all.

The founder or the top leader will need to be the Field Marshal. He or she will need to have a clear vision. A core team will need to translate that vision into strategy suitable for implementation in various sectors. Small groups of soldiers, high on morale and well-equipped, will carry out the fight (some in person, some via video conferencing) to regain lost ground, inch by determined inch.

Technology will play a huge role. Collaboration will be an essential requirement and will involve reaching out to whoever has the expertise that you need across the globe. You will have to destroy the old silos that are still standing. Trust will be the new currency and empowerment will be your primary engine.

You will communicate more often than before. You will need to communicate to your own people as intensely and as frequently as you are used to doing to your customers. There is no way you will win this war by hiring a few designations. You will need your people, who have been with you for long, to be on your side. Your communication will be the essential glue that will keep them together and with you.

You may pick your device to rally your troops. Do you want to lead them in clapping out your war cry? Or will you light a lamp to keep the lurking gloom at bay?