Post Lockdown: A Leadership Compass

The writing is on the wall. Globally. Post lockdown, we will enter a new world. As did Alice in Wonderland.

This will include every Alex too.

Navigating this new world will be leaders – none of whom have experienced a similar crisis. A World War of sorts.

 Some of the lessons from history could serve as a New Age Leadership Compass. At least for the introductory phase of any organization’s life cycle, post lockdown.

Here are the recommended features of a Leadership Compass, for this unique introductory phase:

1. Question every assumption you have worked with in the past – economic; social; political; technological; business; market; customer.
2. What are the New Age assumptions?
3. Understand the changed (or anticipated) customer behaviour.
4. Design innovative (simple) products / services to satisfy customer needs.
5. Design innovative (simple) processes to deliver the designed products / services.
6. Empower employees by putting them in a state of self-control, on the designed processes.
7. Nurture suppliers to improve their process(es) performance.

All this is possible with three cardinal leadership policies:

1. Customer first
2. Customer first
3. Customer first.

Remember….the customer pays your salary.

Random Thoughts

1. The metamorphosis of Japan from a shattered economy to a benchmark one, for manufacturing, was led by the Emperor of Japan.
2. Japan, a shattered economy post World War 2, chose Quality as a strategy to survive and succeed.
3. Japan became a mature supplier of quality goods, post the OPEC crisis, in the mid-1970s.
4. China chose Quantity as a strategy five decades ago.
5. The backbone of the US economy has been, and is, manufacture for Defence.
6. Can India emerge, post lockdown, as the global benchmark for Healthcare (Tourism), Education and ITES?