It’s almost the weekend…lock down weekend ten, I think! Where is the time going? It’s flying by but at the same time, pre Covid-19 seems like a lifetime ago. Quick shout out to everyone who is reading this…THANK YOU!
I hope each and everyone of you get something out of this, be it a little motivation, positivity or just some camaraderie that none of us are immune to the challenges that come with this pandemic.
Here goes this week’s Just a Journal #14 focusing on just one hot topic – LEADERSHIP
Now is the time to shine, this is when you need to dig deep and use all of your leadership skills to navigate your way through this crisis. True leaders are emerging from this crisis and hour actions now will directly impact how your colleagues, team and wider network view you in the future.
One of the world’s most respected leaders is Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand. She’s widely lauded by many for her decisive leadership and response to world events including the Christchurch massacre in 2019. She intuitively leads her nation, takes seismic and huge decisions swiftly and doesn’t miss a beat.
Her response to C-19 championed a different strategy to that of her neighbouring Australia. As a relatively young PM, it would have been an easier route to follow the established practices of other nations. But no, New Zealand, led by Ardern, embraced an elimination strategy rather than a suppression strategy (the ‘flatten the curve’ approach of most nations).
In other words, she shut down New Zealand…fast! Ardern heeded the advice of medical experts to act quickly, followed her gut and put her neck on the line. It worked. Today, at the time of writing, New Zealand has reported one new case and one person is being treated in hospital bringing the total number of cases to 1,154 with 97% recovery rate ( https://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/media-releases/1-new-confirmed-case-covid-19-0 )
This week restaurants are open, childcare facilities are operating and even cinemas are back in business. Ardern’s leadership was decisive, humane and brilliant.
(screen shot taken from New Zealand, Ministry of Health news release tab)
NEW CHARACTERISTICS OF LEADERSHIP:
One of the benefits of this lock down is the quality of events that are now online and accessible, all from the comfort of our homes – no travel, no expensive tickets, no over-nights.
This week, I tuned into the PRCA Virtual Summit which had an international roster of incredible speakers. Bob Pickard, Principal, Signal Leadership Communications Inc spoke on ‘Forces of change in global public relations and the rising importance of PR for effective leadership’.
Outlining the HOT and NOT list for leaders, benchmark yourself against Bob’s ‘HOT’ criteria below. In which category do you fall?
Bob’s HOT list:
Authentic, informative, two-way communications are what’s needed now. It’s not too late…we’re in this for the long-haul.
AN ASK TO YOU
Over the last two months, internal communications from leaders and organisations has never been more vital. Internal comms has often been viewed as the poor relation in communications but this pandemic has changed this…potentially forever.
Communicating with your team (remember the one you often called ‘your greatest asset’?) is incredibly important. In a bid to assess the quality of communications between employers and their employees, and how they have resonated here in Northern Ireland, RNN Communications has teamed up with Women in PR to create the Comms and Covid-19 survey.
If you’ve got 5 minutes, we’d love for you to take part in the survey and be in with a chance of winning an evening under the stars at Finn Lough. Take the survey here:
www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/commsandcovid-19
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And that’s it for Just a Journal from Riki #14. Regardless of the size of your team or your position, leadership is a quality that can always be improved upon.
Over and out for Just a Journal by Riki #14 Is anyone reading this? If so, feel free to comment and ask Qs…all feedback welcome! Stay safe all. This too shall pass.