Leadership Through COVID-19

Managers need to be strong leaders during both financially stable and unstable periods of time, while accommodating for all kinds of demographics.  Although COVID-19 has created a state of financial uncertainty for everyone, managers are able to step up and be accommodating to all members of their workforce.

Costello, T., & Williams, P. (2010). Managing Through Hard Times. History News, 65(2), 1-8. Retrieved April 23, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/42655443

After analyzing this article on museums pushing through a crisis, Costello and Williams explain a step by step guide on how to keep the business succeeding through the hard times. They explain each step the manager or board of directors should take, and give thorough detail on each individual recommendation. The main strategy mentioned involves “cutting through not cutting back,” which is the method of taking programs away that aren’t creating much income, and pushing forward with the more successful ones. The goal for the business is to look in the future, and not in the current crisis your business is in.

D’Auria, G., & Smet, A. D. (2020). Leadership in a crisis: Responding to the coronavirus outbreak and future challenges. McKinsey Insights, N.PAG.

This article demonstrates ways a manager of a company can respond effectively during a crisis, and have their employees stay faithful to both them and the company.  Having a network of teams allows the company to maintain stability and promote everyone to help problem solve during any crisis.  This also gives companies a chance to step back and find other ways to problem solve, before they attempt something that was successful in the past under different circumstances.  Leaders also need to remain calm deliberately in order to help keep a calm environment during a highly stressful circumstance.  Leaders should always demonstrate empathy, but it is critical during a pandemic, where people are going to be more worried about their loved ones.  We will use this article to demonstrate how leaders can be effective during a crisis.

Eblin, S. (2020). A Crisis Leadership Playbook. Government Executive, N.PAG.

The pandemic has tested managers to achieve the next level of action, requiring new strategies for new results during this crisis. Eblin describes three imperatives that encourage effective leadership by managing yourself, have leverage on the team, and motivate them to be engaged. Working from the inside out is to focus on yourself, and then benefit the rest is critical as everyone is impacted by the pandemic differently. Stressing about the unpredictable future can cause damage to yourself and surroundings, but focusing on the present and creating more connections with those around can strengthen the leadership role.

Embracing the suck. (2020). Economist, 434(9186), 58.

The article describes that communication is important in a crisis. Having a clear message to your employees can help staff be calm through the crisis. Being quiet about the company’s plans would not be a good strategy because it would leave the staff unsure of their job. Having good communication to your staff can help ease their worry and uncertainty. The importance of communication is highly regarded in this article.  This article will help us with how communication through a crisis can help managers ease te uncertainty their staff is feeling.

Hauser, C. (2020). From Preaching to Behavioral Change: Fostering Ethics and Compliance Learning in the Workplace. Journal of Business Ethics, 162(4), 835–855. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.wwu.edu/10.1007/s10551-019-04364-9

Within the modern workplace ethics has taken a huge step into the spotlight. While good ethical practice grows more and more prevalent, there remains a divide between the current state of compliance ethics training and the potential they could have to make an even greater impact. Combated by the modern day’s training, corrupt practices in upper management have been prevented in increasing amounts every day. With the implementation of incentives to prevent corruption such as mitigation of fines and even reduction in sentences by the United States Sentencing Commission, there are driving factors that can help connect good ethical business practice to the everyday workplace.

In the current state of the world, stretched dollars and tighter wallets produce great strain on the economic market. This paper can hold a great deal of value in the processes of determining the best ways to reach business professionals and most effectively teach them the ethics and compliance practices that can be used universally. This makes this source invaluable in our paper, as the current state of the world shows that increasing tension and stress can lead to breaches in morality from many in the community.

Costello, T., & Williams, P. (2010). Managing Through Hard Times. History News, 65(2), 1-8. Retrieved April 23, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/42655443

D’Auria, G., & Smet, A. D. (2020). Leadership in a crisis: Responding to the coronavirus outbreak and future challenges. McKinsey Insights, N.PAG.

Dfalliance. (2020, April 3). The COVID-19 Crisis Provides an Extraordinary Opportunity for Business Leaders. Retrieved from https://dfalliance.com/covid-19-crisis-opportunity-leaders/

Eblin, S. (2020). A Crisis Leadership Playbook. Government Executive, N.PAG.

Embracing the suck. (2020). Economist, 434(9186), 58.

Hauser, C. (2020). From Preaching to Behavioral Change: Fostering Ethics and Compliance Learning in the Workplace. Journal of Business Ethics, 162(4), 835–855. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.wwu.edu/10.1007/s10551-019-04364-9

Team Name: Business Crew

Team members:

Ashley Driscoll

Danny Hassler

Anna Roth

AJ Barrett

Austin Cootey

*Equal contribution