“Whether it’s responding to a slow burn issue, a critical incident, a natural disaster, or a combination of incidents, leaders need to overcome their autonomous responses, much like first responders.”
This was the assertion made by Jarrod Wilson when the chief executive of Sydney-headquartered risk management firm Dynamiq examined organisations in terms of how they have responded amid the coronavirus crisis.
According to Wilson, businesses and their leaders are either optimised, proactive, or reactive.
The CEO said the first type activated their COVID-19 responses early and in many cases even ahead of the declaration of the global pandemic. These are the companies that worked to their well-defined, practiced, and cohesive roles.
The proactive type, meanwhile, reacted quickly because of recent training and exercising; and the third – as the name suggests – either reacted as problems arose or became overwhelmed and failed due to not having planned an approach for managing disruptions or significant events.
“An interesting point to note is the size of the organisation has not really had much impact on its capacity,” stated Wilson. “Optimised, proactive, or reactive organisations have the same opportunities to survive and thrive in this environment.
“Just as with a first responder who trains through the body’s natural physiological responses, so to can an organisation train through to success. Once the skills are acquired, it is all down to training, exposure, and confidence in the body or the organisation’s muscle memory and trust, whether in individual skills or the leadership of the team.”
