Leadership Reflections: Showing up as a Leader during the Pandemic

About this Questionnaire

The pandemic and the next wave we are currently going through has asked a lot of leaders, both on the personal and the professional front. While the challenges from the pandemic will slowly recede, the abilities and leadership lessons learned will need to be enduring, to lead in a more purposeful way for your teams, business, communities, and the planet. Many shifts are here to stay – whether it is the hybrid models of working across office and home, or how you engage with your customers and employees, or your business model itself. We urge leaders to use this self-reflection tool to introspect on how you showed up as a leader over the last year and to strengthen your abilities in these areas. This we believe will make a huge difference in the future.
The questionnaire covers 4 leadership elements:
  1. Purpose: Creating and clarifying purpose for yourself and others.
  2. Emotional Strength and Caring: Managing yourself and the well-being of others.
  3. Resilience and Future Focus: Recovering quickly from setbacks to focus on what lies ahead.
  4. People Pivot: Working with trust, and leading and supporting teams differently and positively.

How to use this questionnaire

  • Answer the questions. Your frame of reference should be the last 12-13 months.
  • Use the six-point rating scale to respond to each statement. Reflect on your actions and behaviours over the last year as you do so
0: Not applicable4: Often or frequently
1: Almost never or negligible5: Almost always or to a large extent
2: A few times6: Always and consistently
3: Sometimes or the average norm
  • Use your answers to identify actions to be more effective as a leader of the future. Ask your peers and team members to do the survey and share outcomes with each other to build a better organisation.
  • The outcome of this questionnaire will guide you towards possible areas that would add to your leadership impact (with minor to significant shifts you may need to make). If all or the majority of your executive team is taking the survey, the impetus would be even greater.
0: NOT APPLICABLE | 1: ALMOST NEVER OR NEGLIGIBLE | 2: A FEW TIMES | 3: SOMETIMES OR THE AVERAGE NORM | 4: OFTEN OR FREQUENTLY | 5: ALMOST ALWAYS OR TO A LARGE EXTENT | 6: ALWAYS AND CONSISTENTLY0
N
A
123456
I. PURPOSE: CREATING AND CLARIFYING PURPOSE FOR YOURSELF AND OTHERS
1I clarified priorities and charted a clear course for the team and myself while adapting to changes in the external and internal environment
2I have shared our purpose and priorities with my teams and stakeholders through these uncertain times
3I have spent time clarifying the WHY of our actions and decisions to all our stakeholders
4I have used my learning and reflections from the pandemic to re-purpose my work and that of my team /business
5I have strived to help those in need - be it our employees, our customers and communities or other stakeholders
6I have tried to manage our business differently w.r.t people, customers and communities
7I have defined new priorities for the business and the team that have helped us to adapt to challenges and opportunities
II. EMOTIONAL STRENGTH AND CARING: MANAGING YOURSELF AND THE WELL-BEING OF OTHERS
8I was aware of my anxieties over the last one year and sought support to manage the same
9I demonstrated care and empathy for those who were anxious or stressed due to the various consequences of the pandemic
10I took the time to connect and listen to people in my team, both in groups and individually, to understand what they were experiencing
11I recognise and consider that the pandemic and its impact have affected people in different ways
12I have shared bad news and uncertainty in a transparent manner and been available to answer the difficult questions
13I have been realistic, yet positive in my communication
14I have been able to stay calm and composed while dealing with challenges during the pandemic
0: NOT APPLICABLE | 1: ALMOST NEVER OR NEGLIGIBLE | 2: A FEW TIMES | 3: SOMETIMES OR THE AVERAGE NORM | 4: OFTEN OR FREQUENTLY | 5: ALMOST ALWAYS OR TO A LARGE EXTENT | 6: ALWAYS AND CONSISTENTLY0
N
A
123456
III. RESILIENCE AND FUTURE FOCUS: RECOVERING QUICKLY FROM SETBACKS TO FOCUS ON WHAT LIES AHEAD
15I have created means of getting current and accurate information from our employees, customers, partners and suppliers
16I have taken specific actions to recognise/acknowledge new challenges in the past year and in the current wave and energize those around me
17I have been flexible to change decisions and plans to act on new information and needs that have come our way
18I have invested in understanding the changing needs of employees, customers, suppliers through this period
19I have been able to pivot the work of the team/business based on these changing needs
20I have identified the needs and risks of working remotely and addressed many of these adequately for all stakeholders
21I have reflected on and identified new skills and abilities that I need to be a more effective leader in the future
22I have taken action to develop my abilities and make personal changes to lead my teams more effectively through the past year
23My decisions and actions during the past year have stemmed from the inputs and opinions of those close to the ground
24I have been able to balance the well-being of my employees with the pressure to keep the business running effectively
IV. PEOPLE PIVOT: WORKING WITH TRUST, AND LEADING AND SUPPORTING TEAMS DIFFERENTLY AND POSITIVELY
25I have empowered and distributed decision making and leadership to work in a more agile and effective manner (been open to new possibilities rather than only replicating earlier ways)
26I have paid attention to the emotional well-being of my people and our teams in the earlier and current wave of the pandemic
27I have ensured that we take extraordinary effort to welcome, support and integrate new hires at all levels and those in new roles
28I have helped people managers to transition to managing their teams in a caring and effective manner in a remote/hybrid/uncertain environment
29I have been able to easily trust people and their commitment during WFH/remote/hybrid working
30I have believed, in good faith, that my team and colleagues will deliver work of high quality and competence even without direct supervision and physical contact.
31I no longer believe that working together or collaborating effectively means being in the same place or face-to-face