Battling Corona Crisis Warrants Effective Communication Across Levels

The leaders of today need empathy and agility to guide their organizations through a crisis, says leadership development expert Suresh Nathan, the managing director of DDI Singapore. And moving into the future, they must accept the concept of collective leadership and creating new commonalities

- Mint Kang

Sureish Nathan, the Managing Director of leadership development consultancy DDI Singapore, has spent over 25 years in leadership development, executive education, and HR across the Asia Pacific, including running his own consultancy. People Matters asked Suresh for his thoughts about how leadership is changing in today's world, and what traits they will need to lead effectively during this period of crisis.

Here are the highlights of the conversation.

We are in the middle of an unprecedented global crisis today. What are some leadership strategies that work well for managing this situation?

One critical thing is to ensure that you have leadership at every level of the organization. You need that in order to get your message out and keep reinforcing it. Communication is essential. And in times like this, you have to over-communicate and keep communicating. You have to mobilize the people, go right down to the grassroots, and ensure that people are able to self-manage. The only way to do that is through communication.

Individual leaders need to conduct themselves with authenticity. The way you communicate has to resonate with people. You can’t say one thing and do another.

COVID-19 is accelerating changes in the world of work, and leaders must evolve their approach to effectively guide their organizations through this crisis and into the changing landscape that will follow