How to be an effective leader during Covid-19

Excerpted from Albany Business Review By Melissa Fiorenza

While you may already be an excellent employee and leader during times of crisis, chances are, a crisis of epic proportions—a global pandemic—was never on the syllabus back in school.

That changes now.

“The economic impact of shutting down for months, employees having to adjust to such a tremendous change, the financial implications of pandemic-related federal policies — these are all critical topics that we’ll be dealing with for years to come in Siena’s MBA program,” says Erik R. Eddy, Ph.D., professor of management and executive director of the Institute for Leadership Development at Siena College.

For now, what’s a leader to do? Here is Eddy’s guidance.

Q: What are three strategies leaders should be employing right now?

1. Communicate. 2. Communicate. 3. Communicate.

Research shows that leaders don’t communicate enough under typical conditions. Under these extraordinary conditions, lack of communication can negatively impact satisfaction, motivation, and performance. Leaders must reach out in a variety of ways (emails, phone calls, group meetings, individual conferences) to discuss the vision for the “new normal” of working during a pandemic and ensure that they’re providing the appropriate levels of support and encouragement.

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