In daily conversations with senior leaders, I’ve listened to insightful accounts of our modern dilemma.

 At the risk of merely adding to the volumes of opinion or stating the obvious, business, social and economic patterns are changing at an unprecedented rate; resilience is being tested on a global scale.  While it’s a challenge to remain agile even when you’ve planned for it, clearly the world has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in ways for which we were not ready.

The new pressure for resilience goes beyond business continuity to the very strength of our nation and stability in the world. In recent guidance to the Department of Homeland Security, President Trump urges most of you, leaders of our nation’s critical infrastructure, affirming your “special responsibility to maintain your normal work schedule.”

For our team at Vetergy, this call to continue operations despite volatility, uncertainty and fear is an intriguing parallel to our experiences in combat operations. To prevail, we have learned that leaders must:

1. Remain optimistic, confident, and grounded, modeling the organization’s values
2. Resist the tendency to abandon time-tested rules and standards
3. Simplify, prioritize and communicate results that matter most
4. Keep the long-view vision in focus even during short-term encounters
5. Seek out innovative and diverse ideas
6. Over communicate, not knowing the answer is ok
7. Decentralize decision-making to the point of expertise
8. Work together and expand capability through partnerships
9. Start learning right away

On a brighter note, it is also certain this will end, and we will return to stability. The opportunity in our circumstances is to learn, adapt and build a new normal better than when this started. New operating paradigms are emerging. And although it feels early, now is the time to start learning.

In the coming weeks and months Vetergy will leverage our global network to gather professionals and share best practices through traditional communications and virtual events. We are working to launch new web series in human factors, leadership and culture in order to help keep the long-view in sight. And, we have also partnered with a research team from the Louisiana State University to conduct a study on the impact of these new paradigms on employee mindset and behaviors.