We have no Plan B or Plan C; why do we need it? Will 2022 and 2023 see change in leadership?
The pandemic has, of course, allowed for many good discussions to emerge but one of the most telling in recent weeks has been the real concern at how so many executives seem to have struggled to be able to change their thinking and approach during a period of crisis. It wasn’t just that they struggled; many simply did not want to and had no desire to change.
This has led to many arguing that some senior executives have developed a fixed mind-set which becomes a block to future success. Often very able executives develop such a mind-set but are unable to raise their horizons or imagine a plan B or Plan C.
Some are today commenting at their surprise that so many have stayed true to the same operational models which worked well between 2014-2019. Very little has changed in the last two years. The expectation is that the world will recover back to how it once was. Why wouldn’t it, they ask? Employers will soon demand their teams to return to offices. International travel will resume. It is all just a matter of time. A successful model is proven so why adapt?
Is it important? The answer lies in your own beliefs. Will the world return to how it once was or has it changed?
If one believes that things have changed, then there is a major problem looming as companies will need Plan B and C. If this is correct, then it follows that there will be churn in senior positions over the next two years. Companies have remained loyal to their senior executives during the hardest of times. Now their moment to repay that loyalty is coming to the fore. Do they possess the plans and strategies to lead their own business through to prosperity once again?
Over the last two years, there have been many discussions over the surprise that not more CEOs, MDs and senior executives did fall by the wayside. The counterargument is why make any change when a new talent would have little chance to create a new vision or road forward. As confidence now grows that we are seeing the last days of the pandemic, so the change may now start to be planned and this could well see many new leaders emerge.
Some argue that the tone of the last decade was defined by the Financial Crash of 2008-9. The 2020s tone will be set by the pandemic but maybe in a different way; maybe it will free up new leaders and visions to emerge.