While everyone else on the field was playing soccer, Diego Maradona was performing art.

Consider the famous “Goal of the Century” during the 1986 World Cup. At minute 55 of the Argentina vs. England match, Maradona received a pass on the Argentine end of the field and swiftly and deftly makes his way to the English side, eluding the defenders and goalkeeper to kick the ball into the goal. All along, he keeps the ball so close it’s as if it were tied to his left foot. He is always one or two steps ahead of his rivals, almost in another dimension. He is fully present, in his natural environment — the soccer field — enjoying and expressing himself.

Had they not seen it with their own eyes, most people would have said that a goal like that was impossible, especially during a World Cup against a high-performing team such as England. But Maradona’s mindset on the field was different. Diego, as most Argentines call him, allowed himself to explore and unleash his full creativity on the field, pushing the boundaries as a player.

Maradona connected with his exploration mindset. UC Berkeley professor Alison Gopnik talks about this mindset as typical of our early childhood, when we first explore the world to gather information. Here, we live fully in the present moment: we are enchanted by the nuances and details of our environment and completely open to new ideas. On the other hand, as adults, we tend to adopt an exploitation mindset where we work to accomplish a task within the rules and conventions of society. That is, we exploit the data we already have in service of a task at hand. We tend to focus on the objective more than being present.

The most innovative entrepreneurs and leaders take a Maradona-like approach. They manage to combine both their exploration and exploitation mindsets. They understand that they need to score a goal to win the game. They know the rules of the game inside and out, even when their purpose is to change it. But they can also be fully present: to listen, connect with others, be open to new ideas, and go beyond their comfort zones. Unlike many adults; they continue to explore.

Thinking about Maradona’s mindset when he was at his best as a soccer player, we can highlight a few lessons for leaders and entrepreneurs.

Connect with Your Passion

Maradona found his passion as a little kid when he played ball on the dirt fields of Villa Fiorito, the slum where he was born. For many, it takes longer to find their passion. But when you find it, you get the drive to go the extra mile.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Finding your passion is not something that happens overnight and stays with you forever. It needs to be nurtured over time. As you practice, you get better, and enjoy it more. Maradona was obsessed with soccer. Even though he had natural talent, he would practice longer hours than anybody else. His incredible shots with his left leg were not the product of divine inspiration. They were the fruits of long hours of training.

Exercise Generosity and Foster Trust

Almost everyone who played alongside Maradona described him as a thoughtful leader who had their back. Even his competitors emphasized how caring he was with his peers. After Maradona’s death, a former colleague said he would miss Diego, the human being behind the player, “Especially the calls that always came after losses. Never after the triumphs. He knew that after the triumphs, we didn’t need phone calls. In difficult moments he was always there. After the defeats and in difficult moments, he always told me: ‘Don’t forget that you are the best.’” Maradona emphasized his connection with others. No matter how smart or well prepared you are, you cannot do it all yourself as a leader. You need others to trust you, work with you, and go the extra mile to help you.

Balance Your Exploration and Exploitation Mindsets

When we are young, the exploration mentality causes us always to try new things without worrying about the consequences. Our parents generally offer us security, but they also help define the scope of our exploration. As we become adults, this exploring and risk-taking mentality is also a critical factor that allows us to innovate and excel. Of course, we also need the other mentality, the more practical side, which focuses on results, social rules and conventions.

On the soccer field, Maradona had both an exploitation and exploration mentality. He knew the rules of the game. But he gave free rein to his exploration, too. Through his years of fame and fortune, he could not strike the same balance in his personal life. But without a doubt, as a player, he knew and mastered these two mindsets better than anyone else.

This dynamic between the exploration and exploitation mindsets also applies to business leadership. If we think of entrepreneurial leaders like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, we can see how they knew the rules of the game but also felt free to innovate and go further.

Getting this balance right is the art of leadership.

Airbnb’s former Chief Ethics Officer Rob Chesnut says it’s time for an ethical revolution in how we do business. America’s most powerful voice in business ethics shows that the “do no evil” mantra is no longer enough, and companies that do not think seriously about a critical element of corporate culture ― intentional integrity ― are destined to fail. Here, he explains why integrity is important and how leaders can nurture this culture at a corporate level.

Everyone thinks they have integrity, yet week after week, we see organizations like Facebook, Google, Boeing, or even the Houston Astros, come under fire for failing to live up to their values. What is “intentional integrity,” and how can it help us get out of this integrity crisis?

Integrity is a great buzzword; it looks great on a poster, but no one talks about what it really means. In today’s global workforce, we come from such different backgrounds and cultures—that diversity is a strength, but it also means that we lack a shared understanding of how to treat each other and how to act. Leaders are uncomfortable talking about integrity, perhaps because they’re acutely aware of their own human failings or because they feel uncomfortable imposing their own moral values on others. Where there’s silence and ambiguity, science demonstrates that people “fudge,” or do things that are in their self-interest, and convince themselves that it’s ok even when a neutral outsider could clearly see that it’s not. That ambiguity also creates fear and uncertainty, even among employees who want to do the right thing but aren’t really sure what that means.

Intentional integrity is a commitment from the top of the company to talk, in a specific and very human way, about how we all treat each other in the workplace, how a company treats customers, and how the company impacts the communities where it operates. It’s a message that can’t be outsourced to HR or a third party. It needs to come from leaders. It needs to talk about romantic relationships in the office, alcohol and work events, using office resources for personal benefit, and even hugging. 

What’s at stake if companies don’t directly and explicitly address integrity? 

Everything. We’ve all seen how brands have been ruined, careers derailed, and businesses sidetracked by ethical failures. The costs are enormous. And data shows that companies who act ethically by paying attention to things like the environment, governance, behavior by leaders, and social good actually outperform companies who do poorly in these areas. Integrity resonates with today’s employees, who see their personal brand closely tied to their employer’s brand and want to be proud of where they work. Consumers are increasingly making purchasing decisions based upon how they perceive the values of the business align with their own. 

We need companies to take the lead in solving many of the biggest problems that face the world. To lead effectively, companies and their leaders need to earn the trust and respect of their employees and the global community. Operating with integrity is critical to gaining that trust.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, you updated your book with a chapter on leading with integrity during a crisis. What lessons have you learned?

A crisis fire-tests the character of a company. Trust can be formed and broken during these stressful times. It can be challenging to know where to direct your attention, but these three things should be prioritized. 

Put the health and safety of your employees first. A crisis can strain relationships with employees who may have legitimate concerns about their health and safety if they are still on the job. Anxiety tends to run high as people fear layoffs, and many struggle with isolation or juggling parental responsibilities while working remotely. It is a time to care about your people in a very human way.

Think about how you can work with all your stakeholders. Investors will be concerned that the crisis will put a tremendous financial strain on many businesses. But you should also be thinking about how your suppliers, vendors, customers, and communities where you operate are also suffering. 

Creativity pays off. We observed that many businesses have resources that enable them to pivot quickly, respond to new needs, or develop entirely new business models. We saw production lines change to make PPE, hand sanitizer, and ventilators; restaurants move to take out, and personal trainers and music teachers giving remote video sessions.  

During COVID-19, many people were laid off from their jobs. Is there a way to lay people off with integrity?

Of course, layoffs are not necessarily unethical. The truth is that some companies can’t absorb the financial impact of a crisis, and letting people go is necessary for survival. But a layoff is a drastic move, with financial and psychological implications for the affected employees, their families, and the communities where they live. To limit the fallout, leaders need to demonstrate that they are sacrificing first. You cannot credibly continue to take your full salary while putting the financial burden on those who aren’t well-positioned to manage it. 

Another important consideration is whether you looked at alternatives like a furlough. A furlough may enable the employee to continue on your health insurance plan—a huge plus—and it keeps the door open so you can bring them back when business rebounds. A pizza chain in Atlanta had to furlough many of their workers, but those who remained to handle takeout orders are sending pizzas home to the furloughed workers, demonstrating that they still care and want to help.  

Lastly, leaders should use their network to help the laid-off staff find work. I’ve seen leaders at companies that need to do layoffs go onto LinkedIn and post about the company’s pain having to release so many terrific employees. They often list the areas where cuts of strong, skilled workers were made an offer to connect any interested employers with their former colleagues.

How will intentional integrity protect employees from individuals’ bad decisions and fix pervasive corporate cultures that enable abuse of power, as we saw in the #metoo movement?

Intentional integrity is a proactive concept that sets the right tone at a company and creates a culture where it’s clear to everyone how to act. Bad behavior is contagious—if people see leaders behaving badly, it enables them to rationalize acting badly themselves. But integrity is contagious as well. If employees get a clear message upfront about what the company stands for and how the employees are expected to treat each other, and leaders live up to that message with their actions, you’ll avoid a lot of the bad behavior you see now.

Now, you won’t avoid all of it. We’re humans; we make mistakes. People will do things that violate the letter and spirit of the intentional integrity culture that each company creates, and that’s normal. Companies must create an environment where everyone is comfortable reporting bad behavior, there’s a trusted process for investigating that bad behavior, and employees—all employees—are held accountable with appropriate consequences.

You write in your book Intentional Integrity that “you can’t outsource integrity,” and that to be authentic, pervasive, and persuasive, integrity must come directly from an organization’s leadership. If you could give one piece of advice to every CEO, what would it be?

Look at integrity not as a roadblock to getting things done but as a potential superpower. You set the tone by your words and actions. Embrace that responsibility as an essential element of your job. Understand that when you act with integrity and encourage others to do the same, there’s a powerful ripple effect that goes throughout your company and into the community to build trust and give you a long term business advantage. 

How does your 6Cs process work to create a culture of integrity, and what’s an example of one or two of these steps?

The 6Cs are all about sending an authentic, human message that integrity matters at your company. One element of that is the way you communicate with employees about integrity. The “old school” way is to email out a canned code of ethics, put some nice language in your employee handbook, put up a compliance poster in the breakroom, and require everyone to watch a video created by some third party on sexual harassment. The law requires that you do some of that. Still, those things are no substitute for authentic communication from leadership about integrity, framed in the company’s language and culture. At Airbnb, I used to go to new hire orientation every week and talk to the new employees myself about the code of ethics and what it means at Airbnb, using real examples and situations they might encounter. The feedback I got was overwhelmingly positive. To have a leader come in for that conversation, right up front, makes a lasting impression.

What is your advice to a company or individual dealing with the aftermath of an integrity lapse—especially in an era of Yelp, Twitter, and LinkedIn where a bad decision can live online forever?

I spoke to Dan Ariely, a behavioral psychologist at Duke University, about this exact point. It’s hard to recover from significant integrity lapse, and it can’t be done incrementally. It requires a stop and a complete reset. There needs to be a very open discussion, from leadership, about what happened and why it was wrong. And it has to be followed up with a plan to specifically deal with the issue so that there is no doubt about where the company stands on it—things have changed, and from this point forward, we’re taking a new path. Incrementalism and subtlety won’t work.

You started your career as a federal prosecutor who tried CIA spies like Aldrich Ames. How did this experience help shape your philosophy about intentional integrity?

It’s hard to imagine a greater breach of workplace ethics than selling secrets to a foreign government, resulting in the capture and death of other human beings working for your country. What Ames did, and what others like Edwin Pitts and Jim Nicholson did later, sent shock waves through our intelligence community and deeply impacted so many people. It fundamentally undermined trust and integrity across a broad spectrum of government. It certainly impressed upon me at an early stage in my career how important it is to have a real culture of trust and shared mission, and how damaging one event can be to achieving your team’s goals.

What was it like to be running trust and safety at eBay during the dot-com boom and a general counsel and chief ethics officer at Airbnb, two companies that had to invent ethical rules in the nascent and less-regulated frontier of e-commerce?

I love working in a blank space — both places allowed having a lot of impact in big unexplored areas. In hindsight, I think I had it easier than colleagues at a lot of other companies. It all starts at the top, and I’ve been fortunate enough to work with leaders like Meg Whitman and Brian Chesky, who genuinely care about their companies’ integrity. With support from the top, the possibilities for building a culture you’re proud of are almost limitless. Without that support, there’s nothing you can do. I remember Meg told me right up front when I devised the rules that I was free to do the right thing in deciding what we could and couldn’t sell on eBay. Her instructions were not to worry about the revenue impact, but to do what was necessary to keep us on the right side of the law. We ended up banning guns, alcohol, tobacco, items made from endangered species, Nazi memorabilia, recalled items, and even body parts like kidneys. We voluntarily put caps on event tickets in states that had ticket scalping laws. In hindsight, those decisions look easy, but, at that time, there were debates. 

What are some of the unique challenges faced by Internet-based platform companies—like Airbnb? Do they have a greater need to act with integrity than a traditional retail company, hotel group, or grocery chain?

Well, I think all companies, large and small, should be concerned about integrity. We live in a world where it seems like someone is always watching, and when it comes to unicorn tech companies, it seems like lots of people are watching and watching closely. Tech is under a microscope, and when you look at some of the things that have gone on in tech over the last few years, I understand why. Tech, as a whole, like the entertainment industry, needs a reset on integrity. An intentional one, so to speak, where we acknowledge some bad behavior in the past and commit to a new way of doing business. We’re seeing that crop up now in pockets all across companies. You hear Marc Benioff talking about it. Cisco is doing some interesting things, so is Microsoft. That’s why I wrote this book to push the conversation and highlight why it’s important. The world needs more from companies, all types of companies. The old world where companies focused solely on making money now just isn’t working. 

In a digital and global age with shifting cultural norms, how can companies reinforce common integrity standards while respecting each employee’s right to their personal opinions and preferences?

We’ve all got to give a little, recognizing that the workplace is a unique environment where we all make a living and do our life’s work. For the good of creating a workplace where everyone can do their best and feel like they belong, there may be some sacrifice in the freedoms that you might enjoy outside work. Let’s take romantic relationships. If you’re a top exec at a big company, do you have the right to pursue a consensual romantic encounter with an employee in your company? On the one hand, I’m sure some people think that you can’t fight love. . . let it happen. Studies show that most people have engaged in at least one workplace relationship in their life, and some people end up marrying a work colleague. 

But if you’re a leader, you have a higher responsibility to set the right ethical tone. How will a lower-level employee react to your advances? Will they be worried about the career consequences if they say no? Or if they break it off? The imbalance of power is troubling. What will others at work think? They’ll believe that the employee sleeping with the boss has the inside track to raises, promotions, inside information. That undermines trust. And too often, these things end badly. I don’t think it’s too much for a top leader to refrain from engaging in any romantic work relationship or for managers to refrain from relationships with anyone on their team. Just talk about it, put it in the code of ethics, and live by it. 

Besides #Metoo, what are some ethical blind spots that companies should be paying attention to?

I don’t think that a lot of companies have put thought into combining alcohol and workplace events. Over and over during my career, I’ve been involved with terminations involving bad behavior that started with too much drinking in a work environment. Sexual assaults, grossly inappropriate language, insulting customers, even in one case, an employee so drunk that they bit a security guard who was trying to help him, drawing blood. Yet it is still common for companies to make large quantities of alcohol available in the office, without rules or supervision. Dinners and “hospitality suites” on the road where too much alcohol is served, holiday parties that get out of hand. All of this is happening, yet you so rarely hear leaders talking to employees about how dangerous mixing work and alcohol can be. Intentional integrity should include a real conversation about how much is too much at work, and leaders need to put thought into what can go wrong when corporate parties go on too long, with too much booze.

Ethics can be an intimidating subject to bring up. What advice do you have for leaders who want to kick start this conversation at their organization?

I think it was hard ten years ago. Now, when you raise it, you likely won’t get anyone saying that it isn’t important—look at the news to see what happens at companies when you don’t address it. The data around the ties to company performance is compelling. Study after study shows that companies who do ethics and governance well will outperform companies that don’t pay attention to it. You don’t need to make a “case” for it anymore. Now it’s just a matter of getting comfortable with what has traditionally been considered a “personal” topic. You don’t have to be a perfect human being to be an advocate for driving integrity into your company’s culture. Think of it as an opportunity to build your personal brand by speaking up on a topic that really matters.

Rob Chestnut’s new book is “Intentional Integrity: How Smart Companies Can Lead an Ethical Revolution.”

Creativity and innovation in any organization is vital for success. A leader’s job is not to be the sole source of ideas, but to encourage and champion the ideas of others.

Studies have found that innovation, leadership, and influence are related. The following thoughts on creativity in business offer executives a playbook for increased innovation.

Innovation involves implementing something new that adds value or quantifiable gain. It requires many skill sets, usually those of a team. Not everything new is automatically considered an innovation. It’s also an opportunity to clarify the participants’ commitment and examine where they are now in terms of leadership development and where they aspire to be by the end of a innovation intervention program. Progressive leadership can create a climate that encourages creativity and innovation. The most important criteria for an idea to pass should be:

• New
• Relevant
• Valuable

When you are personally working on innovation, you can still try things out and make mistakes. You are sometimes permitted to invest in innovation and fail if an idea turns out to be a non-starter. With a project, this becomes less attractive as every dollar counts.

Scholars have shown how organizational structure, strategy, technology, culture, and other management tools help organizations bring effectiveness and competitive advantage. They also show that in the 21st-century corporate environment, creativity and innovation are the primary sources of competitive advantage. However, these authors say little about the role of leadership in the innovative process.

Creative and effective organizations do not appear by accident. They require leaders to drive and control deliberate change within structures, cultures, and processes, to transform them into creative, effective, and productive ones. Many organizations already look for competitive advantages within each of these areas, yet leadership can become your most important advantage. Leaders usually decide what happens in an organization, and give the necessary direction, vision, and momentum to bring about success. Leaders, therefore, are the catalysts that create and manage environments of innovation.

Collaboration and networking

Collaboration allows an organization to use the collective wisdom of individuals and groups to accomplish a task or project. Collaborative knowledge-sharing lets people in an organization access targetted knowledge from a broader range of resources and collaborative performance is based on how effectively this knowledge can be shared among all employees, how effectively the resulting knowledge can be organized, and how it can help with decision-making.

Relevant expertise

It’s worth noting that innovative leaders are people who have expertise relevant to the innovative projects they are working on. When accountants or financial experts are put in charge of car companies, they are seldom innovative leaders. They understand the finances behind the products, but not the products themselves. When engineers or car designers, on the other hand, are in charge of car companies, they have the knowledge and experience necessary to become innovative leaders for their companies. Of course, that does not guarantee they will become innovative leaders. Vision and motivation are also critical.

Drawing on the right minds

The first priority of leadership is to engage the right people, at the right time, to the right degree of creative work. That engagement begins when a leader recasts the role of their employees. Rather than simply rolling up their sleeves and executing a top-down strategy, leaders should realize that employees can also contribute their imaginations.

Challenge people

Without challenge, there is not enough stimulus to elicit a creative response. But too much challenge burdens and overwhelms the emotions and the mind, shutting off creative thought. In studies, productivity increased when scientists and engineers were given positive reinforcement, and encouraged to participate in policymaking.

In conclusion, it’s clear that having a vision is what delivers creativity and innovation. The creative and innovative leader is also a cultural officer — someone who identifies the norms and values of organizational efficiency and moves the whole group forward.

Value-driven organizations where leaders communicate persuasively, both online and offline, are in a stronger position to navigate a crisis, motivate employees, and build resilience.

Research suggests that we form impressions about a leader’s competence in 30 seconds. That’s all it takes to decide whether we think they are trustworthy, based on both what they are saying and how they are saying it. The current pandemic highlighted that leadership communication goes beyond presenting information to people – it’s about inspiring people to want to act on what they hear. While logic might make people think, it’s emotion that makes them want to act.

It’s not a leadership job title that makes a leader – it’s their ability to connect, motivate, and inspire others to drive increased performance levels. This is particularly true during extended periods of uncertainty. The leader’s ability to deliver a message consistently and repeatedly, even if their message hasn’t changed, can help build trust with internal and external stakeholders—a critical process in the post-Covid recovery phase and most certainly beyond as we face new challenges.

Presenting in the Covid world

The pandemic has brought a significant shift to leadership communication, in many cases moving entirely to virtual. In the Pre-Covid world, leaders could rely on reading the room to see and feel the audience’s response to confirm that their message was received. In virtual meetings, it’s more challenging to read body language or maintain eye contact, which might lead to a feeling that there is no feedback or attention on the other side of the screen. Virtual presentations make it harder to connect with the audience emotionally. And this feeling of disconnect can make some leaders more anxious about speaking. This can lead to a poor experience on both sides – as more disconnected the speaker sounds, the more difficult it is for the audience to listen. 

Starting the virtual presentation is often an essential part. We need to get any technical issues resolved, check everyone is present, and begin the process in a way that fully engages. After all, “you are on mute” is one of the most common phrases we heard in meetings this year. To overcome distractions, starting with something that brings everyone in and gets an immediate response, either via the chat or directly, can make the speaker feel that the audience is listening, immediately raising their confidence levels for the rest of the presentation.

A visual experience is worth a thousand words

As Bill Gates stated and successfully proved in his TED Talk, people don’t remember every slide in a presentation – they remember moments. In his presentation, Bill Gates was talking about the spread of malaria transmitted by mosquitos. During the talk, he brought a small jar containing mosquitoes and opened the lid, stating, “We’ll let those roam around the auditorium a little bit.”. The unexpected moment captured his audience, giving them an immersive emotion-filled experience, far different and memorable than a standard PowerPoint presentation. 

Neuroscience suggests that unexpected moments are so effective because our brains get bored easily, and novelty recognition is something that all humans share. Visuals have a similar impact on listening and absorbing new information. When we hear a piece of information, three days later, we remember 10 percent of it. When we add a picture to the information, we remember 65 percent. In science, this is called “pictorial superiority.” And it confirms that visual information is more likely to be remembered than words alone. One of the key reasons we respond to images is that they affect us on an emotional and personal level, which explains why they can be more engaging and exciting than just words. But not just any picture. Visual aids need to be what it says on the packet: ‘visual aids.’ How often do we see over-complex, dull, obscure, irrelevant to what’s being said…the price we immediately pay is disengagement.

Without the ability to speak with impact, presence, and gravitas, leaders are missing the opportunity to persuade and motivate others. Identifying a leader’s natural style and strengths is the first step in learning to engage and convince others. This is followed by understanding how to turn their nerves into an authentic presentation that will keep people focused and engaged. This is important so our audience won’t only hear the information but, more importantly, they will listen fully. Emotional engagement directly collates with performance and commitment. It will be a significant factor in helping individuals and teams thrive during times of change and anxiety, both today and in the post-Covid economy.

A legendary Green Bay Packer coach once said, “perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”

Three months ago, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and 16 NBA teams arrived at the Bubble to restart their season, ahead of both the NFL and MLB, under unprecedented conditions. The Bubble is an isolation zone at Walt Disney World, created by the NBA to protect its players from the COVID-19 pandemic, and is the first of its kind in sports history.

Over the past three months, 1500 players, coaches, and staff have co-existed and thrived in a bubble community with zero COVID cases. The teams operated out of three hotels and played their games in three distinct basketball facilities. 

With just a few games left in the season, the NBA is on the verge of setting the standard as the role model of successful, positive influence leadership in a major professional sport during a crisis.

What is a Positive Influence Role Model?

A positive influence role model sets a powerful example of managing a successful business during this crisis. NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Deputy commissioner Tatum, NBA Players Association (NBAPA) leaders, and the players collaborated to manage this crisis so that a winner could be crowned on the court and the fans could enjoy the games on television. Additionally, so the league, the teams, and the players could generate earnings while still protecting the health and safety of the 1500 people in the bubble. 

The NBA created a role model of positive influence for other major sports to emulate. So, how did they do it?

The NBA established “rules of the road” and a list of dos and don’ts that were considered mandates for everyone. They put health and safety first, deployed a strict set of protocols, and enforced them with vigilance and discipline.

As deputy commissioner, Tatum stated, “we’ve been able to demonstrate a model for how you operate a business during a pandemic.”

Business (Not) As Usual 

Let’s not forget the NBA is an association of teams with a commercial purpose. The Bubble created an environment for the league, its teams, and players to earn some of the money otherwise lost to the pandemic. 

Forty percent of the NBA’s revenue ordinarily comes from arena sales — lost entirely due to the pandemic. While the bubble also eliminated all merchandise sales, it did create television and digital content sources of revenue. By the end of the season, more than 1,000 hours of play and nearly 150 games will be televised on ABC, ESPN, TNT, NBA TV, and other regional networks. While the ratings are down due to extenuating circumstances, the league added millions of new followers from digital platforms, e.g., Twitter and Tik Tok. 

Deputy commissioner Tatum summed it up best, “doing this together with the NBAPA has been critical. We had to be partners.” 

A Positive Influence Union

In late August, starting with the Milwaukee Bucks, the players led a three-day shutdown of play prompted by the frustration over the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. Several teams were so angered with the lack of social justice that they contemplated exiting the bubble completely and ending their season.

Credit goes to the NBA players, Commissioner Silver, and Deputy Commissioner Tatum, for supporting the three-day shutdown. The shutdown allowed the players to have a powerful voice for everyone in the bubble and take a needed break from play to focus on the more critical issues. The player representatives and the league took the opportunity to discuss and determine their social justice advocacy approach and their commitment to fighting racial inequalities in the country. 

The three-day break resulted in a league that moved forward together. 

Leadership Matters More Now Than Ever

In a crisis, people look to positive influence leaders more than ever, especially to role model leaders, as they can be a powerful force from whom we can learn from. 

The NBA, commissioner, deputy commissioner, and, most importantly, the NBA players are all role models from whom other major professional team sports and businesses can learn.

When this crisis is over, who will we remember, who will we look back on and say they provided great leadership? I believe the NBA will be among a select few who will stand out as examples of positive influence leadership.

Role models can do more than inspire. They are practical and sensible examples of how to do things the right way.

A role model is often a powerful force in your life and career. You can choose to closely emulate the person or select certain traits you can integrate into your individual style. Anne, for example, a financial services executive we interviewed, said Sallie Krawcheck was a role model because she demonstrated that a woman could rise to the top of a predominately male organization.  

A role model is frequently a game-changer who shows you a different way, an alternative path to finding your true north. Motivating role models challenge you, sometimes getting you to test your assumptions about handling yourself. For some, a role model can also be practical, sensible, and down-to-earth.  

The Game Changer

Highly successful businessman and former mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg credits much of his success to the late William Solomon. Solomon was a managing partner at Solomon Brothers when Bloomberg began his career as a trader. For example, Bloomberg said Solomon “made his own decisions and didn’t look back.” Those lessons were game-changers for Bloomberg because he took them with him when he started a company with three other former Solomon employees  

Amy, a corporate manager at a major pharmaceutical company, told us about her first boss, Evelyn. Evelyn solicited and listened to Amy’s ideas, encouraged her to seek various opportunities, and then empowered her to take action. Evelyn was a game-changing role model who gave Amy the confidence that she was going to be successful. 

Tony, a martial arts instructor, saw his captain in the Marines as a game-changer because he had a robust personal code of ethics. Tony said it was the force of his example that led me, “to stop shifting the blame on to others, but rather accept and own it.”

Some game-changers can be inspirational, too. It is the power of their example that emboldens you to choose another path or forge ahead on your current avenue, but with renewed vigor. 

The Motivator

Some leaders, our research shows, are both a motivational force and a role model. Dick, another corporate executive in our interview group, said that Bill was a motivational positive influence leader. Bill was an informal mentor who inspired Dick to take responsibility for his actions, especially regarding how you treat people. However, Bill was also an efficient, positive influence role model leader. As Dick told us, “I watched him every day and was especially impressed by the fact that he behaved the way he talked.”  

In her long career as a sportswriter, Nancy was fortunate to work for Terry Taylor at the Associated Press. Terry was both a supportive and motivating positive influence leader. She gave Nancy opportunities that made her realize she wanted to be a sportswriter. However, she was also a significant role model because, as Nancy shared with us:

“When you’re a woman in a male-dominated industry, there are so many additional challenges. People question your ability as well as your motivations. People want to preserve the status quo. Seemingly trivial details, such as what you wear to work, take on added importance.”

The Practical One

Some role model leaders provide a heavy dose of pragmatic, down-to-earth positive influence with just a dollop of inspiration. While they hope you will change, they seem to make a point of wanting you to create your own leadership style.

Well-known financial advisor, author, and TV host, Suze Orman says It’s not about creating a cookie-cutter mold of yourself. Orman believes the best mentors help people find their own path and develop their unique definition of success. “While someone may admire you,” says Orman, “they should never feel the need to be exactly like you.”

Ray, a senior-level IT executive whom we interviewed, saw his boss, Fred, as a role model, but with a twist. Ray admired and wanted to adopt his style of being forthright about the desired goal of a project. However, Ray adapted that style to be more aligned with his inclusive personality. For example, when Ray was working with the company’s local management team in Chile, he approached them not with, “my way or the highway,” but with, “how can I help with your issues?” However, he always kept his eye on the end goal of the project.  

Another one of our study group members, Jennifer, saw her boss as a practical role model. She admired and wanted to be like him because he created “a no-nonsense” culture where the focus was on, “work fast, never say no and innovate whenever possible.” He also provided, “very little day-to-day oversight which gave me the freedom to lead my own group and grow as a manager.”

What type of role model are you?  

What do you do to be a positive influence role model on others? For more stories of positive influence role models and how you can become a positive influence leader, pick up a copy of our new book, Positive Influence: The Leader Who Helps People Become the Best Self (HRD Press, 2020). www.thepositiveinfluenceleader.com 

Have you changed your views about COVID-19 months into this pandemic? Or are you still anchored to the same beliefs you had in March?  

For example, many people still believe the false claim spread by many prominent leaders in March that COVID is no worse than the common flu. They protest against public health measures such as wearing masks, despite high-quality peer-reviewed studies showing that masks save lines.

They also ignore new developments, such as the recent urgent requests by governors to stay home and telecommute to tamp down the explosive third wave of COVID. Likewise, they ignore just-published research showing that restaurants, gyms, hotels, and other crowded indoor spaces with prolonged exposure – including workplaces that fit such criteria – significantly increase COVID risk.  

We tend to continue treading the same path based on information we initially received. That’s regardless of strong new evidence that our path leads off a cliff. The name cognitive neuroscientists and behavioral economists give to this dangerous judgment error is anchoring.

Anchoring is one of the many cognitive biases that lead us to make poor decisions. Recognizing its danger and impact helps us make much better decisions to manage risks wisely and survive and thrive in this pandemic. 

Anchoring in Financial Services: A Case Study   

Let’s consider the case of Lauren, CEO of a 130-people regional financial services company based in Texas that had a lot of difficulty with remote work at the start of the pandemic. 

The company’s leadership team didn’t think they needed to prepare for disruption of more than a week or two. They followed early guidelines from the CDC to prepare for nothing more than a brief interruption due to a short-term outbreak. As a result, the leadership team asked all of its workforce to come back to the office as states reopened, despite news reports of an increase in Texas cases. 

However, because of the company leadership’s perception that COVID-19 isn’t a big deal, neither the leaders nor employees took appropriate precautions when returning to the office. Most did not follow guidelines on social distancing or wear masks. Unfortunately, there was an outbreak of COVID-19 in the office traced to an all-hands meeting. Over two dozen employees caught COVID-19, including three C-suite leaders. 

Several employees, including the COO, ended up in the hospital, and two older employees died. This led to a plunge in productivity, attrition, and low morale within the company, which led to some key employees’ resignations. 

Lauren decided to contact me for a consultation in late April after learning about my work through a webinar I conducted about how business leaders can adapt to the changes brought by the pandemic.  

Adapting to the New Abnormal 

When I met with Lauren and the company’s COO and HR head over Zoom, I told them upfront that they have to start acknowledging the disruptions brought about by COVID-19. Continuing as they did will endanger their company’s bottom line and even survival during this pandemic.

At the start of the pandemic, most companies activated their business continuity plans and followed along as the months rolled by.

However, I wouldn’t advise continuing with these emergency measures throughout the pandemic’s minimal two years. 

Companies need to go beyond emergency measures to survive and thrive in the next few years. You need to adapt to the pandemic and accept the current reality of ongoing waves of restrictions as the new abnormal. 

This essentially means transforming your internal and external business model if you want your organization to chart a productive and rewarding course during these troubled years.

Doing so will include taking a long, hard look at the elements that drive your business. It will also entail revising or, in some cases, even totally revamping your daily operations and business continuity plan.  

Moving Forward From Anchoring

When I last spoke with Lauren a few months ago, she told me that after serious deliberation, she called for a leadership meeting to reexamine the facts on COVID-19. Fortunately, after being presented with overwhelming evidence that COVID-19 was a serious matter and needed to take immediate steps, the executives eventually acknowledged the gravity of the situation. The leadership team then decided to take the following steps:

1. Lauren held a company-wide virtual town hall to debunk the erroneous information on COVID-19 on which the majority of the company had anchored.
2. The leadership team rolled out a comprehensive remote work program, where employees were provided with tech and equipment support. Employees can also report to the office, but it was strictly optional. The leadership team ensured that the office had all the necessary visual and physical cues to encourage social distancing. Reminders on wearing masks were placed strategically. 
3. The marketing team updated its external and internal collateral to include what the company was doing to make its virtual and physical spaces safe for its employees.  
4. The COO worked with the HR head on numerous retention efforts to prevent more employees from jumping ship. 
5. The sales team built on the marketing team’s actions. They also reached out to clients who had been previously irked by the company’s slow response to inquiries and complaints. The sales team presented all the changes being made to get the company up to speed operationally and assured clients of better service. 

As a result of these efforts, the company corrected its course and finally got back to a productive path. 

The strict policies on working onsite also minimized health risk, thereby lessening the company’s risk of accountability in case of an outbreak in the office. This was a heavy load off the C-suite’s back. They were finally able to focus on product development and saving client relationships. 

Lauren informed me how relieved she was that they made the changes once the numbers of COVID-19 cases began to increase, prompting a pause of the reopening process that eventually led to a cycle of reopening and restrictions. 

What does it look like to lead in a pandemic era, with COVID raging on, civil unrest all around, and a global shift in health, perspective, and politics? To answer this question, we spoke with leaders in all different industries to share how their leadership has changed since COVID. 

In speaking with these people, we uncovered the five tenets of courageous community building within workplaces: Unity, action, communication, agility, and empathy. Here’s how and why you need to bring these tenets into your leadership practice during our pandemic era.

Bring Unity to the Forefront

United we stand, divided we fall. It’s a phrase we’ve heard hundreds of times, and yet again, our world—and, more specifically, the communities within our companies—must come together, united as one. Countries and companies do well when we find common ground in a common cause to overcome a common foe. 

While a global pandemic, civil unrest, and political uprisings may not seem like topics that you, as a leader, need to consider in your role in the workplace, your role has shifted. As leaders in these uncertain times, when stress levels and anxiety are at an all-time high, we need to lead with empathy, transparency, and unity, being courageous community leaders for our teams.

Uniting your team doesn’t mean you need to share your personal beliefs and opinions. Instead, you need to adapt your leadership skills. As Elena Carstoiu, COO of Hubgets reminds us: 

“The Coronavirus pandemic might have taken the world by storm, but it didn’t change the guiding principles of leadership: transparent communication, hands-on mentorship, focus on mental and physical health, constant feedback, engagement, and empathy. The only changes lie in how these fundamentals are delivered and their pace of implementation.”

Bring unity to your remote- and in-house teams using the leadership principles you’ve always followed—but remember that empathy and transparency are more important than ever.

Don’t Ignore Communication

We all know that we need to communicate with our team, board members, stakeholders, and customers. Still, Bob Flynn, CEO of Deflecto, gives clarity around what that means as a leader during a pandemic era:

“I believe that real-time and frequent communication from leadership is more important than ever during these difficult times. Make it transparent, clear, and concise, so people know where they stand.” 

While this is critical for managing shifts in regulations, company policies, and the like, it’s also crucial for our employees’ mental health. As Flynn continues, “Any sense of normalcy about their company, career, and job can make the rest of the world and its issues easier to bear and take on.”

Be Agile and Ready to Shift

No one is certain about how the world might shift from the time we hit the pillow at night to the moment we wake up, which is why Michael Pellegrino, President & Chief Growth Officer of Sargento Foods, has focused heavily on agility within his organization. 

“We quickly learned the need for agility because some things were simply out of our control. Our normal planning playbook was definitely thrown out, but we knew we could leverage our capabilities across branding, innovation, and customer service to maintain our vital role in the nation’s food supply and keep our business growing.”

We, as leaders, need to lead by example through our agile decision-making. When employees see our agility, they’re empowered to, in turn, be agile in their own role. Yes, this may mean mistakes are made. Yes, this may mean that we learn lessons the hard way. But it also means that our organization is prepared for whatever headlines meet us each morning. 

Show Empathy Above All

Empathy has become somewhat of a buzzword in the business world since the onset of COVID, and for a good reason, as Pellegrino says: “Whether it’s remote work, new childcare needs, or figuring out our optimal team dynamic over video. We’re all a lot smarter than we were six months ago, but we need to keep listening and adjusting based on whatever comes our way in the future.”

Bill Gadala, CFO of Vera Security, brings the importance of this empathy to the forefront: “Without a larger dose of empathy, you risk alienating people, which hurts them and others in the team, as well as yourself.”

 This is also a fundamental tenet for Scott Baxter, President & CEO of Kontoor Brands. Baxter explains, “You never really know what’s going on in someone’s life. Each day also reveals new headlines about the consequences of systemic racism and inequities, which is deeply troubling.” 

As leaders, we need to shift our focus toward empathy now and in the future. 

Become a Great Pandemic-Era Leader

One thing is clear from all of these leaders: long gone are the days of one-note leadership. Leaders today, especially during a pandemic, must be multifaceted in ways we didn’t need to be in years past. Doug Gladstone, Managing Director of Comhar Partners, sums this up well, saying:  

“A good leader needs to step up on multiple fronts not only focusing on driving his/her company’s bottom line, but they now need to focus equally on their employee’s immediate needs and stay current on economic changes and how such could impact their overall business operations.”

As we continue to run our companies and lead our teams, don’t forget about what it means to be a good leader in today’s world, during a time of societal unrest, a global health pandemic, and political uncertainty. 

As leaders, we must continue to be action-oriented, empathetic, communicative, and agile. If we can bring all these key skills into our roles each day, we can bring unity and purpose to a world that’s divisive and ever-changing.

The pandemic holds opportunities for change, such as finding the human and economic advantages of working remotely. Will you see the glass as half-empty or half-full?

If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that unexpected events are inevitable and often life-changing. Because the COVID-19 pandemic completely upended societies and economies around the world, nearly 90% of executives believe the resulting fallout will not only affect the way they do business for the next five years but also permanently impact customers’ needs.

When the world is in chaos, it’s easy to feel like you’ve lost control as a leader. COVID-19 resulted in terrible hardships — lost lives, economic disaster for many businesses and families, and a “new normal” that reduces social interactions — but viewing the pandemic solely as a crisis can be damaging. A negative outlook provokes stress, depression, fear, and anger. And those emotions prevent you from taking positive, proactive action.

If you operate from a place of fear, you won’t be able to make thoughtful strategic decisions and improve workplace performance. Plus, you’ll miss out on the opportunities the pandemic has presented, such as the progress gained in finding the human and economic advantages of remote work. Your perception will guide your company into the post-pandemic era. So the question is: Will you see the glass as half-empty or half-full?

Shifting Your Perspective and Mindset

In many ways, the crisis has shown leaders that they had been doing things inefficiently or in a way that hindered their growth and ability to create high-performance workplaces. You’ve likely had to consider how your previous status quo compares to the new normal. It can be tempting to view the pandemic as a short-term problem to be fixed, but that thinking won’t advance your company forward.

Leaders with growth mindsets have a significant business advantage: the opportunity to pivot their businesses strategically. We experienced this firsthand at HPWP Group. We’ve always hosted a highly experiential in-person workshop that transforms management thinking and behavior in just one week. Unfortunately, due to the high levels of personal interaction, this workshop didn’t translate easily to a virtual format. However, many of our other training products were convertible — it just wasn’t a priority until in-person workshops were off the table. With more time on our hands, we’ve been able to identify different market opportunities and diversify our offerings.

So, are you surviving or thriving? The future is unknowable, meaning you can no longer rely on best practices or earlier models. You need to pivot your organization appropriately and adopt a growth mindset. As Luke Burmeister, the chief financial officer of Didion Milling, said during a roundtable with us, “Fear is a reaction. Courage is a choice.” By having courage and choosing to see the pandemic as an opportunity, you’ll be able to gain a competitive advantage as the economy bounces back.

1. Reframe your thinking to be more empathetic.

Instead of focusing on any negative impacts, remember that this is everyone’s crisis. This reminder will help you be more inclusive and empathetic. One company in the Netherlands took this line of thinking further by requiring managers to visit every employee at home (while taking the appropriate safety precautions). The warmth and appreciation expressed by their employees had a significant impact on the managers. By visiting, the managers developed deeper personal relationships that will change their work environment in terms of loyalty and productivity.

You should follow by example. Take measures to step back, build relationships, and form solid foundations within your company. “With a longer-term view, great relationships are established, and a culture of trust is built within the organization,” Burmeister said. “When a crisis occurs, those relationships result in creative ways to continue working and even enhance the business.” 

2. Reach deeply into your organization to find solutions.

You don’t have to come up with solutions by yourself. After all, you are surrounded by smart people. Work with others in your organization to determine how to reduce costs, what partnerships are available, which new business ideas are viable, and when you should expand into new markets.

In the same roundtable mentioned earlier, Del Land, the chief financial officer of Pacesetter Steel, said, “Unless we were alive in 1917 for the Spanish Flu pandemic, our current crisis is new, and we have no playbook. Now we truly have an opportunity to create a new playbook!” Engage people and maximize their collective intelligence as you develop a new company strategy and focus on a high-performance workplace.

3. Promote innovation and find new ways to work smarter.

Without the coronavirus pandemic, it would have taken businesses years to embrace remote work fully. Today’s climate presents you with similarly unique opportunities. For example, we’ve heard that employees feel more empowered right now to decline meetings that aren’t applicable or valuable to them. Some people are contributing to discussions more because the remote format created a higher level of psychological safety. If something isn’t working, explore ways to fix it. If something is working exceptionally well, find ways to capitalize on it.

There might be a lot on your plate right now, but a lack of time for innovation is an excuse, not an obstacle. Leaders determine where and how they spend their time, so take a moment to review your company’s operations and core competencies. When you’re able to think this way about your company’s future, your business will be stronger and more successful because you will have created a solid foundation for post-crisis growth.

As a leader, you determine your mindset. You can see the pandemic as a negative event, or you can view it as an opportunity to pivot and improve workplace performance. It’s time to become agile. Crises are inevitable, but this particular one will end. Use this opportunity to become the organization you always wanted to be.