Bringing Order to the Chaos

business

May 21

CEO Nana Parry’s take on being a business leader in lockdown.

Let’s be clear from the off: dealing with uncertainty is the bread and butter of any leader. S**t hitting the fan, putting out fires, all whilst staying calm and paying wages is what being a CEO is all about. Dare I say it, most leaders, including myself, “enjoy” the drama.

The pandemic, however, has bought new levels of worry, stress and unpredictably. And has probably set most of us back somewhat in terms of goals for the year(s) ahead.

But we should remember that when we sign up on the journey to lead others, we don’t get to choose if we’re “a wartime CEO or a peacetime one” (see Ben Horozwitz excellent musings on this topic). In short, we have to be both. The pandemic has taught me to see my role as “bringing order to the chaos” and I thought I'd share some of the things that have worked for me over the past few months…

Defining my philosophy

Business philosophies are being put to the test by the pandemic and it’s easy to lose touch with how you want to run a business. I'm an Arsenal fan, well less so now, because actually I’m an Arsene Wenger fan, but he used to always say, “a team that stays together, wins together” and I have always taken this sentiment into my leadership philosophy. My view is that if a talented group of people can stay and learn together, even sharing failures, they are more likely to succeed in the long term.

So after the soul-searching that many leaders would have gone through during the lockdown, I re-confirmed this philosophy as a founding principle of mine and have allowed it steer my business decision-making. It’s a bit of a people first approach mixed with The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek. He says that in business there are no winners or losers because you are only playing yourself: you can only be ahead or behind on where you want to go.

Asking & giving advice

I said it before but it’s worth repeating, lean on people. Acknowledge that THIS IS HARD and ask for help from others. Fortunately, I have mentors—veterans who have ridden out wars and enjoyed peacetime (in a business sense at least!) —that have allowed me to clear some of the clutter in my mind and get back to decisive decision making.

I also give advice to fair few founders (via our office hours initiative) and being a mentor to others allows me to also learn a great deal. I really like having to verbalise what I’ve learnt along the way: that helps me realise that I’m equipped with the tools to succeed too.

Admitting I don’t have all the answers

When our coworking space closed before the official lockdown started due to a suspected case of COVID infection, it really was a time of confusion. I told the team I have no real idea of what is going to happen but I’m collating all the business data on sales, operational costs, revenue and leads, to help us make better decisions when they need to be made. I told them my door is open wider than normal (or my phone is now always on) because it's so important in a time of uncertainty to have a time to talk and for them to help me learn.