Special Focus Dialogue - Leadership through a crisis - Part I

Leadership through a crisis: How an organisation can respond effectively and plan for the future

The coronavirus pandemic has placed extraordinary demands on leaders from all sectors and backgrounds, including those involved in cancer control. The humanitarian toll taken by COVID-19 creates ongoing fear among employees and other stakeholders. The massive scale of the outbreak and the uncertainty it has generated increases the challenges for executives to respond effectively and manage unforeseen risks. In the face of this and a still-uncertain set of risks, leaders are rightly concerned about how their organisations will be affected and what they have to do next.

In order to successfully overcome threats during a crisis, how can leaders adopt effective behaviours and mindsets that will prevent them from overreacting to yesterday’s developments and help them look forward?

This Special Focus Dialogue explored and discussed how different leaders across the UICC’s community have reacted, and adapted, to this crisis with a new mindset.

Key aspects that were tackled throughout the dialogue:

• Re-organising teams and empowering employees;
• Demonstrating calm, optimism, empathy;
• Making decisions amid uncertainty;
• Communicating effectively;
• Strategic direction and capacity to adapt 

This is expected to be the first in a broader series of dialogues exploring the evolving aspects of leadership following the impact the pandemic has had on the way we work. 

Slides

Moderated by

Cary Adams, Chief Executive Officer, Union for International Cancer Control (UICC)