Here is an excerpt from an article (“Best of the Issue,” May/June 2020) written by Daniel McGinn, Executive Editor of Harvard Business Review and the HBR Blog Network. To read the complete article, check out the wealth of free resources, obtain subscription information, and receive HBR email alerts, please click here.
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This issue of Harvard Business Review arrives at a strange time. Due to the coronavirus, the global economy has fallen into a sudden hibernation that has shuttered businesses, disrupted careers, and caused widespread (and warranted) anxiety. It’s difficult to say when, or if, life may return to normal. Either way, the skills needed to lead people and organizations through this crisis will be in high demand. We hope the articles in this issue provide a respite during your days of social distancing — and an opportunity to reflect on what you can accomplish now and in the months ahead. Here are three places to start.
First, try experimenting with new ways to manage your work. Agile systems — which are integral to technology, product development, and project management — can benefit executives, too. In their article “The Agile C-Suite,” Darrell K. Rigby, Sarah Elk, and Steve Berez describe how top management can reconfigure their day-to-day schedules and work habits to find a better balance between standardizing operations and pursuing innovation. “Agile teams often cite leadership and culture as the greatest barriers to the successful scaling of agile,” the authors write. “But most leaders aren’t fighting agile. They simply haven’t understood how it applies to their roles.”
Second, begin identifying legacy policies that must evolve. For example, consider that the proportion of women who say they’ve been sexually harassed at work — it’s 40% — hasn’t changed since the 1980s, despite an array of mandatory training sessions and grievance procedures. Clearly, these methods aren’t working. In the article “Why Sexual Harassment Programs Backfire,” authors Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev examine why and propose a new approach: a system of manager training, bystander training, and supplementing the legalistic, formal reporting system with voluntary dispute resolution and assistance from ombuds offices.
Finally, explore new experiences. In a perfect world, people might learn all they need to know in their day jobs. In the real world, that rarely happens — so consider serving on boards, as mentors, as volunteers, or in other extracurricular activities to develop diverse thinking and experiences. “Leaders who want to rise — and help their organizations thrive — need to find ways to expand their field of vision and build their knowledge, skills, and connections even as they carry on their daily work,” write Ken Banta and Orlan Boston in their article, “The Strategic Side Gig.”
Thank you for reading — and from all of us at HBR, we wish you and your families safety and good health.
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