‘When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.’


After the experience with the crisis caused by Covid-19 pandemic, the world will never be the same again. The year 2020 will be remembered as the year of changes. The world will not return to the old ‘normal’, but will rather turn to the ‘new normal’. It’s not our choice, that’s not what we wanted, and we cannot change it. Nevertheless, we can take a stand on the new situation. We can choose how to react, what actions to take, and assume responsibility for them.

Leaders are nowadays, more than ever, expected to show the ability to create an inspiring vision of the future for our teams, a new vision that will motivate team members to contribute to business success under new conditions, each one of them to the best of their ability.

We are eager to find the answers to the questions how to successfully lead our teams through changes and how to respond to new challenges with agility and efficacy.

In the time when we do not come into physical contact with each other, but organize virtual meetings, we develop new leadership skills. We pay particular attention to sharing information in a timely manner, so that every team member gets every piece of the relevant information necessary for work. We are aware of the importance of communication, particularly under these aggravated conditions, and we are trying to keep the frequency and intensity as under normal circumstances. People miss physical closeness in communication, so, in our virtual meetings we take some time to share experience on the topics that give us hard time and the way we deal with challenges faced on a daily basis.

The topic how to successfully integrate everything that was good, and the lessons learned during this crisis into our future operations, is high on our agenda. Together, we search for creative solutions in response to new requirements, how to adopt different habits, keep communication open and achieve our goals. The members of our teams take responsibility for accomplishing the agreed activities, both those we intend to continue, and those we intend to discontinue, as well as the new activities we will carry out in the future.

Besides the care for the members of our teams, at leadership team meetings, we regularly share experience and information, support each other, thus taking care of preserving our own mental health. It is of particular importance for me to spend time with my family and closest companions, to have quality communication with each other, and support each other through the stressful time.

I wonder why all of this is happening and where is the sense in it? One of the significant qualifiers of the leaders is that they always have clear goals and good sense of meaning. According to Viktor Frankl, our life task is to find the meaning in each particular situation. Is there a universal meaning relevant for all of us? Frankl has compared it with asking a famous chess player: ‘What is the best move?’ There is no such thing as ‘the best move’, apart from the one that is best within the context of a particular situation of a particular game.

That is how we, leaders of the present time, similar to chess players, are trying to find our ‘best moves’ that would provide a creative response to inspire our teams, in this ever-changing and uncertain 21st century world.