What is good leadership during tough times?

Over the last two years, we have been hearing a lot about the Great Resignation: the mass voluntary exodus of employees from their jobs.

The pandemic is often cited as the explanation for this trend. However, I believe the Great Resignation is the outcome of several underlying factors that have been present and building for more than a decade.

The underlying causes are many and include the growing disengagement of employees stemming from certain conditions which had already been playing out in the workplace. Much of this became heightened from the period when the bulge of millennials began entering the workforce and new expectations began to form.

Adding to this, the pandemic introduced new and unfamiliar modes of work. These fully remote or hybrid models have brought both welcome and convenient, as well as challenging options for employees and leadership. And these new models are here to stay.

As leaders, it’s imperative that we more fully understand the bigger picture behind this ongoing trend of change through tuning in to the new mindsets of employees. It will require a more creative and flexible way of thinking and leading.

In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, I began exploring two critical questions about leading: What were the specific leadership qualities more highly valued and effective in those turbulent times? And what would compel leaders to embrace a mindset of self-renewal?

Leadership is not timeless. What got us here will not keep us here. The famous quote by Einstein, “The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at before they were created,” brings this truth to life.

Throughout my exploration in the aftermath of the financial crisis and now through the pandemic period, I observed that leaders in many sectors were, and are, facing major game changers, which organizations and individual leaders are not exempt from. These game changers are key factors in my thinking and teaching on executive leadership.

The ever-changing workforce and workplace is especially unmistakable. As a result of immigration and changing demographics, the workforce continues to become more multi-generational and multicultural. This mix of talent brings a richness to the workplace. It also brings about the need for leaders to be more tuned in to the accumulative present thinking. It calls for more adaptability, more connection, and an open mind. Employees want more involvement and input to solutions, they want more choice, more flexibility, and greater autonomy.

On top of these evolving expectations, the impacts of hardships and experiences faced during the pandemic are still unfolding. We do see a state of mind indicating independence. Employees are more discerning and less deferential — more emboldened in general.

In this diverse workforce and with hybrid models of work, keeping employees engaged and retaining talent will become an even more significant challenge for leaders. It will call for leaders to look to ourselves and be open to renewed thinking and collaboration.

So how can leaders best respond? That is the question that inspired my new book “Intentional Leadership.” Over the years I have engaged in conversations with several hundred senior leaders from across the country in many sectors, including banking, education, health care, and public policy.

It became clear, through my own experiences and those of the many leaders I talked with, that the shift from leading by instinct and yesterday’s assumptions to leading intentionally is now the gold standard. We clearly see a need for focusing on the human side of leading.

All of this requires leading with intention and renewing specific capabilities which go beyond the technical side of leading. In my book, I outline eight capabilities setting leaders apart, which have been tested with firm and farreaching agreement and relate to the human side of leading.

These capabilities include personal adaptability, strategic agility, selfrenewal, certainty of character, empathy, contextual communication, spirited collaboration, and developing other leaders — not just followers.

I believe that the way forward for leaders is to embrace the reality that “once a good leader, always a good leader” is an outdated belief that can lead to complacency. Today’s workforce wants to know more about the “why” of things. They want to understand leaders’ motivations for decisions. They want to be recognized for their own knowledge and ideas.

They want to see that their leaders are listening, empathizing, and caring.

They don’t necessarily expect leaders to have all the answers, or to act on all their suggestions. However, we know that trust in leaders is sought by all stakeholders and earning trust happens every day. Employees as well as all stakeholders are watching carefully for the signs of being listened to; signs of caring, truth, trust, and transparency. Leadership is hard and has never been more important.

ROSE M. PATTEN IS SPECIAL ADVISER TO THE CEO AND SENIOR EXECUTIVES AT BMO FINANCIAL GROUP, AND IS CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO. HER BOOK ,“INTENTIONAL LEADERSHIP: THE BIG 8 CAPABILITIES SETTING LEADERS APART ,” WAS PUBLISHED LAST WEEK.