insights

COVID-19 has changed the way executive teams strategically focus their organisations and the rapid adoption of digital technologies means the fundamentals of strategic and operational execution have changed. The Australian Financial Review spoke with Maximus Founder Vanessa Gavan, and Associate Director Katherine Boiciuc, about the fundamental leadership capabilities and mindset, required to transform an organisation.

We’re leading our organisations through a period where our closest associates may be existing in a context completely different to our own. Leaders have no choice but to get comfortable with this paradox and take a more humanistic, empathic approach.

Companies around the world are placing their bets, forecasting the horizon and predicting the future. What they’re not telling you is that they only know a fraction more than the average person. Maximus spoke with Lateral Economics CEO and Australian Economist Nicholas Gruen, about making better decisions in the face of uncertainty.

Mandy Johnson, Co-Founder and Ex-Director of Flight Centre UK, shared her insight with Maximus into achieving success during times of unprecedented upheaval. We call on leaders to consider how their organisation pivoted during this period, and to contemplate the characteristics of businesses that thrived.

Now is the time to exercise our muscle of foresight.
Operating in the midst of a health and economic crisis has challenged and continues to test our ability as leaders. We have been tasked with providing clarity and hope for our people, to repair and reimagine the future for our organisations and society, and to balance long term impact with short term survival. Instead of operating at a pace which incentivises short-termism thinking, what if we used this as an opportunity to engage long-term thinking, unlock opportunities and act on behalf of the future?

Dr Kimberley Norris, Clinical psychologist, and Associate Professor at the University of Tasmania spoke with Maximus, sharing her views on adaption in a rapidly changing environment and the implication for leaders preparing for re-entry during COVID-19.

In this month’s QANTAS Magazine, Vanessa Gavan, Maximus’ Founder and Joint Managing Director, features alongside Chief Officers and Partners from McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte and EY, in a special business and technology report. Reviewing the transformational shifts occurring within organisations due to COVID-19, Vanessa identifies the positive shifts she has witnessed, and the opportunities the crisis is affording us, urging leaders to find their purpose and reimagine the legacy they wish to create.

“If you’re an executive you will be known for something. Better what you stand for be by design.” – Vanessa Gavan

Two leaders give their perspectives on how seeing your people and your opportunities clearly, will enable success during tumultuous times.

The past few years have seen the rise of social movements, with their pace, traction and impact indicating that traditional constructs of power, leadership and authority are no longer durable and that as a concept, they have been decoupled. In our latest white paper, Maximus propose the requirement for organisations to distribute accountability, unlock emotional commitment and ignite activism within the collective if they are to thrive in the new world.

The Coronavirus pandemic is the black swan event of our times. In his book, Antifragile, Nassim Nicholas Taleb sets the scene for understanding that the subsequent turmoil of black swan events is caused by fragility; and cultivating antifragility is the antidote.

During tough times, effective leaders make a quick and essential transition from crisis response to a positive reimagination of the organisation.

As black-swan events go, COVID-19 is a pterodactyl – a mega event that threatens to blow up global economic drivers, known production paradigms, trade agreements, market values, our concept of critical industries and much more.