Emily Maitlis was widely applauded last week on social media for challenging the notion that Covid-19 is a great leveller. And she was right in many ways. The virus is not impacting us in equal ways. Those of us that have a home, a comfortable home, a sanctuary of a home, are way better off than those in socially deprived housing, or those confined with a domestic abuser or those with no home at all. Among those with the lower paid jobs are the keyworkers who are now the most at risk: those in the frontline. Those with greater financial security are the least threatened by the economic impact of this crisis and those least likely to find themselves turning to food banks to feed their families. And then there are those living on other continents where social distancing is simply not an option. I was on a call recently with representatives from several African countries who were speaking with deep concern and distress about the implications of Covid-19 for the people in their communities.
I was challenged initially by Maitlis’ commentary, as I had been one of those talking about the levelling impact of the virus. Having reflected on it more, I concluded that she was certainly right to call it out and to draw our attention to this. I also concluded that there are still some ways in which it is proving a leveller, particularly within organisations.
At a superficial level, the trappings of corporate life are falling away, as people show up on calls in their joggers or house wear, with their kitchen or living room as a backdrop, sometimes with dogs or a spouse or even a child wandering through on occasion. Without suits and the accoutrements of business life, everyone already seems more human somehow, more “in this together”, more equal.
And then there is the issuer of power. Across the different sectors and industries with which I have the privilege to work, I am seeing a dissolving of power structures and with it a distribution of leadership that has long been talked about or dreamed of. For so long, we have been witnessing the lack of accountability in so much of the workforce and a hanging on to decision making power by those at the top of the hierarchy. This was part of the context for Frederic Laloux’s book ‘Reinventing Organisations’, which referenced the apathy and disengagement of large swathes of the working population and a bureaucratic hierarchy that was increasingly unhelpful, divisive and patronising. Part of what Laloux’s research uncovered was a trend in self-management as one very important ingredient of a new, more productive and effective paradigm of organisational culture. I have since worked with some client organisations to try to create the conditions for this, and have seen the challenges of making it happen.
And then Corona Virus comes along and in a matter of weeks, I have heard clients talk of a speed of decision making, a stepping up to grasp responsibility, a mobilisation of effort and community spiritedness within businesses and a relaxing of the grip on authority by those in the most senior positions. The degree of disruption that has taken place, and the speed with which it has happened, has smashed through long standing organisational cultures, causing habits of presenteeism to be replaced with universal home working and those in the most senior of positions to stand shoulder to shoulder with other organisational communities in a shared endeavour to find solutions and responses.
I have also noticed my own response to the crisis with interest. I have risen to the challenge. I have instinctively moved upwards and outwards, with a feeling of freedom and agency that is familiar to me to a degree (I do run my own business, after all) but which has risen exponentially in recent weeks. I have also heard others talk with energy and excitement about a new found sense of purpose in their roles and a greater sense of freedom they are finding to step up and take decisions. When more space becomes available, many of us choose to take it.
It encourages and heartens me. It shows that we do have it in us. It provides evidence for my belief that we are all intrinsically motivated and that, given the right conditions, we will and do step in and we will and do trust others to do the same. My hope is that the power structures continue to crumble and that through these critical times, we find new ways of working, being and leading in business that are better for people, better for organisations and better for the planet.