how I want to show up every day. So I’ve added a ‘to — Going forward, is there an opportunity for me to be’ list to my repertoire. Today, for example, I want manage a “to be” list with the same rigor as my to be generous and genuine. I hope I’m that way “to do” list? every day. But today, I want to make sure it stays top of mind. On a different day this week—and look, — How, practically, should I hold myself you can see it here in my calendar—I knew that part accountable? How will I ensure that others help of my job was to be collaborative and catalytic. So hold me accountable? I pick out two qualities, two kinds of ‘to be,’ every morning as part of my normal routine.” Recalibrate how I expect leaders and employees to show up Choosing how one wants “to be” is yielding concrete Just as the “being” side of the CEO has come to results. Deanna Mulligan, CEO of Guardian, says, the fore during the crisis, the same is true for other “Like many New York financial-services firms, our leaders in the organization. At his recent top-300 culture and corporate communications tend to executive meeting, Verizon Communications CEO be a bit more formal. Pre-COVID-19, when I was Hans Vestberg shared a visual showing how he’s preparing for a company-wide video or speech, that spent his time over the past three months during the formality, in the form of rehearsals and professional crisis and how his energy has changed: “Ultimately, staging, was standard practice. That culture had to my job is to give energy, empowerment, and vision change overnight because everyone’s at home. Now, to the organization. If I’m down, I’m not really using I’m more casually dressed, and it’s more intimate and the only asset I have as a leader. And I have bad days personal. I’ve made some of my videos outside with like anybody else. I tell my leaders, ‘You need to self- the dog, something that we’d never have thought assess so you know what you’re good at, and double to do before. The feedback has been terrific. Our down on that in your own leadership.’” employee engagement scores, confirmed by regular pulse surveys, have been consistently on the rise Several CEOs have told us that they have learned since going remote.” a lot about their leadership teams during the pandemic. “This environment offers some terrific By reflecting on the following questions, CEOs can empirical evidence,” says Union Pacific’s Lance use this moment as an opportunity to recalibrate Fritz. “This is a great environment if you’re prone how they show up every day: to saying, ‘Not in my sandbox.’ You can really shut others down. It’s a challenging environment if — What qualities am I bringing to being and you’re prone to be inviting, but if you can do it in showing up today that I should continue to bring this environment, you’re probably going to do it in into the future? the normal world, too. I’m seeing behaviors like that bubble up, and it’s very informative.” CEOs are noticing aspects of their people that had always been there but perhaps had gone overlooked or weren’t considered important until the pandemic helped make those characteristics more pronounced. The CEO moment: Leadership for a new era 149