CEOs are noticing aspects of their people that believe and take action accordingly—something had always been there but perhaps had gone we believe all CEOs would benefit from, given the overlooked or weren’t considered important until moment at hand. the pandemic helped make those characteristics more pronounced. Most job descriptions list what Decide what you really believe is expected in terms of skills and experience, but The COVID-19 pandemic has emphatically affirmed during COVID-19, CEOs have seen the critical the interconnection and interdependence of importance of other attributes and qualities of businesses with their full range of stakeholders. character. As Alain Bejjani, CEO of MAF, states, “I As Robert Smith, CEO of Vista Equity Partners, a think we’re moving from a world of specialists toward private-equity firm with some 60 companies in its a world of generalists. Leaders need to adapt to all portfolio, says, “At the beginning of COVID-19, CEOs kinds of different circumstances, and generalists zipped right to thinking about shareholders above can succeed when life is so fast and volatile. We will everything. It was almost a muscle memory. But then need more generalists to lead in disruptive times, they realized that at every turn they were bumping whether they’re caused by technological shifts or up against different stakeholders: partners, this unimagined pandemic.” governments, suppliers, employees. They were experiencing the interconnectedness of stakeholder A conscious, deliberate choice to adjust people capitalism in everything they did.” expectations to include “to be” as well as “to do” considerations will change how CEOs and their CEOs are being called upon to make decisions they organizations select, train, coach, recognize, and have never been trained for. Few have any expertise reward leaders. As CEOs decide how to make this on the general health of their employees, yet they shift permanent, they, together with their chief are called upon to decide when it is safe to return human-resources officer, should consider to the office. Tough decisions with profound human the following: consequences are confronting CEOs every day. CCHMC’s Michael Fisher told his board leaders that — What will I look for differently in leaders as a he was willing to repurpose a beautiful, relatively result of what I’ve learned during the pandemic? new satellite hospital already being fully used to care for children to instead serve adult patients exposed — What actions should I take in the near term to COVID-19, if that’s what the community needed. to reinforce what “being” attributes will be of “That would not have been a popular decision elevated importance going forward? with some important stakeholders, for a range of reasons, and, thankfully, we haven’t had to do it. — How can these attributes be hardwired into our But if that was the right way for our community to people model to ensure they are institutionalized respond to this crisis, I would have been ready to do in how we develop, reward, and promote? it again.” Throughout the crisis, Fisher says, “What went through my mind was the range of issues that needed to be dealt with—and the range of Fully embrace stakeholder capitalism responsibilities that we had to patients, to families, Over the past few years, many CEOs have begun to to our employees, and to the community. How would embrace the idea that their companies’ obligations we take this moment and not only preserve trust to shareholders should not come at the expense of with stakeholders but also strengthen it?” other stakeholders—that is, employees, customers, the community, suppliers, and society. The most Starting with the needs of their employees, public affirmation of the idea came just last summer, stakeholder capitalism moved from an idea talked when 181 CEOs committed to the idea by signing about at conferences to a rapid-sequence decision- on to the US Business Roundtable’s “Statement making reality for many CEOs. Unilever’s Alan Jope on the purpose of a corporation.” The pandemic tells us, “We realized after the event that we had has brought this issue to the fore in powerful ways, followed our multistakeholder model. Week one was prompting many CEOs to gut check what they really all about our employees. We secured everyone’s 150 What now? Ten actions to emerge stronger in the next normal September 2020