Capability building during COVID-19: 6 experts on the skill they’re most excited to help teams develop

The rapid pace of transformation ushered in by the pandemic has meant organizations need to adapt faster than ever before—and develop the right skills to sustain that change.

Here, six McKinsey experts share the capabilities they’re most excited to develop with teams—and why these skills are critical for staying ahead in the next normal.

Kate Lazaroff Puck on adaptability and resilience

Kate Lazaroff
Kate Lazaroff

“The skill of surfing the waves is so important right now,” says Kate, a solution leader based in Boston. “We’re all experiencing dramatic stress during the pandemic, which makes us ineffective collaborators and uncreative problem solvers.” As one of the leaders of McKinsey Academy’s Adaptability and Resilience program, Kate works with leaders to get more productivity—and happiness—out of the same input of energy, time, and effort. “We’re improving the engine,” she says.

While this kind of skill is typically taught to CEOs, Kate says we launched this offering in part because we saw how pervasive the negative toll of stress was at every level of the organization. In fact, one aspect of the program focuses on social learning, where different groups of employees share best practices. “It’s about normalizing talking about this,” Kate says. “Navigating stress is a life skill, and every person brings different perspective—and wisdom.”

Andrea Alexander on remote working

Andrea Alexander
Andrea Alexander

“A year ago, the pandemic forced almost all organizations to work remotely, and in the beginning it was about survival,” says Andrea, an associate partner based in Houston. “Leaders were just trying to figure it out, while grappling with all the other changes brought on by the pandemic.” A year later, many executives are focused on how to optimize remote work—so teams aren’t spending days on back-to-back video conferences—or navigate what a hybrid workplace will look like in the next normal.

“Executives are realizing their teams can’t just keep running on adrenaline, so we’re helping them learn how to effectively manage remotely in this phase—when they should actually use Zoom versus asynchronous communication—and for a world that we know is increasingly going to be more virtual and hybrid,” Andrea says.

Naveed Rashid on digital literacy

Naveed Rashid
Naveed Rashid

“The pandemic underscored that digital literacy is important for everyone to have,” says Naveed, a senior solution leader based in New York. “It’s not just the leaders and teams who are driving digital transformation, but also the broader organization, who needs to feel vested, inspired, and empowered to learn and contribute.” And while digital literacy is often discussed in the context of technology-enabled transformation at businesses, Naveed says the skill applies in life, too. “Just think about the migration to Zoom and the use of other digital tools during the pandemic—that’s its own kind of transformation.”

Naveed is particularly inspired by this kind of capability building work because of the potential for sustained impact. “It’s very energizing work because it’s people-focused,” he says. “There’s nothing more rewarding than helping an organization’s people learn new skills, grow their knowledge, and unlock their potential.”

Olga Nefedova on execution excellence

Olga Nefedova
Olga Nefedova

As COVID-19 has accelerated the pace at which leaders need to make decisions, execution excellence has become a key capability for organizations, says Olga, an expert associate partner based in London. “The key to execution excellence is understanding where impact is coming from, not just the actions themselves,” she says.

As Olga explains, any organization can implement a set of measures and check the box—only to see zero impact. “If you train every person on a team on new software that’s rolling out, but the employees don’t understand how that software implementation supports the organization’s strategy, or where the value in that new software lies, then that effort is unlikely to make a difference,” she says. “It’s important for leaders to ensure there’s a direct link from their vision to the action, so execution can be broken down into meaningful steps.”

Fleur Tonies on well-being

Fleur Tonies
Fleur Tonies

“It is so great to see organizations begin to recognize well-being as a capability one can build this last year, as opposed to a trait that leaders have or don’t have,” says Fleur, an associate leader at Aberkyn, a McKinsey company, who is based in Singapore. “We saw COVID-19 affect so many ‘healthy’ people that it really forced a mind shift in what we think well-being is. More executives are understanding that impactful leadership means leading by example—balancing physical health, the body; mental health, the mind; and purpose, the soul.”

To help leaders build and strengthen their well-being, Aberkyn leaders often start by asking one ‘simple’ question, such as “How are you, really?” in addition to leveraging more advanced, medical diagnostic tools. “Ultimately, our goal is to help leaders become aware of their behaviors, develop better practices, and commit to developing them,” Fleur says. “As we believe, healthy leaders lead healthier teams and create healthy organizations.”

Anant Kasibhatla on inspiring leadership

Anant Kasibhatla
Anant Kasibhatla

More than a year into the pandemic, we’ve seen just how important inspiring leadership has been when it comes to how well organizations have weathered the crisis, says Anant, an associate leader at Aberkyn, a McKinsey Company, who is based in Mumbai. The first and foremost characteristic of inspiring leaders today? Empathy. “This has always been important for leaders, but as we’ve all seen our colleagues’ kids on Zoom, or had to cancel a meeting to take care of a family member, and heard colleagues express other challenges related to the pandemic—empathy has really become critical for the day to day.”

Another critical trait for inspiring leaders? The ability to balance a telescopic and microscopic view. “The pandemic has taught us that optimism is not going to work anymore,” he says.

“Increasingly, we’re working with leaders to continue to aspire for the best outcome—but prepare for the worst, whether that’s through pre-mortem exercises or risk-mitigation simulations.”

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