The world experienced a unique and emotional spectacle of team spirit, dignity, empathy, safety, cover, and culture at the Euro 2020 soccer championship in a match between Denmark and Finland. Christian Eriksen of Denmark collapse during playtime and the experiences from players to medics, fans, and the tournament governing body was not only heroic, but corporate lesson companies can learn.
Below are some expositions under the radar of human capital development I wish to explore.
- Evoking team spirit and national pride
– Digging deep within spontaneously to stand together and offer support to a teammate
This does not occur by accident, and it suggests the team has grown from “collection and construction” to a family bond.
Lesson: Occurrences and challenges test the cohesion of a team; they are not necessarily a wedge.
– Denmark fans dropped their big flag to be used to mount a protective tent for Christian’s privacy.
Denmark sold to the world their beingness culture. Companies must sell their best identity in times of adversities.
Lesson: Customers don’t just buy to satisfy a need or want, but they actually relate and bond. Be conscious of the bond behind what you are selling or the services you offer.
What are the embodied feelings of your corporate culture that employees carry? If they cannot own and personalize a culture, they cannot also give it off behind products and services.
Where lies various companies’ identity of their nation? What have countries modeled their citizens into?
- Technical Know-how
– Safety knowledge is an essential skill to inculcate into your team. CPR must be an ordinary skill to invest in for your staff. Don’t belittle essential skills
Lesson: Investing in essential skills must be a priority for every business entity.
- Understanding what is at stake to show leadership
– Knowing what is emerging and understanding what must be done to curtail the high stakes.
– Captain of the team, Simon Kjaer, was the first to be with Christian, offered CPR, called the medic, coordinated the group to form the human shield. When Christian was sent off, Simon walked to Christian’s wife to provide soothing support
Lesson: Leadership an action wrapped in feeling and belonging. Don’t only be seen and heard; let your followers feel, you feel and can see them
Effective followership manifested; this means it was not an accident, but a mindset, behavior, and attitude lived as a culture by the team.
- Shield and protecting a teammate
– In someone’s vulnerable moment, it is not the time for a social media frenzy. There is life after an incident, so they protect your own
– Forming a human shield to provide privacy and warmth, a message of “we are standing with you and by you.”
– The team corded their mates away from excessive media intrusion, from first aid administering till they left the pitch.
Lesson: Offer protection when teammates get hit by life realities in the line of duty. It sends a powerful signal of “we care” from the company to employees and customers.
This is one kind of example Virgin Atlantic and Richard Branson deployed for employees to feel part of ownership.
- Humanity
– We might not come from the same womb or home, but once we commit to a cause, we stand together here and walk on, together
– The match was postponed, in a corporate circle, we must eschew insensitivity
Lesson: The world is getting back to the era where we care about each other; incorporate this being in your corporate culture. Corporate life must not be all about figures.
- Empathy and inclusivity
– The team resonated in fellow-feeling experience, and everyone was involved
Lesson: When it is a team cause, everyone’s interest equally matters to be in each other’s shoes.
There are lessons for all spheres of the corporate life cycle, experiential leadership, effective followership, Customer loyalty, and association sensitivity. The world is evolving into the new normal, even though it is embedded in our being. Experiential leadership can be an offshoot of the combination of transformational leadership and servant/steward leadership. This type of leadership emanates from our guts or intuitive self, which, if practiced over a period of time, coordinates with how we feel to establish values we cherish. It goes a long way to boost and produce referent power, which is needed in every high-performing Organisation.
Angela Merkel of Germany stepped into experimental leadership when COVID hit and devastated entire Europe. She had technical know-how on her side, but how she made people feel and her coordination with agencies deepened her astute leadership prowess with Germany and the EU region
When New Zealand had some worship centers bombed, Prime Minister Jacinda Arden manifested experiential leadership in deeds and words, which created a feeling nationally that did not give an opening for the terrorist to rejoice in their works
Corporate bodies can learn these crucial lessons and audit their values, culture, and work philosophy
COVID-19 has shaken the foundation of the mechanical world we created in the last 3-4 centuries; we must focus on making human beings’ interests matter.
A Lot of FTSE 100 and Fortune 100 companies response and interest in the well-being of their employees has been a game-changer. This is about a shift in leadership towards fellowship and what concerns them.
This practice is establishing a new normal, and companies must invest in training now before it cost them in few years to come. Some are already ahead in the global space, so; serious entities can’t wait. These are the investments that create effective followership over some time.
Employee loyalty does not come from remuneration (salary and incentives) for Attitude, Skills, and Knowledge (ASK) but also employee experience (EX).
Employee experience(EX) emanates from values, culture, working environment, leadership -followers exchange, department to department membership exchange, etc.
The most intriguing experience is that when the primary customers being employees, build loyalty and priority, it impacts customer experience significantly. EX multiplies CX for return on investment, growth, and development.
Experiential leadership, effective followership, strategic leadership – follower exchange, quality customer experience, and productive employees experience build powerful brand identity and a global business positioning.
The writer is a Transformational Coach | Certified Corporate Trainer | Lead Facilitator of Zoweh Global Consult
Contact: +233243085932 Email: [email protected]
