5 Skills First-Line Leaders Grew During the Pandemic and How to Ensure Your Organization Sustains Them

Key Themes

In reviewing Figure 1, five key themes emerge as the most significant areas of leadership growth for first-line leaders: 

1. Focus on customers. Today’s first-line leaders are more focused on what customers want and making sure their team is evolving to meet their needs. The rapid shifts in what customers have expected and needed over the last two to three years has required leaders to focus more directly on their organization’s customers and how their team can help meet those expectations. (Consistently makes time to seek and incorporate input from key external customers; Incorporates expectations of outside stakeholders, including customers, into our future goals.)
2. Make good decisions. First-line leaders have come through the unpredictability of the pandemic and its associated social and economic upheaval as even better thinkers. They are more able to stay calm, think clearly, and get decisions made. (Follows a decision protocol that defines what decisions need to be made and by whom; Maintains composure even in extremely difficult circumstances; Is skilled at seeing the broader implications – the bigger picture – in a mass of detail.)
3. Grow and advance promising talent. First-line leaders, facing talent shortages and possibly also fueled by loyalty to talent who stayed with them through the pandemic, have become more adept at knowing what competencies are important and in helping promising employees find development opportunities that will help them advance. (Finds targeted development assignments for promising employees who will become our next-generation talent; Invests time in helping key employees develop and advance; clearly identifies the competencies required for success in his/her organization.)
4. Encourage networking. First-line leaders working in the all-hands-on-deck atmosphere of the pandemic seem to have gained a broader perspective of how everyone’s work fits together and the critical role of creating strong networks by encouraging their teams to connect across the organization.  (Encourages people to network throughout the organization.)
5. Open to feedback. As the complexity and stress of leading and managing teams increased during Covid, it is possible that first-line managers keyed into the critical role of clear feedback to make agile, effective adjustments. Managers unwilling or unable to receive feedback will struggle to keep pace with today’s speed of change.  (Is receptive to feedback from others on strengths and weaknesses.)

Interestingly, these five areas reflect all five domains of the Leadership Code but with the most significant emphasis on the area of Human Capital Developer, which is consistent with historical findings. 

Reinforcing Gains 

These five areas represent significant and important new skills. And new skills you will want to sustain and even continue to grow with your first-line leaders. Here are three ways organizations can sustain this learning and growth:

1. Validate the new skills. The five areas listed above are general based on a global dataset and multiple companies.  Engage the leaders and direct reports of first-line leaders and ask them what changes they saw in first-line leadership behaviors. Begin with the list above and then ask: Did you notice changes in first-line leaders in these areas? What other changes did you notice if you compare their skills today with before Covid? How important are these changes in how your teams deliver results stakeholders care about?
2. Engage first-line leaders. Using the list that has been validated, gather first-line leaders in focus groups. Share with them how others have seen them improve (findings from #1 above) and celebrate their growth and success. Ask them: what factors contributed to these changes? What are they doing to sustain these new skills? What can be done to support them and future first-line leaders in these new skills?
3. Institutionalize learnings. Where appropriate, use learnings from #2 above to shape first-line leadership development.  

Through intentional examination of the ways first-line leaders grew, you can better identify how and where the growth occurred so that the skills improvements can be sustained.  

To discuss how this research can help you build an evidence-based leadership brand and culture that increases value for your stakeholders, contact us to be connected with our leadership development experts. 

For more first-line leadership research insights, click here and here. For mid-level leadership research highlights, click here.