For most of us, thankfully we are not involved directly in armed conflict, but what happens when there is one in a country. From the outside looking in, we know there will mass migration to safe areas of the world, ideally all those leaving have some form of money to ensure travel costs. After the mass migrations which will make headlines, the businesses that are left, how do they function? Louai Al Roumani, Former CFO of BBSF Bank in Syria has written a book about how to function, which can be used for contingency planning if fortunately you are not involved in armed conflict. The book is titled Lessons from a Warzone, Penguin Business, London, UK, 2020.

Chapter 5 Be a situational leader

Leadership in all times, people need clarity, purpose and direction.

There are two distinctive leadership styles – the autocratic (leader makes the decision himself) and the participatory (involving as many people as possible) and everything in between. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. In a crisis there tends to more autocratic thinking. What is needed is more situational leadership.

Strategic, yet always on the ground – ask the front line people what they see and need. You make policy, but does it make sense when it is implemented?

Persistent, yet knowing when to stop digging – in a crisis, you will likely find you are in a hole you dug yourself, you need to stop digging. How do you tolerate mistakes and learning from them.

Focused, but not yet restrained – in every crisis, things happen all at once. Most of them will be things you never really worried about before, now they are a problem. The challenge is always keeping an eye on the strategic focus and vision.

Adaptive, yet not submissive in stakeholder management – when a crisis unfolds, people’s needs change. The change will be more demanding, not less. Know your priorities and your readily available tools, as well as the time that you have to commit to changing needs. Strong empathy is needed.

Leading change, but not changing everything. see Chapter 6

Linking to dividend paying stocks, everyone pays attention to the actions of the leader. Sometimes as an investor, you love the leader and that is partly why you invested in the company. Sometimes you wonder, as an investor you should pay attention to leadership.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.