The story of the unique germination and growth characteristics of the Chinese bamboo tree has been told for a thousand years.

Bamboo is a very valuable tree species. It is used as a building material, source of food and medicine in some cultures, among other uses. It is preferred in the construction industry because of its impeccable durability and growth rate compared to many other tree species.

A story is told of a farmer, who upon hearing of these exciting characteristics of this bamboo got some seedlings to plant. With all the good agronomical practices, including watering the plants done, the farmer went home expecting quick returns on his investments.

He was disappointed, at least for a while. The bamboo didn’t germinate for four years and only did in the fifth year. When it did however, it grew to a height of 80 feet high in just six weeks. And within a period of 3 – 4 months, it attained its full height.

Our lives and endeavours in business today can be likened to the Chinese bamboo story. Many entrepreneurs and investors who have made significant investments in their businesses and expecting returns have all been stopped by the global COVID-19 pandemic; ruining their efforts, distorting business initiatives altogether under their countries’ ordered lockdowns aimed at stopping the spread of the disease. The world is at that juncture of immense distress.  The level of anxiety is extensive, keeping many awake all night.

On the African continent, for example, a lot has changed and is changing rapidly. COVID-19 is already destroying much of Africa’s private sector. Early statistics indicate some of the continent’s strongest companies and businesses are already in severe financial turmoil. Indeed, Hafez Ghanem, World Bank Vice President for Africa has said that “the COVID-19 pandemic is testing the limits of societies and economies across the world, and African countries are likely to be hit particularly hard”.

A continent that was looking forward to opening its borders to the much-anticipated new game changing trade revolution -African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA), starting July 2020, now has almost all of its borders shut in order to fight the pandemic.

This has obviously accounted for the significant reduction in the levels of intra- Africa trade as a result of border closures and lockdowns. As borders may take long to slowly re-open, the situation will be even more devastating for informal cross-border trade, which is the source of daily livelihoods for many in Africa, particularly for women and youth.

The future of the AfCFTA is now uncertain, as COVID-19 appears to have affected countries’ preparedness and commitment to agreement, according to a recently published AfCFTA year zero report by the AfroChampions Initiative. Remittances, for example, which are a vital source of income for most sub-Saharan countries has been hard hit. Indeed, David Malpass, president of the World Bank Group, has affirmed that “the ongoing global economic recession caused by Covid-19 is taking a severe toll on the ability to send money home.

There is no doubt that if the continent’s economies sink too deep, recovery will be slow, and intra-Africa trade will suffer even more.

But here at Human Capital International, as we recently indicated in one of our articles (Rethinking the opportunities in the New Normal), we want to encourage you the reader to be optimistic because there is a silver lining for businesses within the COVID-19 crisis, as well as for governments and individuals. There are obviously potential positive effects in what appears to be all gloom and doom.

1. Remain Positive and Inspirational

The COVID -19 pandemic and its effects on citizens and businesses can be likened to the struggles of a pregnant woman. An expectant mother, after the nine months burden, goes through another period of an unbearable pain on the day of delivery. And yet, when she finally carries the baby in her arms, all the pain is instantly forgotten. She never gives up on her responsibility of carrying the pregnancy because of the ultimate reward.

One of the key attributes of great leaders and entrepreneurs is their ability to lead and persevere during crisis. They do so with inspirational leadership. Values-driven inspirational leadership can help C-Suit Executives, managers, entrepreneurs, organizations, communities, or governments learn from the situation, remind internal and external stakeholders of their core values, and move forward progressively through the inevitable challenges of the crisis. It is in times like this that your ability to inspire your team to withstand storms and pressure, as a leader, is measured.

As crisis situations, such as COVID -19 pandemic, occur with greater global penetration, an understanding of values-driven inspirational leadership becomes critical for the leader, particularly, business leaders with an interest in pursuing a turnaround of the business despite the apparent risks and obstacles. It requires you to employ a new set of emotional and social competencies in order to mobilize an effective team to work together to meet the objectives you put forward in times of crisis, and being able to inspire and motivate are the foremost among these competencies.

If you are in a leadership role, part of your job is to be able to harness your skills, knowledge, and passion to inspire the people with whom you work. With inspiration, you can articulate a shared mission in a way that motivates, and offer a sense of common purpose beyond the obstacles.

Related article: Four tips on leading and managing your teams during quarantine

2. Focus on the Bigger Picture

Secondly, remain calm and focused on the ultimate business success. Values-driven inspirational leaders, in the face of challenges, demonstrate both calmness and a clear understanding of the business and its mission. There, you are able to develop a compelling message about how to further that mission, and why it’s important to do so. Values-driven inspirational leaders simply focus on something larger than their own personal success.

If you are leading your teams in times of crisis, ensure that you remain calm, and avoid making decisions out of emotions, while at the same time taking steps to manage analysis paralysis. Inspirational leaders are cautiously optimistic about the future and look to it with enthusiasm.

It is a fact that unanticipated crisis can easily overwhelm the leader and business contingency mitigation techniques as well as risk management, disaster recovery programs or emergency responses. However, values-driven inspirational leaders do not panic but instead take steps to understand what their biggest gaps in crisis preparedness are, and mobilise the team to address them because they know that every crisis has an end. As you read this article, just know that COVID-19 has an expiry date too especially with the possibility of a vaccine and a cure in sight.

3. Constantly Reframe the Crisis

What is critical though is to continuously frame and reframe the crisis to gain understanding of the different perspectives of the situation. During crisis, value-driven inspirational leaders avoid the mistake of holding unto the first impressions and analysis of the crisis. Instead, they try to deepen their understanding of what the crisis is, and constantly look at what is before them every couple of hours, days and weeks and flexibly embrace new information. This enables them to alternate strategies in the face of new analysis, having learned in the crisis that what you considered unimportant yesterday can become extremely important tomorrow. It therefore becomes critical to have the ability to assess the crisis on a continuous basis, and having a process to do that is extremely effective in managing the crisis.

Also read this article: The Leadership and Corporate Cultural Impact of COVID-19

4. Think Outside the Box

One of the rare skills of great leaders and entrepreneurs is their ability to think outside the box, to consider alternatives or perspectives that don’t follow the norm. They simply refuse to look at things as they are, and strive to identify the silver lining in every crisis situation. Success and failure, we know, start within the mind hence take steps to take control of your mind as an entrepreneur or leader, because whatever you fill your factory of ideas – the mind- with, so will be the outcome. Be positive and know that tomorrow will be better because of COVID -19.

For example, consider the sudden shift from global supply chains towards more regional and local supply chains. As a result of the adverse effects of the pandemic, countries especially within the East African Community, for example, are poised to re-balance their over-reliance on distant suppliers, and instead aggressively promote more proximate ones. And this includes regional and local manufacturing, potential local value addition and supply chain opportunities in the medical and pharmaceutical industries.

There is no doubt that, one of COVID-19’s biggest immediate and long-term impacts on Africa, is the continent’s mission to accelerate e-commerce, digital economy and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. These ingenious and innovative perspectives from the negative effects of COVID -19, without a doubt, reinforce unprecedented opportunities and positively impact ongoing efforts to boost African regional value chains.

Conclusion

2020 no doubt may be daunting but remember that your subjective interpretation of life is critical, and therefore, your current business circumstances notwithstanding, your perception of the circumstances, the attitude and manner with which you choose to handle them is what matters.

Look at the positive side of COVID -19 and encourage yourself and your team that it is possible to surmount the pandemic knowing very well that this one too, shall pass.