Eight years ago, at ICM Associates, we had the intuition that our developed world was somewhat out of breath and that it had to prepare for repeated and devastating shocks. For many industrial and corporate sectors, the issue would be less one of development than one of survival. There had been crisis in 2008 and […]

Survive the Unexpected Step 11: Leadership Development Journey Through the 10 previous articles, we have gone through the ICM Associates leadership model.  It has been the basis of our training and development tools over the past years. The situation has changed in 2020. An unexpected (or expected in some cases) virus has spread all around […]

To Survive The Unexpected Step 10: Leading from FAR AWAY One of the benefits of the crisis we are experiencing today has been the rapid development of telework. The availability of powerful and easy-to-use software has made it possible to communicate face-to-face or with several people in an agile, flexible and efficient way. This habit […]

To Survive The Unexpected Leading from BEHIND One of the major things senior managers are expected to do is “Develop people”. Except for those who are so unsure of themselves that they fear they will be outstripped, leaders generally welcome this responsibility. But few of them have received training in pedagogy, or the skills required […]

Survive the Unexpected Step 8: Leading from AMONG There are times in the life of a company or a team when hierarchy, objectives and strategies are no longer relevant because what counts most is to just get together and to share a moment of joy or sadness. At these profoundly human moments a leader cannot […]

To Survive The Unexpected Step 7: Lead from BESIDE Environmental instability and health uncertainty, as we experience today, are stress factors that have had a disruptive effect on companies. How much confidence can we have in what has made us successful in the past when the disruptions and crisis we face challenge everything we thought […]

Survive The Unexpected Step 6: Leading from AHEAD This is the most commonly accepted leadership posture: leaders in front of their troops. The decision-maker who, in the midst of confusion, identifies the right option; the ones who risk fire and emerge victorious along with their (surviving) troops, exhausted but happy. But let’s look beyond this […]

Setp 5: Leading from ABOVE The most crucial challenge for leaders will be to build confidence in order to meet the challenges of coming out of the crisis and manage the profound changes we have described in previous posts. Some leaders can do this and generate the confidence needed to keep their teams motivated and […]