Leading through a global pandemic, economic turmoil and spiralling global crises has been some of the hardest, and yet most fulfilling couple years of Susanne Legena’s career thus far.
She’s been the CEO of Plan International Australia, a leading charity for girl’s equality, for five years, and has led through her fair share of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.
“I spent a lot of my five years in the CEO role trying to find equilibrium only to discover that in my line of work maybe there isn’t any,” Legena says.
“If this is the new dance I have to learn the moves and find a new rhythm and stop trying to get back to some notion of a role of leadership that no longer and maybe never existed.
“More importantly I have to lead the dance for the whole team and teach them the moves too so they become more attuned to crisis and less overwhelmed.”
Plan International works in more than 80 countries across the world to tackle the root causes of poverty, support communities through crisis and disaster, campaign for gender equality, and help governments do what’s right for children and particularly for girls.
While leading this mission in Australia during the pandemic, Legena soon realised that nobody truly knows the ‘right way’ to lead through particularly volatile times, it was just that some leaders were more open to admitting this than others.
“In volatile circumstances the environment is unpredictable and information only becomes available as events unfold in real time,” Legena says.
“Think here of natural disasters, a global health crisis like the Covid pandemic, supply chain disruption, a data breach, geopolitical tension like the war in Ukraine or an ethical or PR scandal. You have to think on your feet, make decisions fast and are unlikely to have ready made plans for all eventualities.”
Crisis is part of the job of a leader, Legena says, noting the skills for adapting and learning to navigate this reality is becoming even more critical as climate change threatens to exacerbate many issues and make volatile events even more common.
“It sounds counterintuitive to say that volatile environments do not need a command and control structure of leadership,” she says, noting that “when everything is going to hell in a handbasket, it feels like you have to bring it back under control.”
“But volatile environments can’t be controlled and attempts to do so will burn you out.”
During the pandemic, Legena says that her role as CEO of Plan International was “less Commander in Chief and more Co-ordinator in Chief ” as well as being “Cheerleader in Chief ”.
“It goes without saying that in a volatile environment hiring the right people is key and looking after them is paramount,” she says.
“Our organisation would fall over if not for its people. They are the real treasure of the organisation and they need to be recognised as such.”
“In the end, it’s always about the people. This is the biggest lesson of the pandemic for me, we haven’t always got that right but I am firmly of the view that the health of the team in the broadest sense of the word is one of the key determining factors for long term success and sustainability in a volatile environment.”
Legena shares more insight on leading through volatile times during her keynote session for Women’s Agenda’s new video app series, The Keynotes.
The Keynotes app shares “Mini Keynote” sessions and insights on leadership, equity, current affairs, climate and so much more. To watch Priyanka Ashraf’s keynote as well as other sessions, sign up to the app here.