Thought Leadership

Resources for Business Leaders During the COVID-19 Crisis

Navigating the landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic makes for challenging times. To help support you and your organization, Kellogg Executive Education presents the latest thought-leadership content from our faculty and experts. We will update this page with articles, videos, webinars and more to guide you in adapting, remaining resilient and leading during a crisis.

Executive Education Articles

• Battle Rhythm: a Blueprint for Leadership in Times of Crisis
• Moral Leadership: What’s Important in the Midst of Crisis
• Family Businesses Must Focus on All Stakeholders in Times of Crisis — and Boards Must Guide Them
• 10 Timeless Principles of Leadership Communication During a Crisis
• Moral Toughness: How Leaders Develop the Strength and Endurance to Do the Right Thing

Webinars

Recorded Webinars

• COVID-19: Crisis Management Essentials
  The coronavirus (COVID-19) presents myriad crises for society, government, your organization and your family. Navigating uncertainty is challenging, and the cost of failure is high. In this recorded webinar, Kellogg Professor Tim Feddersen shares insights and guidance on crisis management in the shadow of a pandemic.
• Leading Yourself and Your Organization Through the COVID-19 Pandemic
  Under today's staggering circumstances, it is natural for leaders to feel unprepared to lead capably, nimbly, and honorably. In this recorded webinar, Professor Harry Kraemer discusses what leaders should consider in order to stand the best chances of emerging from the current crisis with their organizations (and their consciences) intact.
• Inspiring Leadership in a Time of Global Crisis
  As the global pandemic unfolds, all of us face new challenges, yet none of us have all the answers. How will your organization adapt and innovate during all of this? It begins with seeing the role of leader as shepherd and bringing about the possibilities of what inclusion can mean for you, your colleagues and your broader organization. Professor Nicholas Pearce discusses leading in these difficult times.
• Work, Love and Relationships in the Time of Coronavirus
  COVID-19 has upended life for billions of people around the world. Much discussion surrounds the public-health and economic impact, but what about the effects on our closest relationships? Will we see a surge in divorces? A baby boom? Is it possible to stay productive when, all of a sudden, our coworkers are aged three and five? How does this impact our relationships with colleagues? In this recorded webinar, Professor Eli Finkel addresses these questions and more.
• The Coronavirus and Supply Chains: How to Prepare for the Next Disruption
  Professor Sunil Chopra discusses the impacts of the supply-chain disruption caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic.
• A Test of Family Enterprise Purpose and Values: Planning for the Future Impact of COVID-19
  Family business leaders and owners are turning to longer-term implications of the COVID-19 crisis. In this conversation about how family enterprises are planning for the future, Professor Jennifer Pendergast shares best practices and examples of how families are addressing issues related to employees, culture, customers, communities and enterprises they own.
• The (New) Art of Virtual Collaboration
  The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a radical restructuring of business teams and collaboration that tests our virtual-communication mettle. In this recorded webinar, Professor Leigh Thompson shares actionable insights on how to be successful when leading virtual teams and conducting negotiations.
• Pharma and the Pandemic — Lessons for the Future
  As the world stands in the grips of a global pandemic it has put healthcare and pharmaceuticals in the spotlight. Professor Craig Garthwaite provides insights on what we are learning from the pandemic about the business of healthcare, drug pricing and the ability to address future pandemics.
• The Right Stuff: Managing Your Career Through Disruptive Times
  What strategies can you use to navigate through your career, especially in times of disruption? Professor Carter Cast shares insights into the traits of high-performing managers and discusses career progress in trying times.
• The Emotional Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Navigating Current and Future Mental Health Challenges
  The COVID-19 pandemic has provoked unprecedented levels of anxiety and depression that, left unaddressed, can have devastating consequences. Dr. Stephanie Ross, an expert in treating the mental health consequences of health crises, provides insight into the mental health challenges associated with the “new” workplace, physical isolation and unemployment. She also identifies some of the challenges that lie ahead as we face an uncertain future. Dr Ross provides concrete guidance on how to mitigate these stressors for yourself, your colleagues and your loved ones.
• Sustaining Leadership
  The COVID-19 pandemic has created an extended crisis, requiring executives to lead well beyond an initial reaction phase. Adjunct Professor and retired Navy Adm. Michael Rogers discusses the challenges ahead and the skills needed to effectively lead organizations through long, uncertain times.
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Wake of Upheaval
  The pandemic has led to economic upheaval that has disrupted business as usual. Kellogg faculty experts Linda Darragh, Troy Henikoff and Sara Moreira discuss how small enterprises and new entities are faring in these times. They also provide practical, strategic insights for your organization and the ecosystem of your value-chain partners.
• The AI Marketing Canvas: A Five Stage Roadmap for Implementing AI in Your Marketing Toolkit
  As companies begin to turn their focus to recovery and the long term, we turn our focus to building marketing capabilities. In this session, Jim Lecinski addresses how marketers can think about AI and machine learning and discusses how to develop a strategy and plan for implementing AI as part of their marketing approach.
• Thriving in Challenge: How Leaders Create Cultures of Resilience
  Each day seems to add more trials for people in leadership positions. Throughout history, exceptional leaders have risen to the occasion when matters seemed most bleak. Resilience is the superior skill that separates the most successful leaders from the merely capable. Join Professors Fred Harburg and Holly Raider for a discussion on effective mindsets, strategies and practices that leaders can employ to build resilience in themselves and their organizations.
• Equality Is Not the Same as Equity: How 21st Century Leaders Can Engage Antiracism in their Organization
  Leaders across America and the world have a call to action to create meaningful change in business and society with regard to systemic and institutional racism. Professor Nicholas Pearce and Xavier Ramey, CEO of the social impact consulting firm Justice Informed, discuss identifying the key challenges to institutional support and engagement in antiracism, increasing understanding about justice and equity challenges in organizations and discussing frameworks for organizational and individual engagement in the work of equity.
• Teaming in a Virtual World: What Network Science and Research on Astronauts Can Teach Us About Working Together When We Are Apart
  For many, the shift to working remotely has disrupted patterns of relationships and teamwork. Professors Noshir Contractor and Leslie DeChurch examine the impact of physical distancing and confinement on our networks, with insights we can use here on the ground from research on team dynamics and performance among astronauts.
• Pandemic as Opportunity: Growth and Innovation in Uncertain Times
  The world has turned upside down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the pandemic also presents a historic opportunity to innovate and find new growth opportunities. What are the trends that will define the “new normal”? Where are the opportunities that it will present? How can you pivot your organization and your offerings to capitalize on these opportunities? Professors Sanjay Khosla and Mohan Sawhney share practical lessons for reimagining your business to thrive in a post-pandemic world.
• Guess Who Doesn’t Fit in at Work?
  Cultural fit is one of the primary qualities companies look for when they hire. While selecting applicants on the basis of fit with a company's mission and values can have benefits when done right, all too often hiring based on cultural fit can be a source of discrimination and bias. Kellogg Professor Lauren Rivera discusses strategies companies can use to better source talent to enhance organizational culture while also preserving diversity.
• Using the Brain in Business: Three Ideas From Neuroscience That Will Change the Way Business Is Done
  In recent years, companies and business executives increasingly are turning to neuroscience methods to better understand their customers, hire better, build effective teams and make better decisions. Kellogg Professor Moran Cerf discusses the three remarkable and novel ideas from neuroscience that will shape the way companies navigate in the coming decade.
• Timeless and Timely: Living a Life of Leadership
  During times of crisis and change, leaders seek ways to navigate uncertainty to generate vitality and transformation for their teams and organizations. This webinar explores the everyday mindset and behaviors of leaders that enable them to thrive in good times and during adversity. Professor Michelle Buck examines four principles that are both timeless and timely in helping leaders to bring their best selves to their work and to unleash the potential of their teams.
• Selling in a Virtual World
  Selling virtually presents opportunities for us as sellers to show up and stand out in a different way. Professor Craig Wortmann leads a lively and practical session on translating the high-performance sales foundation of knowledge, skill and discipline into a virtual environment. He addresses how to prepare for, deliver and follow up on client interactions in ways that are meaningful and memorable.
• Leader as Teacher: Lessons from the Classroom
  The most effective leaders, like teachers, inspire, engage and develop people. Professors Meghan Busse, Tim Calkins and Mitchell Petersen discuss insights for leaders from the art and science of teaching and give us a behind the scenes look at what they've learned about teaching excellence in Kellogg’s live virtual classrooms — and why that matters for leaders.
• Your Leadership, Your 168 & What Matters Most
  We welcome back Professor Harry Kraemer for an introspective yet forward-looking discussion on what matters most to you and your leadership.




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Additional Resources

Kellogg Insight

• A Closer Look at Consumer Stockpiling During the Coronavirus Crisis
• How to Lead Your (Suddenly Virtual) Team Through a Crisis
• Four Steps Marketers Can Take to Navigate the Pandemic
• What Your Business Can Do to Help the Community during the Coronavirus Crisis
• Take 5: What Previous Recessions Can Teach Us about the Coronavirus Crisis
• The Coronavirus Has Upended Supply Chains. Here’s How Companies Can Prepare for the Next Disruption.
• Other COVID-19 resources from Kellogg Insight



Other Information

• COVID-19 Resources for Family Owners (John L. Ward Center for Family Enterprises)