The coronavirus pandemic is unique in its scope and in the uncertainty surrounding the magnitude of its potential impact. For foundations, that means unprecedented demands for flexibility, support, and emergency action as grant recipients face major disruptions, no matter what their missions. And with conditions so dynamic, it’s difficult to know what the right move is when next week’s right move might seem unthinkable today.
To respond, philanthropic leaders need humility and flexibility: humility to admit that they need to release the minds of others within the organization to help them come up with better plans. And flexibility to adapt quickly as the situation unfolds.
Doing those things requires leaders to give the right permission to the right people at the right time. A flexible and differentiated set of permissions can help any organization weathering this crisis. But it is especially useful for foundations, which have more control and more cash than most organizations right now — the two prized assets in a time of uncertainty.
The first kind of permission is for those who need to take care of their health and that of their families. Employees who are worried about themselves or others may need to focus on caring for their loved ones. This focus limits their job effectiveness in the moment. What we’re learning quickly is that a nation in quarantine presents new challenges to well-being. Diligent, hard-working employees are finding themselves torn between their day-to-day jobs and involuntary conscription as home-school teachers, caregivers for elderly parents, and so on. And the global, life-threatening nature of this crisis sets it apart from other circumstances when family takes precedence over work.
These people need permission to focus on what matters most. This is conditional permission. They need to talk to their managers about their core responsibilities and be clear about how they are handling their work. This will not only enable management teams to redistribute tasks more efficiently and with greater predictability for all, but it will also support flexibility for employees working under changed circumstances.
The second kind of permission is for those who need to focus on the foundation’s crisis response. This may seem like an obvious move, but it can be hard to distinguish between what is response oriented and what isn’t. This is especially true of responsible grant makers who don’t want to let grantees down.
Whatever the organizational imperative is — whether it’s frontline relief, helping the most disrupted grantees, or focusing on internal changes — these people need permission from management to put their usual tasks down. They also need assistance in explaining to key players outside the organization why business-as-usual work can wait.
The third kind of permission is to those who are looking beyond the crisis to the innovation opportunities that may emerge. This is the hardest permission to give. Foundation staff members may feel guilty about seeing opportunity in crisis or in not attending to emergency-response needs. But smart, agile organizations don’t manage for the circumstances they want — they seek new and differentiated opportunity in the conditions handed to them.
It is easy in a crisis to focus on a homogenous set of activities and a singular emotion. We are all consumed by the tragic situation unfolding around us, and we in philanthropy especially are motivated by deep emotions to help those who are suffering. These are strong and noble impulses. But they need not consume every employee all the time.
Agile foundations will take the time to assign different responsibilities to different people, including those who simply cannot focus on their jobs right now. In giving permission, and alleviating guilt, the whole of the organization can feel good about being appropriately responsive to staff and to those in need without everyone sharing the burden equally and unthinkingly.
This situational approach to giving permission may not be called for under normal times. These aren’t normal times. The present volatility and uncertainty demand a different response, especially among foundations, which have the unique power to choose how they respond to the crisis — either by increasing immediate response, holding back for long-term opportunities when the crisis abates, or some combination of both.
Effective foundation leadership requires that you don’t treat your people the same; you treat them fairly. Fairness, in this case, recognizes that different employees have different, and frequently shifting, burdens and capacities. The same person who needs permission to innovate this week may need permission to focus on family next week. To keep doing the vital philanthropic work that now more than ever has the potential to enable long-term impact, foundation leaders must give up rigid formulas in favor of flexibility.
Leaders who do will put themselves in the best position to respond effectively to this crisis and to help build the future afterward.