On March 9,2020 Mumbai recorded its first case of Covid-19. The city went into a frenzy fearing the worst. Soon the country went into a prolonged lockdown. We at SNEHA, a Mumbai-based NGO working to improve the health of women and children in the most vulnerable slums, with a population of about one million, realised that it was not going to be business as usual for us. We would no longer be able to visit homes for door-to-door counseling on health and nutrition, gender-based violence, mental health and for palliative care.

With no past experience to draw from or a roadmap prepared for the future, the only certainty we had was that our communities needed our support now, more than ever. The question was, how do we keep our staff safe, while continuing to support our communities?

As Brian Tracy once said, “The true test of leadership is how well you function in a crisis.” Leading my organisation at a difficult time like this, there were two things I felt strongly about:

1. Being true to our mission of serving the slum communities we work with
2. Being true to our team by keeping them safe, equipped to work and motivated.

The goal posts, in a sense, was well defined. The challenge was placing the ball into the net without any formal training in football!

Working with diverse stakeholders

Our stakeholders range from women in slum communities who are not familiar with the use of mobile phones to doctors who were working overtime in the pandemic and donors who were struggling with their own businesses. We had to reach all of them through new online platforms, in a timely manner. Everyone was struggling in their own way to deal with this unprecedented situation.

As we spent the next few weeks connecting with each of our stakeholders, I learnt a few things:

1. Be the calm in the storm: As a leader in an unprecedented crisis, you too are grappling with the situation. But your team looks to you for stability, decisiveness and direction. While non-profits usually have very participatory decision-making, this is a time when you have to make some big decisions quickly — and make them alone. But for this, you must have great clarity in your mind about the criteria and goals for making these decisions. It calms people’s nerves to hear one voice and hear the same priorities. It gives them a sense of security.
2. Ask the right questions:  Don’t second-guess your stakeholder needs. Use your team like your tentacles to bring in the voices of your stakeholders. Then act swiftly. There was initial apprehension from the teams about our ability to undertake food relief due to fear of contracting Covid-19. But given that such relief was the need of the hour, the question to ask ourselves was, “How can we do it in the safest possible manner?”
3. Innovate and calibrate: New needs emerge during a crisis – as a leader, it is important to keep a close watch on these. In the Covid-19 world, a critical and ongoing need is the dissemination of information on to stem the spread of the virus. With new information emerging every day on Covid-19 and misconceptions and stigma spreading fast, we needed to act quickly. We were able to meet the community’s needs for information by making quick decisions on providing data packs to frontline workers and volunteers, building capacity to use online platforms and using locally available communication channels like Cable TV and WhatsApp. Effective feedback loops also helped us calibrate the information.
4. Operate in good faith: Maintaining trust is an important part of navigating a crisis. Working remotely, distributing food in the community or safety gear to public health professionals required us to rely on a host of stakeholders. The belief that everyone will act in the best interests of the communities we serve is integral to working effectively with stakeholders.
5. Have honest conversations: This was a time when we had to keep our top donors on speed dial. Sharing our situation and concerns honestly helped us evoke empathy in our donors and a desire to support our efforts. It was heartwarming to see how supportive people were and how they rallied around us to see us through.

Leading and motivating teams

A crisis brings people closer together like nothing else can. It also reveals human nature — you see what lies below the iceberg. At this time, how can we as leaders let our teams know that they are truly our highest priority?

• Communicate clearly and consistently: As soon as the lockdown was announced, clear communication on our overarching priorities was critical to guide everyone in the same direction. But communication also needs to be consistent, regular, and directed at addressing the team’s challenges. Daily team meetings helped understand the changing situation on the ground, take timely decisions and disseminate the information across the organisation. This also helped teams to switch to online platforms (a challenge given our diverse team) and continue our routine health intervention and Covid-19 work and keep the momentum going.

• Time to let go: During a crisis, leaders play an important role in getting the engine to move smoothly on the track. But we also need to listen to signals when the train is moving smoothly so we can step back and give our teams the space to manage themselves.

• Time for abundance: Despite all the funding constraints, I took two important decisions: not releasing any staff and giving annual increments. It required a huge leap of faith that we would be able to raise adequate funding in a difficult time. But more importantly, that seemed like the correct thing to do for our staff, especially since 70 percent of our team lives in the slums we serve, with other family members out of jobs. We have got to let teams know that we have got their backs!

• Bonding and self-compassion: As our teams went way beyond the call of duty, some even risking their lives, we could feel the fatigue and mental strain set in. We started Friday learning sessions on themes such as ‘happiness’, ‘workload management’ and ‘improvisation’, and discussed practise of our organisation values, thus creating a safe space for staff to share, learn and grow as a team.

• Be realistic about team performance: These are difficult times, professionally and personally. The psychological costs of fear are steep.  Don’t expect your team’s performance to improve significantly because it could be difficult for them to match what they could have done in normal circumstances. Reassess priorities and timelines. They are also trying new ways of doing things; be kind and patient!

Managing the head-heart pendulum

The pandemic led to an outpouring of empathy everywhere. More so in the non-profit world where we witnessed, at close quarters, some of the most challenging times for the most vulnerable. Migrant workers walking for days, overnight income loss by daily wage earners and food insecurity, coupled with intense fear of contracting Covid-19, made our hearts bleed. Every decision was weighed with empathy. As a leader, managing the head-heart balance is always a challenge.

1. Taking calculated risk: As a health NGO in a pandemic, we were called upon to help public health systems to screen for Covid-19. We understood the criticality of this exercise and made sure our teams had protective gear and all the necessary information to keep themselves safe.
2. Balance between ‘doing’ and ‘being’: The pandemic has forced many of us leaders to strike a fine balance between delivering on the mission and also being sensitive to our teams and their needs, more than before. Apart from usual work on strategy, business development etc. in the past few months, there has been the emergent need to work on building morale, helping teams manage uncertainty, being empathetic to challenges of ‘work from home’ and also being more vulnerable by sharing and talking about our own challenges, to bring people together and build trust. In a recent zoom meeting, we could hear a young child going through an online school session while her mother was presenting to the team. On another call, a staff member had to handover her presentation to another colleague mid-sentence as she had to run to attend to the cries of her young child. It’s all become par for the course!
3. Harnessing peer networks: I don’t think leaders have ever connected with so many of their peers at such a level before as they have in the past six months. While discussing important topics at hand, there has also been sharing of challenges, fears and embracing their own vulnerabilities. This sharing has also led to joint efforts at problem-solving which has then helped with more prompt responses and playing to each other’s strengths and the ability to take up larger challenges and help more people.

The pandemic has been a crisis in a million ways, but not in leadership. Crisis moments create opportunities and help us seek clarity and find direction. They ignite our creativity, push us to our limits and force us to think outside the norm. By and large, it has brought out the best in leaders. Pushed to their limits, leaders have emerged wiser, more resilient and more compassionate. Real leadership is leaders recognising that they serve the people they lead. They are centred, grounded, and comfortable with their values, who they are, and how they present themselves. This is the place from which they will always make their best decisions and be of most service to others in troubled times or otherwise.

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The United Nations has described the global scale of education disruption from COVID-19 as “unparalleled”. The 2019–20 Coronavirus pandemic has affected educational systems worldwide, leading to widespread closures of schools, universities and colleges. While students across the board have been impacted by the pandemic, it is important to explore the severe impact on children from marginalized communities in many countries of the global south, including India which, at 260 million children, has the largest school-going population in the world.

As the impact of the pandemic unfolds, it is becoming abundantly clear that traditional learning models and schools have ill-equipped us and our children to understand, make meaning, respond and adapt to the uncertainty and vulnerabilities emerging from the current crisis. The last few years have seen the discourse around education reform moving towards making children work-ready for jobs of the future. An approach that has become outdated due to 3 – main reasons:

• The future is already here:The often-repeated assumption that children would have to face an uncertain job market and a fast-changing world a few years from now is already a reality, and this uncertain future is changing as we speak. This is a time to self-reflect and critically examine — have we done enough to prepare our children for this unprecedented situation?

• Entrenched systemic inequalities have deepened: The current crisis has further thrown up the systemic inequities in our society with the poor and marginalised being affected many times over than the average population. When an eighth-grade student we heard from, who shares a smartphone with her family of four – the family has to make a  tough choice between buying an internet-package and essential groceries – is not allowed into her online class for being five minutes late, are we not perpetuating the same systemic biases we held offline on the online world? What could be the role of education in changing this reality?

The need to shift mindsets

The pandemic and its impact on educational ecosystems require for us to reflect on the existing systemic inequities that have become more visible in the recent months. We see schools rushing for immediate solutions to sustain academics, but there are far-reaching effects on students and teachers when they are forced to adopt online learning. Our policymakers need to take into account the fact that marginalised communities do not have easy access to digital infrastructure. The need of the hour is to ensure education is available to all, rather than to ensure those who can afford education continue to receive it.

The psychological impact on children, whose lives are suddenly changed forever has largely been left unaddressed; they are expected to adapt when even we, the adults who are meant to guide young people have no clarity on what to expect from the future.

Re-imagining the purpose of education

Where do we go when all this is over? If one is ‘lucky enough’ to have not been completely displaced by the pandemic, one hopefully goes to school. But just how prepared are schools to respond to this reality? We have all experienced collective grief and loss at a global and unimaginable level. We need to let this sink in. And then, when we are ready to respond, let us ask ourselves what is the most compassionate offer we can make to our children under these circumstances? Will our best foot forward be dumping our own anxiety of ‘loss of learning’ on them? Or will we recognise that they have learnt perhaps the most difficult lesson of their lives in the last few months as they stayed put in their homes? The role of teachers in the upbringing of young people is often overlooked. 

#Whatif, instead of examinations based on rote-learning, we ask our students; ‘Do you know how to be kind to each other? Do you know how to make decisions that are good for you, your community and for the planet? Do you know how to collaborate and celebrate the success of others? Do you know how to heal?’

The need for a more inclusive policy

Current systems follow a one-size-fits-all approach, whereas the reality is that in a country like India, such an approach is tough to put into practice. We need an education system that is sensitive to the myriad impact of adversity on children from vulnerable backgrounds. When designing solutions, the needs of these sections of society deserve more attention than they presently receive. The New Education Policy, while a positive step in the right direction, once again lacks clarity on implementation. It remains to be seen how such a revolutionary step in education will affect a country as diverse and vast as ours bearing in mind that not everyone will have access to the same kind of facilities and infrastructure. Another challenge that we foresee is the measurement of success upon implementation and the way forward from there.

Kindness as the foundation of a framework for change

The framework for education should start by redefining the purpose of education to mean ‘thriving for all’. We conducted a study to better understand what it means to thrive. Are the indicators the same when children come from adversity? Do tailored approaches need to be followed to achieve desired outcomes across the board? We have found that empathetic adults and safe spaces allow young people to fully discover their potential and thrive despite coming from adversity. At the centre of this approach lies kindness and the willingness to listen, holding spaces for young people to express themselves and be treated as unique individuals. 

Academic outcomes can be affected by several factors that are out of the control of educators. Scoring high marks does not necessarily mean that a child is prepared for whatever the future may throw at them. Adopting an approach that places thriving at the centre of education is much more inclusive and helps young people seek a more meaningful engagement with life.

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A year and a half ago I was employed at a leading global education company, doing reasonably well by most standards. Deep inside, however, I was bored with what I was doing and racked with the sense that what I was doing was inconsequential. I felt that I had several good years still ahead of me and that I should not waste them doing something I just did not enjoy or relate to anymore. So, I decided to put in my papers and serve out my notice period. That was the easy part.

In search of new direction

The difficult part was to figure out what to do with the next chapter of my life. All I knew was that I wanted to step into a new territory and do something more exciting. That’s when I came across an article in the ET on ILSS. This piqued my interest and I soon discovered that someone I knew had gone through the program as well.  While contributing some of my time to the social sector had crossed my mind before, for the first time I began contemplating a future career in the social sector. Some friends and well-wishers I spoke to advised me to consider the downsides carefully – from significantly lower income, to having to make a fresh start in my career, the slow nature of change in the sector, the lack of defined processes in non-profit organisations, dealing with the long shadow of the government, etc. Others suggested that this could be the last opportunity to do something worthwhile with my life! All of this meant that while the social sector was in consideration, I wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to head that way. So, the ILSS program seemed just right for a person at the fork, wanting a sense of what lay ahead if one was to venture onto this path.

The learning journey with ILSS

As things turned out, I quit my job a year ago and tumbled straight into the ILSS Leadership Program. It was, unquestionably, the best 9-day experience that I could have imagined. The content was new and stimulating, the speakers were inspiring (some of the sessions made our hair stand on its end), breakout sessions were invigorating and what was revealed about the issues, challenges, the scale and complexity of India made our usual corporate problems seem small and trivial. What Anu Prasad and her remarkable team at ILSS have managed to create is something that provides a great overview of the possibilities of the social sector without getting into the weeds, giving a taste of what could come without sugar-coating the future. The program energized me, filled me with a greater sense of purpose and imbued me with the belief that I could play a small role in solving these big problems. It also introduced me to a set of inspirational course mates and a larger network of corporate crossovers.

What I was not prepared for, however, was how invested the ILSS team would be in my social sector journey after the course. The team does a fabulous job of curating a whole range of social sector employment opportunities for those interested in making the switch. In addition to the efforts of the folks at ILSS, I also tried reaching out to people in the sector on my own. In doing so, I realized that people in the non-profit sector are generous with their time and advise. Despite everything, the right opportunities took time to come by and, in retrospect, I should have been more prepared for it.

Presently, I am serving a full-time contract with Central Square Foundation working on EdTech in government schools, which is a deep interest area for me. Further, I also serve on the boards of two other non-profits.

Key learnings so far

The journey thus far has been quite humbling and a great learning experience. I have had to adjust to several new realities and this is still very much a work-in-process. Some of my key learnings in the first few months of my journey have been:

1. Managing large scale of operations: The scale of a pilot ed-tech project in a single state in the government school sector is close to the size of an entire business catering to private schools. It takes getting used to.
2. Being patient and persistent: As a non-profit one may be offering one’s services for free; but getting the government to agree to avail of those services remains quite difficult. Patience and persistence are great assets and I know I have much work to do on both.
3. The need to be a self-starter: Given that many of the enabling structures of large or even mid-sized corporates are not to be found in non-profits, the sector demands insane levels of individual commitment and passion to drive things forward. The momentum has got to be all self-generated.
4. The importance of spending quality time learning about communities one works with: There is no substitute for field experience. Having entered the sector late in my career, it might be a bit late to make up for it. The next best thing is to learn from those that have great insights from the field. However young such people may be, it is likely that they may know more about how something might work on the ground. I need to keep reminding myself to be humbler to be more effective. 

It has been only a few months for me working in the social sector and I would be lying if I said that it has been all smooth sailing. I know that I need to commit to the sector fully without a Plan B in order for my work to create any meaningful impact over time. I am getting there!

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The ongoing pandemic has shaken everyone – economies are clutching at straws and societies are suffering from a plethora of problems. While government and international agencies are at work trying to craft strategies that can help control the spread of the novel coronavirus and extend aid to those affected, a bigger challenge lies ahead: restarting the economy even as we focus our energies on ensuring a safe and healthy society with access to robust healthcare mechanisms.

Considering the magnitude of the problem, the fruition of this vision is important for the sustenance of all stakeholders of the society. However, this cannot be achieved only through the sole efforts of the government—strong collaborative efforts will be required to realise this vision. One stakeholder who has the potential to contribute immensely, including by way of strategising and anchoring some interventions, is India Inc. With supporting regulations such as the inclusion of Covid-19 relief efforts under Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013, corporates can mobilise huge resources to support existing efforts or implement new interventions that can help combat the pandemic.

The events unfolding in the wake of the outbreak and spread of Covid-19 have opened up several opportunities for Indian companies to explore and rise as responsible corporate citizens. Some of our recent dialogues with stalwarts and experts –including the ‘Leaders with Purpose’ webinar series—have given us powerful insights into how companies across sectors are crafting effective Covid responses.

Harnessing the collective strength of Samaj, Sarkar and Bazaar

In such times, the most effective way for companies to mobilise their resources is to undertake programmes and interventions that are either in association with other stakeholders or that leverage the work of other stakeholders to deliver impact.

The unprecedented crisis has resulted in crunched resources for companies across sectors in India. This, in turn, can pose a challenge for companies who want to support vulnerable communities at scale. In such times, the most effective way for companies to mobilise their resources is to undertake programs and interventions that are either in association with other stakeholders or that leverage the work of other stakeholders to deliver impact.

The realised advantages of such an approach would present a win-win-win for companies, government and the society, with corporates benefitting from the expertise and catalytic impact and the other two stakeholder groups gaining access to more capital and strategic viewpoints. There are several ways in which this can manifest:

• All stakeholders can together identify groups that need immediate support and forge collaborations to implement appropriate interventions. According to Nobel Laureate Prof. Esther Duflo, there are many vulnerable segments, such as migrant workers and senior citizens living alone, who need our support and if we fail to support them today, the current state of affairs can propel our community into a ‘society-wide poverty gap’ tomorrow.
• MNCs and conglomerates can leverage their networks and reach to implement behaviour change campaigns that propagate best practices across the country. Such campaigns can, for instance, support the containment efforts undertaken by the government and other social organisations. During our first ‘Leaders with Purpose’ discussion, Sanjiv Mehta and Nisaba Godrej shared how HUL and Godrej, respectively, are curating and implementing such interventions.
• Companies across sectors can support evidence-backed interventions such as direct benefit transfers and work with the government and social organisations to strengthen the delivery of programs and help check the failure rate.
• There will also be opportunities within other cause areas, such as the use of technology in providing education in rural areas.

Helping the public healthcare system recuperate

More than anything else, the pandemic reminds us about the need to invest in a strong and robust healthcare system.  It has struck a huge blow to India’s existing healthcare systems and infrastructure, our preparedness to help Covid-19 patients and support non-Covid patients.

To revive and sustain the financial health of the economy, it is imperative that all stakeholders – not just the government – come together and contribute in strengthening the public healthcare system.

A healthy society is a must to sustain long-term economic activity for every country. To revive and sustain the financial health of the economy, it is imperative that all stakeholders – not just the government – come together and contribute in strengthening the public healthcare system.

In the last few weeks, India has seen companies come forward and contribute resources to strengthen existing systems or pivot business operations to provide necessary products and services. Our conversations with sector experts and leaders such as Prof. Shamika Ravi, Dr. Krishna Reddy, Dr. Dilip Jose, and Siddharth Shah, among others, have yielded incredible insights on how private sector can play an important role in plugging gaps and strengthening the system to cater to a large population.

• Companies in the pharma or healthcare sector can use this crisis as an opportunity to build capacity for electronic record keeping. Patient-level data generated through such initiatives can extensively help in informing policies and decisions at the national level.
• With the digital transformation in India’s healthcare system, companies in this space can create and deploy innovative technology to facilitate last-mile delivery of services.
• India Inc. can look at the communities they engage with and create innovative solutions in collaboration with social purpose organisations to address the healthcare requirements of the communities. Such measures would complement the efforts of the government to deliver healthcare in the distant and rural parts of India.
• In order to meet the needs of Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients, private sector healthcare providers within states can collaborate to pool critical resources, implement a collective response and explore a direct-to-home delivery of services such as mobile clinics. Companies across sectors can direct their resources to support such efforts and interventions that aim at building the capacity of local hospitals and medical practitioners.

Safeguarding our most important asset – human capital

Amongst all stakeholders, Corporate India is best placed to create innovative solutions that can extend immediate aid to workers and micro-entrepreneurs across their supply chains.

While the pandemic and the resulting lockdown have greatly impacted everyone in the country, it has been particularly distressing for daily wage earners, migrant workers, gig economy workers and micro-entrepreneurs. These segments of our population are crucial for the functioning of any industry in India and therefore protecting and supporting them is vital for the revival of our business and economy. While the Government of India is implementing measures to support them, the resources available are still limited and the implementation mechanisms are not strong enough. Amongst all stakeholders, Corporate India is best placed to create innovative solutions that can extend immediate aid to workers and micro-entrepreneurs across their supply chains.

Over the last few months, we have witnessed companies step up to the challenge and implement effective solutions. Our conversations with corporate stalwarts and key decision-makers have given us a glimpse into the approaches that companies can adopt to protect and support human capital, their most important asset, in such uncertain times:

• Companies can adopt a philanthropic approach towards extending immediate aid to workers and micro-entrepreneurs by undertaking direct benefit transfers, providing PPE kits, and implementing other evidence-based solutions.
• Gig economy companies can explore financial solutions such as relief funds, interest-free loans or advances and provide insurance support, counselling support and income protection. Taking a cue from the holistic measures undertaken by companies such as Urban Clap, other companies can also invest in provision of necessary protective gear and training or re-skilling to help resume services and explore new opportunities.
• MNCs and conglomerates are in an advantageous position to influence the inclusion of best sanitation practices across their offices, plants, and supply chains, and must implement programs to effect that immediately.
• Companies can explore innovative solutions that aim to pool resources from various stakeholders and achieve catalytic impact. For example, the Returnable Grant Model, an innovative solution designed by Samhita, in partnership with MSDF, Ford Foundation and Omidyar Network India, seeks to mobilize monetary resources from Corporate India to extend returnable grants or loans to vulnerable workers and micro-entrepreneurs. The money provided can be utilised for sustenance or as working capital support. The model uses a revolving fund mechanism to achieve maximum impact, whereby the money returned will be utilised to extend the next set of returnable grants or loans.
• Companies in highly impacted industries, where downsizing is inevitable, can champion intra-industry or inter-industry alliances which help their workers sustain through the downturn and implement solutions wherein workers can be retrained and recalibrated to transit into employment in another industry.

The pandemic is claiming victims at an increasing rate in India. Quick, effective, and scalable action is warranted now more than ever before. In times of limited resources, all stakeholders, including companies, must step up and explore collaborative and innovative ways of responding to the situation, actively connecting, sharing and learning from each other to craft the most effective responses.

To access the ‘Leaders with Purpose’ webinar series, you can visit Samhita’s YouTube channel. Additionally, to explore social responsibility opportunities, you can connect with Samhita Social Ventures at priya@samhita.org

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