An organisation’s culture comes to the fore in crisis. It is the foundation for how people respond, how they collaborate, how they adapt. For leaders, investing in culture – both in terms of time and resources – can be challenging due its intangibility. But, as Anita found earlier this year, there is nothing intangible about the powerful outcomes of good culture in a crisis.

First, let’s set the context for this reflection.

Sao Paolo, Brazil. Early 2024. I’m in my hotel room ahead of a week’s intervention with one of our largest clients – an organisation that does incredible work for social good, globally – due to start the next day. I have a small team with me – Alex Marples and Vivien Hau who are both consultants, and Brenda Cross running operations. With the morning stretching ahead I decide it’s time for an explore. At the time there was a severe outbreak of Dengue fever, so dressed and ready I ‘Deet’ up spraying myself with insect repellent, which unbeknownst to me is also laying a fine film on the tile floor. As I head out the door I slip and crash land. The pain in my shoulder is excruciating. Unable to move and with my phone out of reach, I find renewed gratitude for voice activation:

 “Siri, call Brenda Cross.”

What I thought would be a simple dislocated shoulder turned out to be multiple breaks across my collar bone, demanding surgery. This put me of out of action, unable to support this client and run this programme which I adore. I am so grateful for the team I had around me. Their quick action, calm ‘can do’ attitude, and awareness of all the moving parts turned a crisis into simply something dealt with, ensuring the seamless programme experience our clients know to expect. 

Improvisation and calm capability

We talk a lot about the power of the collective, but this cultural belief that together we can achieve and overcome is fundamental to how we approach our work – whether that’s programme design or crisis management. Within 24 hours Sheppard Moscow across time zones was activated.

Every member of the team quickly took up roles: Brenda took point on my wellbeing and was the key communicator keeping the business in the loop, Alex took the lead on ensuring business continuity for the client, and from Europe Ally and the business immediately began figuring out a solution for the week to come. Roby took a call Saturday and by Sunday was on his way to Brazil, ready to work with Alex and Vivien and deliver this impactful programme for the client.

Brenda’s calm throughout all of this was incredible. Shuttling back and forth across Sao Paolo, communicating with the doctors and working with Ally to keep things running – Brenda kept her cool and approached every challenge methodically and with care.

Her incisiveness was infectious, and this culture of calm became a defining feature of this experience. 

Always there for the client

Which leads me to purpose. We take our client relationships seriously, founded as they are in trust developed over many years. Of course, the concern for my personal wellbeing was first and foremost in people’s minds, but we all share a keen responsibility for delivering for our client. It is our priority to ensure the impact and value add of our programme, and with deep trust in my team I knew that in my absence we would still deliver.

We were totally aligned and pragmatic. I have seen our culture of calm and collective shine before in response to the Covid crisis, and seeing it in action again this year reminded me of just how important culture is. Culture is the sinew that keeps operations moving, that keeps our hearts and heads connected. We have a very strong culture, underpinned by our Ikigai – our version of values. There is an ineffable ‘something’ me and my team share – part purpose, part character, part capability – which enabled everyone involved from the hospital bedside in Sao Paolo to a home office in England to immediately comprehend and take action.