Last year at Invesco we operated in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic with much uncertainty, and many questions about how we would move forward and when we would resume our old routines. Now in 2022, with the pandemic still with us, we’ve realized that we need to, as a 2021 McKinsey study put it, “move from reacting to the crisis to building and institutionalizing what has been done well so far.”
In other words, rather than wait for the day when things get back to normal, we must embrace this new reality and learn what we can from the last year to help make things run a little smoother. Here are the top four lessons from 2021 I’ll be bringing to work with me this year.
Adaptation and evolution matter now more than ever
I know I’m not the only one who believed in a certain way of doing things — until the pandemic came along and showed me that we can accomplish a lot under less-than-ideal circumstances. As we start to think about what the new reality will be for distribution, one thing is certain: flexibility matters.
In distribution, the pandemic accelerated a number of trends that were already in place. Traditionally, all of our meetings were face-to-face, but the pandemic has made us evolve in how we communicate internally and with clients. From digital conversations to in-person talks or a combination of both, it is important to engage with colleagues and clients in a way that helps deliver the best outcomes and client experiences.
Technology is your friend
Embracing technology and seeing how it works in concert with human interaction and personalization can be powerful. Imagine where we would have been without Zoom or Teams calls and VPNs and virtual doctor’s appointments.
It’s natural to be worried about being replaced, but it’s smarter to make yourself irreplaceable by taking advantage of the edge technology offers. Distribution teams are evolving to master technology and sharpening their skills to deliver content to clients by using tablets or even social media. After the last two years, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has accelerated beyond all expectations, and there’s no going back now.
And innovation isn’t just about technology
The pandemic reminds us that the tech world doesn’t have a monopoly on innovation, and that will be even more true in the future. From health care to new investment vehicles to entrepreneurial companies we haven’t heard of yet, we are already seeing the innovative solutions that are coming out of this crisis.
I’m reminded to look for it everywhere and pursue it where I can. A good example is IDEO’s Design Thinking process. It’s effective across all industries, and I’m confident that we’ll see a lot of innovation as a result of the COVID lockdown environment. Getting distribution right is the blend of design thinking elements in how we develop products, services, processes and strategies to meet the needs of our clients and the markets they serve.
People are the most important assets
At the end of the day, I am constantly reminded that nothing matters more than the people you work with and for. From my leading team of consultants to the clients who inspire everything we do, there’s no product that matters more than the relationships we build. They can motivate us and help us thrive as professionals and as human beings.
When I was just getting started in sales, I told the person who offered me a job, “As long as it’s working with people, let’s give it a try.” That was my entry into the industry and it’s still that human element that gets me excited to get out of bed every morning and do the work, whether it’s from home, suiting up and heading into the office or whatever combination of the two lies ahead of us.