Why patience is the most important business virtue of 2021

For many businesses, 2020 was particularly turbulent and anomalous year, one that many were glad and relieved to see come to an end. But even as we look optimistically to a new year ahead, the strong winter COVID-19 surge and the recent riot at the U.S. Capitol has shown us that it won’t be so easy to leave 2020’s turmoil behind.

As business leaders, we have grown accustomed to a 21st century business philosophy that has prioritized speed and growth above all else, embedding itself within mantras like “move fast and break things” or “fail fast, fail often.” It’s only natural that businesses that have been severely disrupted by the pandemic to want to get back on track as quickly as possible—they want to see revenues return, bring back furloughed staff, see the supply chain run smoothly again.

As we move forward into 2021, however, we encourage our business clients to adopt a different mantra for the year: Patience.

In a world that prioritizes speed and quick fixes, patience is a virtue often overlooked and underutilized. Perhaps too often we associate it with acquiescence or letting things go, but instead we should see patience as our ability to endure difficult circumstances without compromising ourselves and our values, and to respond to adversity thoughtfully and without frustration or impulse. Studies show that leaders who demonstrate patience can increase the creativity and collaboration of their team by 16% and productivity by 13%.

It is only through the practice of patience that we will build the resilience and determination that our companies need to get through what will be a marathon of an economic recovery. Here are the key areas where business leaders will need to apply patience for the year:

Business planning and budgeting

As the crisis was unfolding in 2020 and many of our clients’ business plans went out the window, we encouraged an attitude of experimentation. With many companies in survival mode, this was a good time to try out new things (business lines, revenue streams, marketing and sales tactics, etc.) to see what might stick.

This year, businesses will need to pull back on impulsivity. We’ve tried out new ideas and seen what works and what hasn’t, but we aren’t yet back to normal. Financial assumptions we once held in previous years no longer apply, and the economic, political, and pandemic-related predictions we may have about the future are still in flux.

Accordingly, approach your 2021 annual plan with a mindset of patience and thoughtfulness. Apply the learnings of the last two years to deconstruct all your previous financial assumptions. After a year where all norms have gone out the window, it’s worth questioning every line within your budget: How much office space will you still need if you plan on hiring remotely for the next year? Will this new business line require additional resources for the year?

Likewise, don’t rush into predictions. Run through scenarios both good and bad (for example, the widespread distribution of vaccines vs. the spread of new coronavirus strains) so that you can account for best-case and worst-case scenarios in your budget. Apply these scenarios to every aspect of your business, from customer fulfillment and operations to marketing and sales.

And lastly, build in the time to revisit your plan throughout the year and adjust your budget as often as needed. In 2021, it’s likely we will see new government programs and other financial relief become available for small- and medium-sized businesses, and it’s important to stay as up-to-date on your budget and actuals as possible so that your company can move quickly to apply.

Work culture

We predicted in a recent article that the pandemic will permanently shift our work culture to a new hybrid model of work, one where flexible models of remote work or working from home will become the norm. Early on in the pandemic, many businesses quickly adapted their infrastructure and policies to adapt to the new circumstances, leading to 42% of Americans working primarily from home, up from only 3.4% the year before.

Though the switch to remote work has been largely successful, it has surfaced new problems within our work culture. While 65% of employees report feeling more productive when not in the office, businesses report that innovation has taken a hit, as collaboration has become more difficult between teams. Employees that are working from home also face new mental health and well-being challenges, from Zoom fatigue and work-life balance to feelings of anxiety and isolation.

The pandemic has also accelerated gender inequality in the workplace, as women over proportionately shoulder the burdens of childcare and unpaid labor at home. In 2020, more than 2 million women have dropped out of the workforce entirely, and 9.8 million working mothers report suffering from burnout, even in spite of new flexible working policies.

There are plenty of tips and advice for better managing remote teams, leading remote workers through difficult times, and supporting women in the workplace, but business leaders must remember to embrace these cultural shifts with large amounts of patience and empathy.

Cultural change is notoriously slow, and can rarely be “mandated” from the top. Be patient with employees as they navigate new and uncertain circumstances, be patient with your team leaders as they develop new management skills, and be patient with yourself as you lead your company through this major shift. Your patience builds trust, and strong trust forms the foundation of every successful work culture.

The long-term business model

During the initial pandemic lockdowns, many businesses had to get creative with their business models, adjusting operational processes to adhere to social distancing guidelines or building new sources of revenue to replace others that were severely impacted. Many of these changes have now become semi-permanent or permanent pivots as we settle into new norms.

The pandemic will likely forever alter many aspects of our lives, from the way we work, to the way we shop and consume goods. The resulting political and social turmoil from 2020 has also heavily influenced our attitudes about corporate responsibility and the importance of purpose-led organizations. Business leaders will need to start thinking about how these important social and behavioral shifts may impact their companies in the long run, and plan for a future that leverages these cultural changes within the business.

To successfully do this, we will need to move away from the “move fast and break things” era of the past and embrace a more sustainable models of business that emphasizes steady growth, purpose-driven values that benefit all stakeholders, and resiliency against future crises and negative influences.

This will be the ultimate test of our patience as business leaders—will we be able to withstand the pressures of immediate gratification and exponential growth in order to build companies that will make long-lasting positive impacts?

To do this, we will need not only to be patient leaders, but also patient learners: learn for the sake of curiosity, listen without an agenda, observe without judgment. Make 2021 a year that you actively engage with a world outside your professional bubble and industry. It’s only when we gift ourselves with this patience that we can begin to break out of old habits and patterns and welcome new ideas and innovations.