We have written the book on the foundation of the last 70 years of studies conducted by many researchers on leadership, emotional intelligence, and team-building. It shows you, with real-life case studies, how to create and lead high-performance (The Blue Shark) teams and manage Fortune 500 companies, mid-to-small businesses, and deliver projects successfully around the world during a global crisis such as COVID-19.
The author has devised The Blue Shark Model of Leading High-Performance Teams based on Daniel Goleman's emotional intelligence model1 and Bruce Tuckman's team-building model (forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning)2,3. It shows you how to apply these models to large companies, small-to-medium size businesses, and projects during a crisis. Besides, it explains how you can develop your leadership style4 and lead high-performance teams. In addition, a real-life case study, which was a success story during COVID-19, is discussed to elaborate the team-building and emotional intelligence models. The lessons learned can be applied to any crisis and industries across the spectrum, including healthcare, IT, telecom, construction, manufacturing, oil and gas, airlines, financial services, retail, public sector, consulting, public sector, and others.
And Part II describes a real-life case study that shows you how to implement the Blue Shark, Goleman, and Tuckman's model to lead high-performance teams and deliver projects successfully worldwide, especially during a crisis such as COVID-19.
For those of you who are not familiar with theories of leadership, emotional intelligence, and team-building or looking for a quick refresher, you can read Chapter 2 on theoretical frameworks and models. Others can skip to the case study in Part II of the book or the chapters on organizational challenges during global emergencies and pandemics like COVID-19. We recommend reviewing the Blue Shark Model of Leading High-Performance Teams in Chapter 6.
The book is written in a manner whereby each chapter has its own set of lessons learned and key takeaways. You can read any chapter or just the real-life case study in Part II of this book and learn a few tips that can help you succeed during a national or global crisis. The lessons can help you in leading and managing companies and projects globally during turbulent and volatile times.
In Part II, we describe a case study about an IT project that was successfully executed at the Public Transportation Division (PTD) of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) in the US during COVID-19.
The book answers the five key questions that CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, CMOs, CXOs, directors, leaders, managers, senior managers, project managers, and executives can find immensely helpful during national and global emergencies. Answers to the five questions can help you lead teams, organizations, and projects effectively and successfully worldwide during a national crisis and global emergency such as COVID-19. Below are the five questions answered in the book from a practical and real-life perspective.
Does the Tuckman model of team-building (forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning) work2,3? Can it be applied to Fortune 500 companies, mid-to-small size businesses, or projects during a national crisis or global emergency such as COVID-19? If yes, how?
Does Daniel Goleman's model on emotional intelligence work1? Can it be applied to Fortune 500 companies, mid-to-small size businesses, or projects during a national crisis or global emergency such as COVID-19? If yes, how?
As a leader, how can you develop your leadership style to create and lead a high-performance (Blue Shark) team and cope with a national crisis or pandemic?
Can leaders create and lead high-performance (Blue Shark) teams using emotional intelligence to lead Fortune 500 companies, manage small-to-medium businesses, and deliver projects successfully during a national crisis or pandemic? If yes, how?
What are the tools and techniques that leaders can use to successfully lead their companies and projects during a national crisis, emergency, or pandemic?
If you are a CEO, CIO, CTO, or CXO of a Fortune 500 company, a mid-to-small size business owner, project manager, or a senior executive facing a crisis, this book is for you. It describes real-life case studies and projects and shows how the theoretical frameworks and models developed by researchers like Tuckman and Goleman can be applied successfully to companies and projects, especially during a crisis and pandemic like COVID-19.
Background and Global Crisis of 2020
News started to flow out of Wuhan, China, in December 2019, some flu had been spreading. Nobody knew what it was? The World Health Organization (WHO) started to follow it and declared it a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” on January 30, 20205. On March 11, 2020, the Director-General of WHO stated:
There are now more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries, and 4,291 people have lost their lives…. We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic6.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) was also known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease attacked a human being's respiratory tract and lungs, causing death due to the lungs' dysfunction and inability to breathe.
There were two waves of COVID-19 in the US, and in some countries, there were three. The first wave started in March 2020 and peaked in July 2020. The second wave was even more deadly, started in October, and kept going well into December 2020. By December 05, 2020, COVID-19 had caused more havoc in the entire world than World War II. Some of the stats and news headlines are shown in the following pages to show the readers the devastation that COVID-19 caused globally.
The first case of coronavirus was reported on January 20, 2020, in the US. The US President declared the coronavirus as a public health emergency on January 31, 2020. The situation got so bad that some states in the US had to implement lockdowns and curfews.
Almost everything was disrupted globally by April 2020, including human life, businesses, hospitals, airlines, government operations, hotels, travel, financial markets, and other daily lives. It almost seemed like the world had turned upside down. Nobody knew what to do and how to put a lid on the coronavirus. Many theories started to circle around, such as the virus would go away automatically during summer due to the heat. Unfortunately, by the end of November 2020, the virus got more deadly than it was from March to July 2020. The number of infections and deaths skyrocketed in the US, Europe, Asia, and other regions around the world.
Schools, colleges, restaurants, bars, gyms, parks, hotels, cruises, and all recreational activities were shut down worldwide. Some countries, including the US, implemented lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, and curfews due to the surge in coronavirus infections. Imagine not being able to go to school, work, gym, restaurant, or other places with public gatherings. The entire world went into shock and depression. People were losing jobs, businesses were filing bankruptcies, and individuals were dying all over the world. No vaccine was available until December 08, 2020. The coronavirus did not discriminate. It hit everybody, the rich and poor, black and white, Americans, Europeans, Asians, Africans, Middle Eastern, and everybody else globally.
COVID-19 caused a global social, healthcare, and economic crisis, which became the largest crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) called it “The Great Lockdown: Worst Economic Downturn since the Great Depression” in its blog on April 14, 20207. It further stated:
This is a crisis like no other … the cumulative output loss over 2020 and 2021 from the pandemic crisis could be around 9 trillion dollars … many countries now face multiple crises – a health crisis, a financial crisis, and a collapse in commodity prices.
Global Coronavirus Infection Cases and Deaths
According to WHO, as of February 28, 2021, globally, 113,466,558 cases of coronavirus infections were confirmed; 2,520,537 deaths were confirmed; and 223 countries, territories, or areas had been affected by the coronavirus8,9. Details are shown in Table 1.1.
TABLE 1.1 Global COVID-19 Infection Cases and Deaths Situation by WHO Region | Confir... |
