Stephen S. Poloz, Governor of Bank of Canada since 2013, stated in his speech on 4 May 2020 that the pandemic offers a “teachable moment”. He lists the following as lessons for central banking from this teachable moment:
- Use scenarios, but focus on the narrative they represent. Avoid numbers when uncertainty is extreme, as they can generate a cloud of possibilities that many will struggle to understand.
- Make sure everyone understands your goals. Everything you do needs to have an explicit purpose and be part of a coherent framework.
- Crisis conditions argue for vigorous, even outsized, responses because maintaining confidence is critical to the recovery; gradualism is unlikely to succeed.
- Coordinated policy actions are more powerful than stand-alone ones. That coordination may be domestic, or international.
And the following are the lessons on the leadership/management front:
- Diversity of past experience pays when blazing a new trail.
- Crises are exhausting-a deep personnel bench is a key part of resilience.
- Over-invest in technology and business continuity preparedness.
- Stay in touch with staff-even the ordinary things must still happen.
© G Sreekumar 2021
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