My recent visit to Hong Kong was disrupted by Super Typhoon Ragasa. Tucked up safely in my hotel room, the events surrounding the biggest tropical storm in HK’s recent history put me in a reflective mood – and I discovered there was a lot to learn about the storm that could be applied in business.

First of all, reading the signs. I generally don’t watch the news when I’m away travelling, so I missed all the broadcasts about Ragasa. But the signs were there; shop windows were being taped up, crews were out clearing the drains, anything that wasn’t fixed down was being moved. Even without the news, I’d have sensed that something was different, something was changing. Fortunately, I had people around me to tell me what was going on, and who gave advice. I also had access to long range weather forecasts and the Hong Kong Observatory’s (HKO) commentary. So having sensed something was amiss, it was easy to find out what the issue was. But too often in business we notice the signs, but don’t ask subsequent questions. We don’t listen to those around us telling us what they know or giving us advice. We should definitely sense, listen and learn more.

The second thing I learned was about preparedness and communication. I was hugely impressed by the way in which weather warnings and alerts were handled. Three or four days before the storm, the HKO were giving clear instructions and timings for when they would issue storm warnings and what plans and actions would need to be in place. On Sunday, we knew the storm force warning would be in place on Tuesday afternoon, by Monday we had a more defined time window. This allowed everyone to plan. For me, it meant moving face to face teaching sessions to online and ensuring people who needed to travel home to other countries had sufficient time to make safe journeys. There was no last-minute panic about changing flights, just calm arrangements to keep everyone safe. This proactive communication management is often missing in organisations, especially in crisis management situations.

Finally, I witnessed a huge amount of resilience; of students, of staff and of the people of Hong Kong. Typhoons are not uncommon here, but they are dealt with smoothly and without fuss – and 48 hours later you would not have known a storm had passed through. Work was delivered, lessons taught and assignments completed, almost without missing a beat. The streets were back to normal, shops re-opened, office workers back at their desks. This level of resilience comes from practice and from a mindset that deals with adversity as a challenge, rather than as a threat. It’s a mindset that is extremely useful in business, a growth mindset that maintains a positive outlook to deal with change. In today’s uncertain, complex business environments, it is essential that business leaders learn to adapt well to change.

So perhaps we should all be more typhoon ready – watching for signs, listening to those around us and monitoring forecasts and analysis, so that we can be proactive about tackling change and communicating our plans. In this way, we are in a better position to weather the business storms ahead.

Dr Dawn Holmes

Visiting Lecturer in Marketing and Business, Alliance Manchester Business School