Leadership in times of crisis. Don't look up - look inside, outside and sideways.

It seems like we're into a new phase of Covid-19. The phony war is over, and the real one is starting.

In the phony war, there was lots of support (depending where you are in the world). Here in the UK, the shock forced a Government committed to "small state" philosophies to create the biggest interventions in living memory, and probably ever. Almost overnight, around ten million people became, effectively, state employees and many large businesses became state subsidised. I'm no critic - I don't think there was much choice, and a young, rookie Chancellor only hours into the job did remarkably well.

For three months, we have been holding our breath as events unfolded.

Now they are. As subsidies are modified, and as we realise they will be withdrawn before the virus is under control, the real war begins.

We are seeing, and can be confident we will continue to see, thousands of jobs disappearing every week as employers "hit the mattresses" in preparation for a recession, and you know it's r…