Leading in Crisis

Here are four principles for leadership in times of crisis.

1. Be Present

If there was ever a time for you to be present, a crisis is it. Make extraordinary efforts to be onsite and engaged as a non-anxious presence. Lead with bridled optimism and calm. Especially if it is not your regular practice, walk the floor to greet employees, ask how they are doing, and to listen to their concerns. Ask managers if you can briefly attend a scheduled meeting with team members and take a few minutes to show employees that company leadership is accessible and determined to handle the crisis with integrity and openness. Be calm, quick to listen, and slow to speak.

You don’t have to have all the answers—your presence, humility, and transparency go a long way to reassure employees.

2. Focus on People

Your employees are fathers, mothers, children, siblings, spouses—acknowledge the personaland professional challenges that they are facing. Imagine what people in your company might be feeling by putting yourself in their shoes. Ask them how the crisis is affecting them, what they are afraid of, and what you can do to help. Consider relaxing HR protocol and offer some kind of benefit that is low cost to the organization but gives flexibility to employees. More than anything else, practice active listening. Take time with your managers to get their candid concerns and any feedback they may have from other employees. Rather than rebutting something that you disagree with, say “tell me more.” Show that you understand what is being said by repeating it back to the employee in your own words.

3. Communicate with Clarity

During the London Blitz (1940–1941), Prime Minister Winston Churchill regularly communicated just how bad the threat from the German Luftwaffe was—what Londoners could expect from the bombings, the probability of casualties, and the possibility of invasion. Rather than causing greater fear, Churchill relieved it by communicating the challenges “with brutal frankness” and reinforcing his confidence in the ability of the British people to overcome them. Reassured by his confidence and motivated by the clarity of the threat, Londoners developed defense outposts, fire brigades, night watch rotations, and public aid stations. To the dismay of Nazi leadership, high public morale kept Britain from buckling under the barrage. In times of crisis, “impression management” with vague platitudes and denial of the crisis’s severity is a temptation you must avoid.

Communicate with honesty and clarity because, in the end, clarity is caring.

4. Act Collaboratively

The gut reaction of executives in crisis is to act unilaterally, but experience demonstrates that developing a network of teams allows organizations to act decisively and nimbly in crisis. This is because executives face unfamiliar and poorly understood problems in a true crisis and cannot gather data fast enough to make informed decisions. Wise executives establish priorities for crisis response and then mobilize and empower their leaders to develop and implement solutions in light of the priorities. A Network of teams works in a fashion similar to a team of individuals, but with greater capacity and flexibility—drawing experts from across an organization and refining and adapting as they go. Executives should foster collaboration by distributing authority and encouraging information sharing rather than consolidating power. Other leaders will follow your example.