Crisis: The Acid Test of Leadership
When things are going well, leadership is a simple and straightforward task.
It’s like allowing a child to steer a boat in calm and wide-open seas. A child can feel like he’s the king of the world. In control.
This only feels like leadership. It’s not leadership.
When the seas get rough and there are suddenly rocks and icebergs and a shoreline, the child can’t continue steering. The person steering the boat isn’t the leader. The person with the ability to navigate through the crisis is the leader.
Leaders are an emotional barometer in times of crisis.
This doesn’t mean leadership is unemotional. We feel what we feel. But leadership can not make decisions based on their emotional state, or the emotional state of their team. This is always true, but never truer than in times of crisis.
It’s not fair. We feel entitled to our meltdowns. But we have to meltdown on our time. Good leaders sacrifice their right to a meltdown so they can stay the course, and be the emotional standard for others.
There’s a way to do this without being robotic and unfeeling. It does require us to have a bit more mental grit than most. This is what leaders do in global pandemics and difficult board meetings.
Leaders face facts.
There’s no point in pussyfooting around reality. Head-in-the-sand leadership is not leadership. It’s hiding. It’s head-in-the-sand. Experts can forecast the dangers for months or years ahead of time, but if leaders refuse to face reality, they are not leading.
So, look at the numbers.
Track the stats.
Face the facts.
You need to know the hard data to choose the path. To lead the way.
Leaders empathize.
Analyze, store, and act on the hard data in a place of connectivity. People matter. What people are feeling matters. Your people may be afraid or anxious or simply tired. Feelings are not wrong. Validate feelings.
And while feelings can not be our ultimate roadmap for decision making, people matter. Leaders ask great questions and listen with care. Good leaders make connections between hard data and human emotion, choosing a path that winds effectively through both.
Leaders don’t panic
Have you ever had a panicky boss? It’s not so reassuring. I had a boss who thrived on drama, crisis, and anxiety. Even though he led a team in the middle of a real crisis, this was not effective crisis leadership. When the leader is acting with panic in chaos, people around her buy into that chaos. The team takes on his anxiety. Panic is as contagious as viruses. Maybe more so. No one actually “thrives on crisis.” Chaos and panic are the choices we make. We can thrive in crisis.
Chaos begets chaos.
Fear begets fear.
Anxiety begets anxiety.
Panic begets panic.
Hope begets hope.
Don’t spend emotional energy on worry. Anxiety is more of a choice than you think. Leaders use their emotional resources to instill hope, encouragement, and motivation to problem solve.
Don’t panic. Lead in hope.
Leaders see opportunities in obstacles.
Everything has changed in the past two weeks.
Yet, nothing has changed. We live in the same brokenness and beauty. People are still people. Pestilence is still pestilence.
Challenges always give birth to opportunities. We will only see those opportunities if we reshape our narratives. Reverse your perspective. Change point-of-view. The challenge is the opportunity. The obstacle is the way.
“You’ll have far better luck toughening yourself up than you ever will trying to take the teeth out of a world that is—at best—indifferent to your existence.”
Leaders decide and act.
This is the critical aspect of the leadership role. It’s ours to synthesize facts, people, obstacles, and opportunities. Leaders can not live in paralysis nor participate in panic decision making. Leadership in crisis means moving over, around, or through. It’s not “move or die” because staying put could be the wisest choice. But action (or non-action) will be by choice, not by default.
Crisis is the place where leaders have the opportunity to lead. It’s not so difficult in smooth waters and good wind. Uncertainty is where leadership thrives, bringing hope, encouragement, stability, and growth.
Take the opportunity in these uncertain times to lead.
