Most businesses will face a crisis at some point in their history. Sometime this is just isolated to one company. Other times, it affects a large part of the economy, such as the COVID-19 situation. A crisis can take many forms from a natural disaster to a computer hack to a fire to a lawsuit from out of nowhere. Usually, a crisis impacts your people, your reputation or your cash flow. Sometimes it can affect all three. A company can weather almost any crisis if it is prepared and has strong leadership.
So, what does it take to be a strong leader in a crisis? Two of the biggest pitfalls in a crisis are anxiety leading to fear or a blow to your business from some direction that you didn’t anticipate. The unexpected can knock the wind out of you and cause you to freeze right when you need to take action the most.
This scenario reminds me of a time that I could have died. I was skiing in Colorado with some friends when I tried to do things beyond my ability. I was skiing in the trees and taking some routes that I have never done before. I was trying to keep up with some friends who I thought had taken one route when they actually took another. The next thing you know, I can’t see below me and go into a route that jettisoned me into the air. I realized that I was going to land right in the middle of some crowded trees with little room to turn. I needed to stick the landing and stop as best as possible. Most importantly, I needed to avoid hitting any trees head on. So many thoughts went through my head in less than a second. I was dealing with unexpected challenges and uncertainty. I panicked and yet kept my composure at the same time.
I stuck the landing and tried to stop turning to my right. This stopping motion slowed me down enough that I avoided hitting anything with huge speed. The tree branches spun me around and I fell backward hitting my head on the snow. One ski fell off, I looked a bit like a pretzel on the snow. No bones were broken, but I had a concussion. I was dazed and confused and couldn’t really stand up straight. That describes how some businesses feel in a crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The following are some top recommendations for how a business leader can guide a company through uncertain times. Anxiety and uncertainty can become exponential in a crisis. The first person a leader must lead is himself or herself. You have to see a way out of the situation when nobody else can.
The word "ACTION” stands for six things you should do in a crisis to demonstrate strong leadership. These may seem like a no-brainer. But many company leaders fail in these moments because they let fear rule the day. ACTION stands for the following:
ACTION
Anticipate what lies ahead. Compare with previous similar scenarios and make your best guess.
Correct course in real time to meet changing dynamics.
Tell the truth, communicate early and often.
Indecision can prevent success. Be decisive and bold in casting vision
Own the moment. Don’t shirk responsibility. Take the blame if necessary while rallying everyone around a solution.
Never go alone. Leaders empower others in a team to do more under pressure. They create an atmosphere where others feel free to act to make the mission happen. Remember the needs of your team. Human emotions can propel or handicap your efforts.
Let’s look at each of these six concepts one at a time. Anticipate starts with thinking about potential scenarios that can develop. If you have a Crisis Response Plan, look through that and see what you can glean that is helpful for your current situation. Consider other similar situations or unknowns from the past, what variables impacted the outcome? How can you be ready for the different variables and outcomes? Sort of like playing chess, you are thinking through possible scenarios with your team. Ask questions and seek input from your managers and even lower-level, production workers. Listen and you may discover a solution that you would otherwise miss.
Correct the course in real time. You need to be nimble. Do what you can to preserve capital and be able to respond as situations change. Learn as you go and don’t hesitate to do things differently. Beyond making cuts, see what additions you need to make. Identify ways that you can process from the crisis. When others are pulling back, maybe you need to move ahead? Smart business leaders know what they do best and seek to find ways to turn that into an opportunity. For example, maybe you are gifted at doing emergency orders, specialty pallet sizes. You can identify potential new customers that are gearing up for the COVID-19 response.
Tell the truth, communicate early and often. During uncertainty, employees, customers and suppliers want to be reassured and feel safe. They want to know about problems before they hear about it on social media or the television. You want to communicate challenges truthfully while projecting confidence in a good outcome after the crisis is over. A crisis is like the Superbowl for a leader. It is his or her time to shine and motivate others. You may have to say things that others don’t want to hear. But at least, you can prepare them for potential realities, which is worse than being blindsided by an unforeseen impact.
Communication is a two-way street. Seek to understand the concerns of your workforce. How can you help them stay on target? A crisis will lead to mistakes. People need to know that the upper management will have their back and will work to correct problems.
Indecision can prevent success. Be decisive and bold in casting vision. Notice the focus is on casting vision. The leader must know where the company wants to go. A crisis may impact the pace or current realities of enacting business goals. But it usually doesn’t change the eventual destination. The leader must know what is worth fighting for and communicate this to supervisors and those who oversee the execution of the game plan. Pieces of the plan or tasks may change, but the real vision usually stays the same. It is the leader’s job to keep everyone on point even when others a going crazy with worry. Leaders need to make decision when others are frozen by indecision.
Own the moment. Don’t shirk responsibility. A crisis is when a strong leader rallies the team together behind solutions that may or may not work. After some things are tried, a good leader will re-evaluate with this team and ensures success by keeping everyone in motion. And a good leader doesn’t seek to place blame. He or she honestly assesses the situation and seeks to make the best decision to impact the overall enterprise. A strong leader in a crisis may even embrace the blame in order to help others feel free to work on the solution. Otherwise, workers will take a bad cue from the leader and will go into protection mode not solution mode. If a leader is placing blame, others will do the same thing in the organization too.
Never go alone. Leaders empower others in a team to do more under pressure. Effective crisis leaders realize that in tough times they need to delegate more than ever. They can’t do it all. You have to rely on your people and give them encouragement to experiment and try new things. And you may have to help them prioritize because they may not realize what has to get done first. This is where your direction can help them focus on what will make the biggest difference.
These six actions may seem basic, but they are far from easy. If you do these things, you will be well on your way to success despite even the toughest of times.
