Leading Through Crisis: Four New Rules

Leading Through Crisis: Four New Rules

Communication is Key.  As I wrote last week, there’s no substitute for excellent communication during a crisis. In addition, leadership generally faces four other gordian knots during the current Covid-19 crisis.

1)  Wrong Information:  As we’ve seen over the last few weeks, information changes daily, sometimes hourly. The brilliant plan you constructed with your team last week may be worthless tomorrow.

2)  Fearful or Weak Leadership:  Although strong, calm and authoritative leadership works best for almost any situation, during a crisis your people will face psychological responses of fear, uncertainly and anxiety. Your job as a leader is to rise above the fray, see the big picture and project your best self.

3)  Poor Decision-Making Skills:  Knowing how to make good decisions is crucial for any leader but with a crisis, a poor decision may cause cataclysmic results. Check out these decision making tips. Want to Bullet Proof Decision Making? Here’s How Decisions! Decisions! How Objective Are You Really?

4)  No Coach:  Almost all of us need a coach for our business during the best of times, during a crisis, it’s easy to feel isolated and hesitant. An effective coach can help you lead through the storm. Read: How to Make Executive Coaching Work for You.

What Should You Do?

1)  Create a Plan:  If you haven’t done so already, put together a team to handle the crisis. It’s important to know who’s on first so that the organization isn’t sending out conflicting messages.

2)  Identify Stakeholders:  Remember that everyone needs to know what you’re doing or not doing: employees, shareholders, lenders, the media and so on.

3)  Have a Consistent Communicator:  The communicator may be someone different from the head of the crisis team but should be a leader with good skills who can be trusted by the public. Ideally, this should be the head of your organization, but if that person doesn’t have good skills, find the next best option.

4)  Create a FAQ Sheet:  Make sure that the team puts together a sheet with facts and frequently asked questions so that each department works from the same information. With a fast-moving crisis like the current virus outbreak, you may have to update those facts on the hour.

5)  Remember Social Media:  With so many rumors and factoids flying around the Internet, don’t forget to have a strategy that takes those sources into account. https://lynne-eisaguirre.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/pdf/LTTS%20THE%20EAGLE%20PERSPECTIVE.pdf

6)  Communicate Through Multiple Outlets:  Some people still read newspapers, others rely on television, some only look at social media, and still others listen to phone messages. Make sure you use different tools in order to reach as many of your stakeholders as possible.

7)  Tell the Truth Fast:  With today’s technologically connected society, your stakeholders will find out the truth eventually from someone else. Be the first to tell them what’s happening so that they trust you and you have a chance to craft a reliable message.

For more information about managing during challenging times, go to “Leading Through the Storm – The Eagle Perspective”.

What Do You Think?

Does your organization have a crisis management plan? Is it currently effective? What have you learned? Call or write us at: 303-216-1020 or Lynne@workplacesthatwork.com