“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Please stay calm. We have a problem and I need your cooperation. We are taking emergency action to repair damage to our vessel resulting from an undersea collision. For everyone’s safety and well-being, please listen carefully to the instructions you will be given by your crew. They have been trained for situations such as this.”

Most of us can envision the nightmare of being a passenger on the Titanic’s ill-fated voyage. We can imagine the reverberating ship-wide shudder at the fateful moment when the hull collided with the iceberg,  and see ourselves trying to reconcile the concept of the unsinkable vessel on which we had secured passage, with the increasingly terror-stricken faces of those around us as the vessel begins to list. Possibly the only worse thing to consider is being the Titanic’s captain at that moment. In that scenario,  you are being overwhelmed by your responsibility for the lives of panicked children, women and men in your charge (and, perhaps with your own imminent doom) as you recognize that Titanic’s celebratory maiden cruise is now destined unequivocally for the bottom of the frigid North Atlantic.

Nobody said leadership was easy. And it is certainly not a surprise that leadership during a crisis is even more difficult. The leaders currently dealing with the unseen iceberg of Covid 19 can testify to the fact that they could not have envisioned what this leadership journey would be like.

But, like a roller coaster, when your car is on the track and moving, there is no turning back. If you signed on as a leader in neutral---or even good---times, this turn of events is now part and parcel of the job. Today’s leaders tell us that they always knew that crisis leadership would be very different from leadership under normal circumstances. What has caught some by surprise, however, is the number of different types of leadership required. They are noting the shifting emphases and styles needed to lead effectively as the situation evolves. From the identification of a state of crisis, through the various stages that follow, leading people will demand different behaviors: the delicate art of leadership must encompass the ability to look beyond the immediate to offer a vision of inspiration and hope, while at the same time, responding effectively to the very present changes in emotions and needs of the people who look to their leader for support and empathy. This is particularly true in slowly unfolding crises such as this pandemic.

In addition to taking on responsibility for the organization’s strategic response to crisis, good leaders recognize that it is critical to focus, as well, on their people and their needs. But, in the midst of all that a crisis demands of leaders, how do they stay with their people? How can leaders connect effectively with what they need in the present, let alone what they will need in the stages to come? Many crises present a situation that the leaders have not seen before; leaders themselves are feeling their way. And even the best leaders are not mind readers!

SmarterWisdom recommends two strategies for addressing this challenge: First, great leaders don’t rely on themselves alone. They know who their “go-tos” are for reading the room; they know who has their finger on the pulse of the organization. It may be their chief HR officer or the receptionist in the building entryway, but, regardless, smart leaders elicit thoughts and ideas from these trusted colleagues on what people might need. Secondly, the best leaders leverage an even more direct strategy: they go to the source. They ask their people what they need and listen carefully to the responses they get back.

In the earliest stages of a crisis, there may be no time to ask anyone. If leaders must take immediate action, they might need to rely solely on internal signals driven by their own cognition and instinct. But once the crisis moves on from that point, and the situation begins to evolve, those who don’t ask others are conflating hubris and leadership. Without question, the need to have all the answers presents a leadership blind spot. Failure to ask and listen is both short-sighted and self-limiting for leaders in all but the most initial phase of crisis management. Moving forward without hesitation or consultation may be the right response for leading during the first moments of crisis, but to continue operating in isolation soon becomes a strategic error.  

ADDITIONAL BLOGS THAT COULD BE OF INTEREST