Nothing tests a leader like a crisis.
The innately human, emotionally charged climate surrounding a crisis event can have profound effects on the people within an organization. It can even threaten the stability of the organization itself. Thankfully, there are actions a leader can take before, during, and after a crisis to support team members, reduce loss, and keep things operating as normal as possible.
Demonstrating effective leadership in crisis doesn’t mean doing everything exactly right at every turn. Because whether you’re dealing with a technological, financial, natural, or health crisis — within the boundaries of work or throughout the community — most leaders are forced to think and behave in ways that are unfamiliar in these instances. But by understanding and embracing the strategies explored here, and in our book Crisis Leadership, you can be better prepared to effectively lead when it counts the most.
Why Strong Leadership in Crisis Is Important
Crises are inevitable, in life and in organizations. But knowing how to lead in a crisis can directly impact the length, severity, and ultimate consequences of the crisis for your team and organization.
In uncertain moments, leaders set the tone through their example and their conduct. Strong leadership during uncharted events can uncover a team’s underutilized strengths, while instability is fueled by leaders who are evasive and inflexible.
Effective leaders often have a well-developed ability to influence others to get results. In a crisis, we recommend focusing on these critical influencing skills: communication, clarity of vision and values, and caring for others.
Attention to and development of these skills is absolutely vital. Because the idea that a crisis will forge a leader — that he or she will rise to the occasion and display skills previously unseen — is unrealistic. But if you have the skills that keep you involved with your direct reports, concerned and interested in their well-being and development, are consistent in your behavior, and display integrity, competence, and commitment, then you’re more likely to conduct yourself in the same way during a crisis.
Strong leadership is also important during polycrisis, when multiple crises interact and create complex challenges. Our polycrisis research examines the key leadership capabilities needed when organizations face multiple interconnected crises.
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10 Strategies for Leading in a Crisis
1. Communicate key information, consistently.
In a crisis, information is powerful. It reduces emotional distress caused by the unknown, diminishes fear, and provides tactical guidance.
As a leader, your responsibility is to gather the most reliable, up-to-date information from trustworthy sources and share it with your employees. Doing so demonstrates that you’re concerned, involved, knowledgeable, and on top of the situation. Without transparent communication, the crisis can have a negative impact on morale, attitudes, productivity, and retention.
Essential information should be disseminated to the entire organization by every means possible. We recommend first communicating face-to-face, whether in person or through virtual channels. But don’t stop there.
Key information should be handled with the 3 R’s: review, repeat, reinforce. Repeating and reinforcing information daily — and via multiple delivery methods — helps it to sink in and be retained. Learn more tips for communicating in a crisis.
2. If you’re in charge, take charge.
The onset of a crisis presents immense pressure to act — and act quickly. Sometimes you have to begin tackling a problem before you have a solid grasp of what’s happening.
Effective leadership in crisis means being proactive and taking initiative. Do something even if it might be wrong; paralysis or over-analyzing is riskier. As you make decisions and take action when leading in a crisis, communicate those actions truthfully and honestly. As your response changes, keep employees updated with the 3 R’s.
3. Be accessible to your team.
When leading in a crisis, be present, visible, and available to employees. When leaders appear calm, concerned, knowledgeable, and in charge, people are more likely to have confidence that things are under control.
Because it’s not always possible to walk around your facility and talk to colleagues in person, let employees know how they can best reach you with status updates and questions.
It’s also important to understand that organizational protocol needs to account for flexible leadership ranks during an emergency. Whoever is in charge is whoever is there. An entire operation can’t be hamstrung because bureaucracy didn’t account for a key player being unavailable when an emergency struck.
4. Prioritize the wellbeing of people.
It’s important to do anything you can to reduce the emotional stress on people while “doing the job.” Treat everyone within your organization with empathy and genuine concern. Show it by paying attention, using active listening skills, and responding to what people are telling you, as well as considering what isn’t being said.
Leaders should assure people in their organization that it’s all right to feel emotionally stretched in these circumstances. Communicating that message helps to create a psychologically safe work environment for people to express their feelings, which is crucial in reducing the emotional impact of a crisis, promoting emotional healing, and reducing long-term negative effects.
Recognizing and managing the emotions of the situation can help with individual and group resiliency, as well as getting people to safety and back to normal (or a new normal).
5. Don’t abandon your vision and values.
A crisis has the tendency to distract people from the job that must be done, even if the job is critical to the survival of the organization.
Leadership in crisis must include following and emphasizing the team’s vision, mission, objectives, and standards of conduct. These well-established values have the power to help hold the organization together by providing security and continuity to its people.
6. Lead with positivity.
A leader’s attitude is contagious. An upbeat, can-do attitude can keep people going even in extreme crisis. Because leaders are dealers in hope. Drawing on the power of positivity, loyalty, courage, morality, and other core values will tie your crisis response to what is important to people — making it more useful and impactful.
To lead others with positivity, leaders themselves must walk the walk. This means avoiding negative people, negative thoughts, and negative talk.
7. Take care of yourself.
During a crisis, leaders are often focused on the emotional turmoil of their direct reports. But it’s equally important to be aware of your own emotional turmoil, its effect on your behavior, and its influence on your leadership abilities.
By paying attention to your emotions, needs, and behaviors, you’ll be better prepared to handle the human dimensions involved with leading through a crisis. You’ll also be more capable of containing the crisis, regaining control, minimizing damage, and effectively preventing, defusing, and reducing the duration of an extremely difficult leadership situation.
8. Make changes that protect your peace.
Leading in a crisis may mean doing some things differently in order to accomplish tasks while also preserving your personal wellbeing.
Try keeping some meetings short. Be more assertive. Say “no” more often. Take 5-minute private breaks. Practice relaxation techniques, such as meditation and deep breathing. Concentrate only on major issues; skip secondary tasks. Don’t neglect spiritual exercises and activities that are important to you.
9. Plan for the next crisis.
As a crisis transitions from its urgent phase, the time pressures will also ease. At that point, the plan must evolve into a more complex system that looks at recovery and getting things back to normal, whatever the new normal looks like.
This is also when senior leaders need to ask an important question: Are we prepared if a similar emergency unfolds in the future? Most leaders will admit that crisis planning — for example, having a crisis action plan and setting aside resources for a crisis — is important. But sufficient resources are seldom placed in reserve for contingencies.
While improvisation can’t be planned, thinking and team-building exercises can be built into a training program that prepares everyone for future events.
10. Remember the big picture.
It’s natural to take one day at a time when considering how to lead in a crisis. But it’s also important to maintain perspective by thinking about the broader vision you have of yourself, both personally and professionally.
Take moments away from the urgent tasks of “today” to think about where you will be and what you will be doing a year from now. These breaks can help you stop and appreciate that you’re alive and that much good can come out of this crisis.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Prepare your organization for effective leadership in crisis with a customized learning journey using our research-based modules. Available leadership topics include Communication, Conflict Resolution, Emotional Intelligence, Leading Through Change & Disruption, Listening to Understand, Psychological Safety, and more.
