When times are good, leading a company or a team is exciting. Opportunity is everywhere and people are happy. However, in a crisis the positive energy is often replaced with stress, frustration and at times fear. Customers retreat, employees feel heightened pressure and fear for their jobs.
In crisis conditions, leaders need to rise up to manage both tactical and emotional factors to navigate through the challenging period and make it out the other side.
Research has shown that companies with effective crisis response saw their stock price recover quickly, closing an average of seven percent above their pre‐crisis price one year after the crisis. (1)
Let’s take a look at what sets successful leaders apart when leading through a crisis:
1. Demonstrate calm, realistic optimism
As their leader, your team are looking for you to give them hope. Be optimistic that although you will face challenges, you have confidence that you can pull together to get through this. Consider Elon Musk (Tesla/ SpaceX), who acknowledges that failures will happen, but can be managed and overcome.
2. Act quickly
Visible decisiveness not only builds people’s confidence in leaders; it also motivates a team to keep working on solutions. Once you’re moving, continue to collect and review information, consider how this may affect your business, then amend your plans if necessary.
3. Show empathy and engage
Communicate clearly, transparently and regularly (it takes people five times to take in new messages, particularly when under stress). It’s ok to not have all the answers – just be open and optimistic.
Find opportunities to have fun with your people too. Just because times are tough doesn’t mean you have to be somber all the time. Eg. mini challenges (work or personal) can lighten the mood and enhance connection.
4. Adapt and innovate
Use this as an opportunity to reassess what’s important and what’s not (were all those meetings really necessary?!). Thirsty Crow craft brewery shifted from purely bar sales pre-Covid, to canning its beers and distributing across NSW – it now needs to expand its brewing operations to meet demand!
5. Keep delivering value
6. Look after yourself
Taking a break (even for 10 minutes) will reset and improve your mindpower, give you a new perspective (so you don’t reply to that email in anger!) and enable you to get more done. Go for a walk, meditate, read a book, connect with loved ones – whatever you need to wind down.
With effective leadership, crisis challenges can be overcome. Leaders who support their people and learn to adapt will not only survive these challenges, but come out the other side stronger than ever.
(1) Helio Fred Garcia, “Effective leadership response to crisis,” 2006
