What I've Learned: 10 Insights About Leading Through Crisis
Global pandemic. Unprecedented crisis. These are big and scary words with no obvious solutions, but they are drastically changing daily lives around the world.
For better or worse, I’ve had a vantage point on the fast-changing situation for several months as my teams experienced the Covid-19 crisis unfold across the globe.
Every situation is a chance to learn and grow, and in that spirit I’d like to share some of the leadership lessons I’ve learned along the way.
I’m writing while sheltering in place on the East coast, and I hope you are reading from a place of health and optimism also.
LEARNING FOR LEADING YOUR PEOPLE
#1: Practice Empathy
Far and away the most important job of a leader in crisis situations is to take care of your people, making their wellbeing your top priority.
It is all too easy to default straight into a robotic crisis mode at the beginning of every meeting or conversation. Starting every interaction with a straightforward, three-word question can help avoid this. Simply ask, “Are you ok?”
This deeply human query is an authentic way to open the dialog. It makes us emotionally available as leaders and opens the door to engage in a dialog about what is going on in employees’ lives.
When this crisis abates, leaders who invested the time to take care of those around them will emerge with a stronger, more cohesive, and more focused team that is and ready for whatever comes next.
#2: Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
The time-tested adage that “knowledge is power” is never truer than in a crisis. One of the most difficult things about the situation is the uncertainty about what the future brings. The more your team understands about what you do know, the more empowered they will feel to go through their own decision-making processes to assess and act.
Keep in mind, that as crisis leaders we don’t need to have all the answers. The simple act of sharing what you know along with what you aren’t sure about can be deeply comforting.
#3: Keep your Calm
During the first 90 days in China, I thought about how to serve as a reliable port in the storm. The key is to maintain a balanced outlook that is neither too negative, nor overly optimistic.
I recently enjoyed a TED talk with psychologist Susan David, who explained that when we focus exclusively on positive emotions (like happiness), we fail to leave room to explore negative but also useful ones like fear or anxiety.
The same applies to leading teams through this crisis. It is equally important to celebrate good news and victories, while also acknowledging tough choices and untenable situations.
#4: Internalize, Reflect, Then React Decisively
In crisis time, each day can feel like an endless cycle of issues that require quick solutions. I found that a really simple process can lighten the mental burden.
First, internalize the decision by giving yourself time to take in all that you know. Then reflect, exploring the various options and visualizing their impact. Finally, react decisively, so that you and your team are clear about what comes next.
In his book Ricochet, Nick Tasler points out that the word “decide” comes from a Latin root that literally means to “kill” or eliminate other choices.
I find this empowering. The best we can do in a situation when we have imperfect knowledge is to reflect on the choices we have, eliminate the lesser options and decide – moving forward with the strongest choice.
LEARNING FOR LEADING YOUR ORGANIZATION
#5: Understand Where You Are in the Journey
Within your organization, it is important to keep in mind that this crisis is a journey with daily twists and turns, not a destination.
A leader’s best first step is to make sure your team is clear about where you are in the 4 stages of navigating this journey.
Stage 1: Recognizing there is a crisis
Stage 2: Preparation to respond
Stage 3: Response
Stage 4: Recovery
Using this roadmap as a mnemonic will will serve as a litmus test to ensure any planned actions are correct for the stage you are in.
Also, keeping a steady eye on Stage 4 (recovery) is a great reminder to plan for what life will look like when you emerge from crisis mode.
#6: Identify the Biggest Problem to Solve
Being in “crisis mode” creates a feeling of urgency to act NOW. My experience in China underscored the importance of stepping back to first identify the biggest problem that the organization needs to solve. For example, if you are a retailer, do you have a demand problem or a supply problem?
Stating the problem clearly in your own mind and organizationally provides a set of guardrails to help define what you need to tackle over the next 30-60-90 days.
#7: Don’t Think Iteratively, Think Transformative
If there was ever a time to throw out your previously created plans – this could be it.
As leaders, we must carve out precious minutes to re-imagine how life will look on the other side of the crisis. Then, we can imagine how our organization will fit and what transformative moves we can put in place to get there.
In doing so, make sure you don’t fall into the trap of imagining the current state as the future state. I recently heard a futurist noting that any time a new change is foisted upon us very quickly, there is a bias to thinking that the “new present” is the future. That, she stressed, is almost universally never the case.
I can already see this playing out in China. As life slowly turns to the recovery stage, consumer behavior is certainly changed. But, life over the next 12-18 months is going to look very different from the way it looks today.
Transformational thinking requires putting yourself in the shoes of consumers to understand how the crisis will fundamentally change their lives and behavior.
This might be obvious in some industries, like healthcare or education, but it applies equally to every category. I’m fascinated with this topic and collecting tidbits for a future post…Send me yours, and let’s think about what the “next normal” looks like for consumers across the globe.
LEARNING FOR LEADERS THEMSELVES
#8: Earmark Time to Organize
We are hearing a lot about finding the right cadence as many of us adjust to working remotely from home.
One practice I highly recommend is to reserve a calendar slot for “crisis organization” each day. Take this time to create a daily ritual. First standardize inputs from the frontline, asses them, and then organize outputs that will go from the center back out.
Visualize this how you like; I’m partial to post-its on my whiteboard. The important thing is to carve out space for amalgamation and reflection amidst the noise of your day.
#9: Take Time to Emotionally Recharge
Flight attendants advise parent travelers to “put on their oxygen masks first,” and with good reason. A few weeks operating in crisis mode quickly taught me that if you do not prioritize your own emotional wellbeing, you will have little to offer your team in the way of guidance and support.
Our daughter being home and working remotely with our dog have given me moments to reground and relieve stress. My advice to others is to identify a few anxiety-releasing activities and build time for them into each day.
#10: Practice Humility, to Continually Learn From Others
Nature magazine recently reported that global quarantine efforts have literally caused the earth to move less. That awe-inspiring tidbit can only invite a moment of humility in the face of this situation.
I wholeheartedly believe that the best among us will use this crisis as an opportunity for learning and growth. Let us seek feedback and identify our weaknesses and areas where we can improve. When the globe goes back to humming at its regular speed, we will be thankful we did.
Finally, through all of this, be prepared to be inspired and humbled by the best of humanity that comes to the forefront during a crisis like this. I know I have been, watching the medical workers at the frontline and our #Pepsico team members rise to the challenge.
