The Hard Questions #1: How Do I Lead In A Crisis?
Over the past several weeks I’ve been having conversations about the hard stuff. Things like: "What is my role as a people leader with scared and anxious employees? How do I lead in a crisis...what does good look like? What are the boundaries and leeway I should be granting my employees? What does empathic leadership look like? What should we do about performance management? What should I be considering when communicating with my employees? How do we collaborate and challenge each other when virtual? How do I shape culture during this and after this is over?" Even, "I am facing having to lay off employees. How do I do this with compassion and empathy?"
These are hard questions because there isn't one right answer, but there sure are some clear wrong ones. I am starting an ongoing series #thehardquestions to open up these discussions, one question at a time. I’m starting with “How do I lead in a crisis.”
While much has been covered on “How do I lead in a crisis?,” I haven't seen much on the mindset for this time. I find when people ask this, what they are really asking is "What does good look like? How can I be sure I am doing the critical things and not missing something?" You probably will miss something. A crisis is fast-paced, hectic, confusing, and impossible to know everything necessary. With the right mindset, you can quickly pivot when you do miss things. What you do to lead in a crisis isn’t different from what you do to lead in any other time. The big difference is the frequency with which you do these things. A great leader:
Has frequent check-ins with employees. The goal of a check-in is two-fold. First is to start with the person. See how the person is doing. The crisis is likely impacting all parts of their lives. Demonstrate compassion and listen to understand how the person is doing (more tips on how to come in a future question). Next, is to revisit priorities. Determine what shifts need to be made, what can be stopped and where there are obstacles that you can help remove. These check-ins are not to micromanage. They are to listen, understand and see what help may be needed. During a crisis, you may need to increase the frequency of these check-ins to help focus on what is known and what to ignore. Leaders are told to “be visible” during a crisis and check-ins are critical to keep.
Regularly communicates. You should already have an ongoing rhythm for communicating with your team. It’s likely a combination of email and standing meetings. In a crisis, you have to increase the frequency of this. Our brains love to fill in gaps. When you don't have regular communications, people will fill in the gaps and create their own stories for what is happening and how it will impact them. Ask your teams where they feel slow to learn information and what changes they would like to see changed on the frequency. Perhaps you want to add a daily 10 min standing minute for updates. Maybe there is a place you collect questions that you answer each week. Ask, don't assume. (more tips on how to communicate to come in a future question).
Listens openly. A big part of communications involves planning where to listen. In a crisis, you will hear things you don’t like. While it is tempting and natural to get defensive or mad when you hear things you don’t like, try to take them in as data points.
Asks what they may be missing. Leaders can’t be everywhere or know everything. As things move quickly in a crisis, there may be things you don’t see. Regularly ask questions like "This is important and an uncertain time. What might I be missing? What hasn't been considered? What else should I be considering?" You need to regularly ask what you may be missing and be open to hearing things you don’t like.
Makes swift decisions. Most crisis require swift action…which comes from decisions on directions. Great leaders understand there is a need to make decisions. And if those decisions turn out to be ineffective, they help pivot quickly.
Streamlines. Every team I’ve worked with has always found something they could and should stop doing. The best ones have a regular rhythm to stop and reflect on what they should stop. A great leader uses a crisis to further streamline priorities, focus and effort. Figure out what can be stopped or paused.
Reflects: This is the perfect time to be taking note of what is working and not. One of the best things about this time is that the sacred things are destroyed. Companies that didn’t allow flexible work arrangements or work from home are now forced to embrace those approaches. What shifts can you make? (more tips on how to come in a future question.)
What you do in a crisis doesn’t change. The frequency with which you do these things that shifts, increases and allows you to respond with agility and compassion.
How do you lead in a crisis? What are the hard questions you've encountered?
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