Over my career, I have faced several crises. If you are a seasoned leader, you know that a crisis can vary in severity and length. But, if you are a new leader, you are probably unsure of what to do when. I am sharing 4 simple steps to leading through a crisis successfully for any leader:
Accept the Leadership Mantle
Understand the Anatomy of a Crisis
Know how to LEAD others
Manifest your dreams
You don't have to be the best at any of the four. But knowing these four and ensuring that you have an approach for each one will benefit you, your teams, and your organizations. The other key element is that you can rest assured in knowing that regardless of the crisis it will eventually end or get replaced by a new crisis. So take a moment to check out the link to see how to get started. If you have not done so already, join our community as we help leaders with tips and techniques to become better leaders.
Accept the Leadership Mantle
This step is exactly what it implies. During a crisis, people begin to look for their leaders. It should not be a surprise that many leaders go absent because they do not know if they have the energy or the capacity to want to engage. Someone needs to provide leadership. You were created for such a time as this. When you do not feel leadership, assume the mantle if you have the capacity so that those around you can have hope and direction. Notice I did not say if you do not see leadership. Leadership by position is possibly the lowest form of leadership. So, if you see it but do not feel it, that means it is missing.
Understand the Anatomy of a Crisis
Understanding how something works is a good way of controlling its impact. For a crisis, I have witnessed four distinct seasons. The first season is Turndown. Turndown occurs before the crisis is fully recognized. During this season, people are in denial. They assume it does not affect them. It is not because they have facts to back up their assumption, but rather that they are afraid of the unknown. So they deny, deny, and deny.
The second season is Triage. In this season the crisis is happening, and everyone is sorting and prioritizing things to get a handle on the crisis impact. The biggest secret is that this is where leaders get a glimpse of opportunity. Why? Because there is always opportunity during a crisis from a leadership perspective. Proper sorting allows crisis management to take control. But opportunity identification allows leadership to maintain vision and hope because the leaders know that like other crises that have come before, this too shall pass.
The third season is Transition. In this season, the crisis is understood and the end of the impact is known and near. This is big for leaders because change is normally induced by the crisis, but the transition of the change must be managed by the leader. Transitions are hard because they involve more than just change alone. The transition requires the emotional, relational, financial, and psychological processing of change.
The final season of the anatomy of a crisis is Triumph. It is the phase that everyone wants. This occurs when the crisis is over. The challenge in this phase is to know when it is reached. Most cannot celebrate the end because they did not establish the criteria or metrics to determine when the crisis would end for the triumph to begin. Leaders know to have a target or goal for their followers. It keeps the entire team focused on expectation and a target. Knowing the four seasons will aid you in determining where your organization is at any point along the life cycle of the crisis.
Know how to LEAD others
If you think you are a leader and no one is following you, you are delusional. My guide on fostering perpetually leadership gives you everything you need to be a successful leader.
It is a coaching guide that helps you lead not just for the moment, but it gives you insight on how to lead in a manner that ensures your efforts are repeatable by those that follow you. When done right, they will even outperform you in the future. Pick up LEAD and learn it’s principles on how to best LEAD others.
Manifest your dreams
Earlier, I mentioned that you were created for such a time as this. As a leader, you have a vision or dream of what you expect. Do not let that vision or dream die because you didn't allow it to be manifested. It is time to get comfortable being uncomfortable so that your vision or dream can be birthed. Take a risk and get started. Put a plan together and get started. Be sure that the plan lists risks and their mitigation steps based on your earlier attempts. Leaders know that managing risk allows teams to work and not worry. When you worry, it helps no one. But when you work, you cause hope and focus. Consider this: A C+ solution today may be better than an A+ solution tomorrow. You can and should expect to see some temporary failures. But fail forward by learning from your failures to take a different approach to the dream or vision.
Thank you for reading this blog. If you have not done so, please join my mailing list (https://www.leadperpetually.com/) to receive future blogs and gain access to in-depth articles or presentations. Allen Management Consultants Inc can help you as your lead through a crisis. We will gladly partner with you and be with you every step of the way. We are certified leadership and life coaches with ICF credentials. We have many years of experience with profit and non-profit entities and can tailor develop an approach to aid you. Contact us at AllenManagementInc.Com
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