A crisis in the workplace can bring out the best, or worst, in someone. And for business leaders running those corporations, what they do during a catastrophe can make or break the business. If you’re wondering what the best of them do to not only prioritize people, but also make solid decisions that help their businesses last, let’s take a closer look at what they do when everything is on the line.
Prioritize People First
Good leaders have great character. You can depend on them in a crisis. There are five character traits that impact how well a great business leader will do during a crisis. These traits compel the best leaders to protect employee safety, well-being, and livelihoods even during a crisis. Whether it’s ensuring that employees don’t have to come to work during a snowstorm, or recalling a product that has the potential to hurt a customer, leaders make choices that keep people from harm.
By prioritizing people, it shows empathy, and that builds loyalty. Employees appreciate being seen as more than a cog in a money making machine. And customers appreciate proactive communications and recalls when a product is deemed defective or possibly dangerous.
Stay Calm and Show Their Confidence
If a business leader is falling apart in a crisis, the whole team will feed off that energy. This can cause employees to panic, and stakeholders and investors to pull out of the company. Business leaders need to create stability for the people they are leading and directing. A calm and confident leader can ensure that everyone else stays relaxed even when everything is falling apart around them.
To stay calm, it’s important to regulate emotions. Even if they’re angry that hackers got in and stole sensitive information or your newest product launch was a total flop, leaders know how to pause before reacting, take deep breaths, and even use movement to help them calm down.
Communicate Quickly and Clearly
Communication is crucial for the success of any great organization. In a crisis, transparency with the right stakeholders not only helps to alleviate tensions, but can also invite insight into how to get things back on track.
Good communication strategies can also squelch any gossip or rumors and reduce the risk of panic. It’s important to use the right channels, whether it’s an email, a text message, or even a post on a chat app. Keep the message consistent across all channels, and make sure everyone knows their part in moving forward through the crisis.
Assess the Situation, Then Act
Too many businesses have managers at the top who don’t know how to strategically assess a situation. Good business leaders are more than managers. They know how to get accurate information so that they can make clear and decisive decisions. They know who to bring into early conversations so that they have subject matter experts weighing in on the crisis. It’s important for leaders to avoid rushing into any solution before they have all the right data, so that when they act, they get better results.
Stay Adaptable and Flexible
Solving a new crisis means being willing to do new things. You can’t fix a problem using an old solution. Good business leaders know that they have to be flexible and adaptable during a crisis if they want to get through it relatively unscathed. This means being willing to make tough calls when circumstances shift rapidly. They may even need to plan different scenarios and have contingency budgeting options when needed. This level of adaptability gives them a way to maneuver through the challenges coming their way.
Monitor Progress
Coming up with a solution during a crisis isn’t just a “set it and forget it” opportunity. Instead, business leaders need to have a way to monitor how well the initial solution is working. Creating good feedback loops allows them to use clear metrics that can easily spot how well they are getting through the crisis.
Stay Focused on Core Objectives
Every business has a set of core objectives that are essential for keeping the company afloat. During a crisis situation, good business leaders can easily identify those tasks that support the core priorities. They help to divert resources into these spaces to ensure that the most important goals are still being met. They’ll also look at activities that might be a distraction in those hard times.
It’s clear that the best business leaders do hard things during a crisis. From managing their own emotions well, to staying focused on core objectives, it’s these steps that help them navigate businesses through hard times and still come out of it with a company intact.
