Tag Archives: Courage

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CRISIS!!! The Impact of a Leader’s Response

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This is part II in a series to examine how a Leader’s response to a crisis impacts the people and the organizations they lead.  

Crises are more than LARGE-SCALE natural disasters and acts of hate.

Crises actually occur daily:

  • As economies, regulations, technology and consumer needs CHANGE
  • When dishonest leaders are in charge
  • With an unexpected diagnosis
  • The death of a loved-one
  • The loss of a job
  • The betrayal of a spouse
  • The negative choices of a family member
  • _________________________ (What else would you add?)

[Tweet “Crises can fuel creativity, develop synergy and produce life-giving results.”]

OR

[Tweet “Crises can implode trust, destroy lives and delay progress –  For YEARS to come.”]

Below are several stories and lessons from others…

 DOUBT & FEAR

“Around 1990 the executive team where I was working for an insurance company called department meetings to announce they were looking for a buyer for the company.

As much as I liked the men who led the company, they didn’t handle their communication effectively. Their presentation caused instant animosity, distrust, and speculation.

In the end the company wasn’t sold for many years. But the damage done way back then is still felt by employees today who were working there back then.”  ~Jane Anderson

The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.  H. P. Lovecraft

THE IMPACT OF TRUTH

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Have you personally witnessed leadership in a crisis?

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Current events and a class I’m taking have me thinking about how people lead in a crisis.

So I reached out to my network and asked:

  • Have you personally witnessed great leadership in a crisis?
  • If so what did you see, feel and experience?

The answers I got back were fascinating.

  • One person told a story of a life and death experience.
  • Everyone else shared a work-related experience that impacted them emotionally and sometimes physically.

Think about that for a minute…

In the face of horrific current events in our world – work related crises impact so many more lives!

And just in case you are tempted to dismiss work-related experiences as something that could be called a crisis, check out how Webster defines the word:    noun cri·sis \ˈkrī-səs\: plural cri·ses  \ˈkrī-ˌsēz\:

  • An emotionally significant event or radical change of status in a person’s life
  • The decisive moment
  • An unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending; especially : one with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome

Before I share their stories, I’d love to hear your stories as well.  Please share!  

 

  • [Tweet “Have you personally witnessed positive or negative leadership during a crisis?”]
  • If so what did you see, feel and experience?

Leadership meand understanding others

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Is forgiveness an overlooked leadership skill?

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If you’re like me – You believe in the faith-based and health-based reasons to practice forgiveness.

But have you ever considered that forgiveness might be an important leadership skill?

In the book Picking Cotton, two people share their true story:

  • They are both 23.
  • She’s white, a senior in college with a 4.0 and looking forward to starting her career, marrying her boyfriend and having a family.
  • He is a person of color, working, and has a history of making some unwise choices.

One night she is at home alone and a man breaks into her apartment and rapes her.Picking Cotton

She is able to escape and eventually identifies this man as her rapist.

He insists that she is mistaken.

She is convinced that her memory is correct and makes a strong witness for the prosecution.

He is convicted and goes to prison for 11 years. (In spite of the fact that he continually says he is innocent, in spite of the fact that he meets the man in prison that actually committed the crime, and in spite of the fact that his blood type does not match the blood type found at the scene.)

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Thwarting Death by Comfort Zone

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I talk a lot about the importance of leaving your comfort zone and the growth that can happen when you do. Most of the time I emphasize the BENEFITS of doing so.

Recently I’ve been reminded of how DANGEROUS comfort zones really are when:

  • A group of expats got too comfortable navigating the land we live in and found ourselves in a situation we could have avoided.
  • My husband witnessed a friend’s motorcycle accident and recognized how comfortable, carefree and careless he has become on his own Harley.
  • I visited with an executive that has been in his position so long he is struggling to see how complacent and ineffective he is becoming.

Each scenario caused me to reflect on how winning sports teams lose their edge, how wildly successful businesses stop growing, and how governments and countries rise and fall…

Linger too long in a comfort zone and you risk…

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Hope & Help for Difficult Career Transitions

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I’ve been thinking about the people who struggle with job searches.

  • Some recent graduates hide in the comfort of their homes and conduct their entire career search online.
  • Some are so paralyzed in fear that it is not uncommon for parents and spouses to look for outside direction and support to help their loved ones become active participants in their own job searches.
  • Even accomplished adults that are faced with unwanted career transitions can become webbed in the midst of change and struggle to engage.

If you fit any of those descriptions – this post is for you. And if you know anyone that fits those descriptions this post is for them.