Tag Archives: Organizational Health

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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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Smelling smoke? Is it coming from another leader?

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Have you ever caught a whiff of a smoky haze coming from down the hall? …The kind that indicates something is not quite right?

Occasionally a fire alarm even goes off, but it is quickly silenced.

…But if you follow your nose the smoke gets thicker around another titled leader’s door.

Yes – I’m asking about a titled leader that may be a level or two below you, may be your direct report, your peer or even your boss.    

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Band-Aids and EASY Buttons -Or- SOLUTIONS?

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An owner of a couple of small businesses is frustrated with dwindling profits.

He blames his staff, treats them badly, moves them to different locations, stalls their vacations and refuses to listen to their feedback.

The truth is:

  • He has been an absentee owner that has happily collected profits from the businesses while choosing not to be involved in day-to-day operations.
  • He hasn’t trained his employees or empowered them to make decisions.
  • He has not been engaged with his customers and doesn’t know what they value.
  • He hasn’t been proactive about growing his businesses or even keeping up with his competitors.
  • His prices are higher than the competition and his facilities are cramped, cluttered, outdated, and equipped with poor quality equipment and tools.
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Executives: Do you not know? OR …Do you not care?

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Years ago I read a wonderful post by Ted Coine titled, Dear CEO:  Who tells you when your baby is ugly?

The post resonated loudly, because as an employee and as a customer I have wondered…  [Tweet “Do they not know, or do they not care?”]

Over the past 41 days, I’ve asked that question at an increasingly high level…