Leadership in Time of Crisis

May – June, 2020 Volume 17 – Issue 95

Who Is Leading Your Firm in Time of Crisis?

How is your small business doing as we make our way through this unprecedented pandemic environment? Absolutely no one has ever had to navigate such a turbulent situation at any point in their lifetime. No matter who is making the rules or setting the guidelines, most of it is a great example of flying by the seat of your pants. It’s never happened before, so how can anyone know exactly how to deal with it? Truth is, they can’t, not with absolute certainty. Leadership in time of crisis can be challenging, to say the least.

“Whether an organization dies, survives or thrives is greatly determined by its leadership – before, during and after a crisis.”

Gail Borden; President – Benchmark Communications

Not everyone is ready for leadership in time of crisis

Unless your firm is blessed with a strong leader – or leaders – who have planned for action during times of crisis, you may not be prepared for survival. You may be one of thousands of companies that fail during these challenging times. It is no one’s fault this is happening. The world is not prepared to deal with a pandemic as they do normal day to day issues. It happened and the world was not ready. No one expected it. No one was fully informed about what was going to happen.

Some firms will definitely fail as they find themselves unable to financially continue on the path their short term plan. Too many critical items and issues were taken out of the game to continue forward. Others will survive. It won’t necessarily be an easy task, but good leaders will find ways to keep doing what they were doing before the doors closed and lights were shut off. And, some will ‘pivot’ wisely and move forward in a different direction, using alternative processes and concepts. How do you plan to move forward with your small business?

Recovery leading to survival will likely be a long uphill slog back to where we were several months ago. There isn’t really a quick fix for any of this. Businesses were ordered closed. Mandates sent the entire population to stay in their homes for a couple of weeks – which became several months and more in some areas. Reopening will be a slow painful process with limited return of past customers, landlords, suppliers and revenue streams.

Leadership Challenges during Times of Crisis

Below are a number of leadership challenges affecting how leaders entered this unprecedented time of crisis. Leaders can deal with all of them – some before the crisis occurs, others as company champions lead their team to the other side.

Having only short term plans during a long term crisis.
No quick, simple solutions to problems caused by the pandemic.
The ‘It’s lonely at the top’ normal is now more isolating than ever.
Need to motivate and engage employees from a distance.
Dealing with abrupt disruptions while in survival mode.
Keeping an open line of communication open with staff – from a distance.
Making sure the team has access to the best productivity tools to work through the crisis.

Ways Leaders Can Maintain Control during Crisis Situations

I know, it seems that everything is totally out of your control and the firm is going to fail. But, that doesn’t have to happen if you don’t want it to. It is time for thinking new and different. Everything can change; incorporate new methods. Rework your pre-pandemic budgets. Embrace new tools that can make things happen – in better ways. As a leader, try some of the concepts below.

Keep your and staff mindsets in Positive mode, looking to future success.
Encourage team members to think about innovations and changes to existing processes and systems to reduce costs going forward.
Don’t lose your sense of humor. Humor gets everyone through times of crisis.
Maintain empathy toward others. Everyone is dealing with this environment in different ways. Their situations can be very different and challenging than yours.
Develop scenarios based on future possibilities for your firm and the crisis. What if we did this instead? Is there an easier way to make this happen quicker? If we change (this), will it save money (or time)?

Consider both sides of your financial picture. Of course, cutting off revenue is a serious problem. But, some financial elements will be reduced based on the pandemic situation. Business travel expenses will be cut, fees for conferences and training will likely be reduced. Bonuses and profit sharing will likely go away. If product manufacturing stops, spend on materials will go down as well.

Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way

Somehow, there will be small businesses that don’t just survive the upheaval, they will thrive. Creative and innovative leaders will find new ways to do things. They will see new products or services to offer that fill a hole in our new normal.

Opportunities will present themselves and strong leaders will see something new on the horizon that is a fit for their firms. They will jump on it and make plans to use the opportunity to expand their business, keep employees on the payroll and generate additional revenue streams. Are you that leader? If not, step aside and let someone who is ready handle the lead for now.

How long will the crisis last, keeping your firm shut down? Right now, no one seems to know. Situations will differ immensely if this goes on for two to three months, six months or twelve to eighteen months. Being ready with different scenarios can cut down on surprises. Pull your team together optimizing their creativity and innovative juices. Remember, there is no such thing as a bad question. Same thing goes for ideas from staff members, regardless of how new they are to your team. Listen, empathize and pull your team together for the best chance of survival and thriving.