Five Steps for Embracing Crisis

(page 2 of 2)

Plans had been made for addressing such a disaster, he said. But after gathering at an emergency operations center as the storm blew through, "it quickly dawned on folks…that there weren't any processes in place for what we were looking at. If you did not have people who understood what needed to happen intuitively, you were in deep trouble." As well as setting protocol, crisis planning should also focus on developing the leadership skills of resilience, networking, and creative problem solving—the things we need most when plans fail.

• Check your ego. When leaders feel suddenly overwhelmed in crisis, they often try to do everything themselves. Strong individual leadership is of course imperative during a crisis. But it is not sufficient. A collective response is essential. Leaders trying to fix a crisis with a top-down approach many times find they're not close enough to the ground to know what's really happening. And even if they are, there's still no way for them to absorb and make sense of the massive volumes of information flying at them.

One of CCL's crisis forum participants, Jennifer Vidrine, was the assistant director of a shelter in Ville Platte, La., when Katrina hit. Arriving at her town's civic center, she found about 6,000 desperate, hungry people. She was the only person on hand. Spontaneously, and without any official orders, she created a makeshift shelter, working through a local radio station to plead with the community for supplies. Over the next several months, she led an army of volunteers who tended to thousands of displaced citizens. Many other leaders like Vidrine emerged from the bottom-up during the Katrina crisis, demonstrating quite clearly that our best leaders are often the ones without the big titles. Effective leaders look for these people, develop, and rely on them.

• Brace for emotional fallout. Leaders many times become preoccupied with operations and procedures during a crisis. They forget about the emotional needs of the people they're leading—and this can result in poor outcomes. To paraphrase CCL faculty member and retired U.S. Army officer Gene Klann, crisis breeds emotional chaos.

As I also learned during my 35-year career in the U.S. Navy, it's crucial to teach troops how to deal with the wide range of emotions they will feel before, during, and after combat. If they can't control these emotions, they won't be able to function under fire. Combat leaders must learn how to deal with their own emotions as well as the emotions of the men and women they lead. Civilian leaders face the same challenge during a crisis. Be prepared for the same emotional chaos to flow over you and your colleagues. Pay attention, and be supportive. Your colleagues will pay you back with greater cooperation.

Managing a crisis can be all-encompassing. But it's just one of the numerous leadership challenges facing today's executives and managers. As a new columnist for BusinessWeek.com, I'll explore other relevant topics in forthcoming pieces. It's a great privilege to have this forum, and your feedback will play a key role in determining the issues we discuss. I look forward to many good exchanges.

John R. Ryan is president of the Center for Creative Leadership, a top-ranked, global provider of executive education. He previously served as chancellor of the State University of New York and superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. He was a pilot during a 35-year in the Navy, retiring as a vice-admiral.