This is no time for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure - Winston Churchill
Leadership During Crises
The ability of a leader is defined during times of crisis. In times of crisis, leaders invariably find themselves in the centre of a stressful and tense atmosphere. It is important that leaders take a moment to consider a situation and to take control of the emotions that they feel. Team members will look to leaders for guidance and so it is important that they control their demeanor during such stressful situations.
Fear is contagious. A leader who remains confident, even if they are apprehensive, will maintain the confidence of a team. By taking a step back, to consider a situation, a leader can assess a situation, act with deliberateness and effectively delegate responsibilities. Decisive leadership is crucial at all times, but particularly during periods of high stress.
Effective leaders continuously frame the crisis; rather than holding fast to the first impression and analysis of the crisis, they consider new information as it comes along and plan again. Information is then communicated up and down; within a business environment, this could be up to investors and business executives owners, down to employees and vendors, and outside to the media and public. Crisis management training provides opportunities to ensure that effective arrangements have been put in place for all types of crisis situations and for individuals to gain experience of operating and leading under extreme pressure; times during which individuals may act differently than normal.
Scenario planning, incident response, emergency management training and crisis management exercises can assess participants leadership, teamwork and decision making abilities, during a range of high pressure scenarios. These bespoke scenarios, improve collaboration levels and assess business continuity management programmes.
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