Crisis Control: Leadership Skills for the 3 Phases of a Crisis

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Even when crises are not the fault of the organization involved, they can be devastating to their overall image. Businesses that have suffered a serious crisis face an uphill battle to recover. Without the leadership of experienced individuals who can steer their organizations through bad times, such recoveries may be impossible.

Today’s business leaders need to demonstrate strong crisis leadership in all three phases of the crisis-planning cycle: anticipation and prevention, mitigation, and recovery. Business leaders who can harness these skills are best-placed for long-term success in even the most adverse circumstances.

Anticipate

The ability to anticipate and prevent a crisis is perhaps the most important skill that a business leader can possess. Many crises can be effectively anticipated by leadership teams that create a strong and open culture within their organization, and that carefully map and pro-actively manage risks. Open organizations in which leaders encourage the reporting up of issues and problems are often best able to prevent and mitigate their escalation to a crisis.

To anticipate and prevent crises, business leaders must have a solid understanding of the climate in which they operate. That means identifying and addressing potential problem areas well in advance of a crisis. For instance, a company should recognize that layoffs may spur disgruntled employees to attack the company by whistle-blowing, via social media campaigns, hacking, or other methods. Such leaders can communicate that they are ready to deal with whatever business threats may arise from inside or outside their organization.

Mitigate

Every executive leader should also be able to mitigate the impact of a crisis. Being able to analyze a situation and its risks with limited information, map internal and external stakeholders, anticipate escalation, show empathy, communicate, and protect credibility instead of only the bottom line are some of the key elements of crisis leadership that can save the day.

In summary, crisis leaders must:

• Keep things their strategy and communication simple but specific.
• Keep their teams focused on a positive vision of the aftermath of the crisis.
• Know exactly what they are not prepared to compromise on.
• Think of the next step.
• Think of and demand solutions.
• Recognize that they will have to make hard decisions.
• Show concern, care and commitment.
• Keep a constant overview on the situation.
• Understand there will be conflicting agendas and accept that they will not always please everyone.
• Demonstrate assertiveness.
• Stand up and be seen.

When things get tough, employees look for and follow the leadership of an individual who “sets a direction and communicates that direction,” writes former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in his book Leadership. After the September 11^th terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, Giuliani was quick to respond to the crisis and communicate with the public, engaging them with a message of empathy and a conviction that the city would survive the tragedy.

Leaders must also be able to assess the extent of a crisis and implement a comprehensive crisis response strategy that must be both effective and credible.

Recover

Many major international corporations have suffered from serious crises that threatened to have a long-term impact on their overall well-being. Unfortunately, few of these companies were prepared to craft a solid recovery plan at the time the crisis hit. Although many companies now have business continuity plans in place that provide clear guidelines on how to recover and continue operations during and after a crisis, such plans do not always specify the steps needed to regain trust among stakeholders. A crisis can forever tarnish corporate reputation; major names such as ExxonMobil, BP, Toyota, NewsCorp, and others that faced devastating crises still have negative connotations in the public mind. Time can heal, of course, but deliberate initiatives to reengage with stakeholders and demonstrate concrete changes are essential to secure a solid recovery.

Many business leaders believe that their tenure at the top of major international organizations is sufficient preparation for a business crisis. In a crisis, leaders are forced to make critical decisions under severe time pressure and in a threatening environment. Executives first need to recognize that it takes different skills to lead in a crisis and that, despite the extensive business experience they may possess, they will need to train and practice to lead under these conditions.

Not all strong business leaders are de facto crisis leaders. The style of leadership needed under normal business conditions varies greatly from what’s needed in a crisis. The table below illustrates some of the key differences.

©CS&A International Risk & Crisis Management

Leaders are often unable to assess their true crisis leadership skills until a crisis strikes, but since real crises are rare, the only effective way to assess and hone crisis leadership skills is through regular simulation exercises with a structured feedback loop.

Crises call for a number of core leadership skills, such as situation analysis, sense-making, assertiveness, clear communication, and the ability to demonstrate empathy, all of which can be learned.

Undertaking such training is well worth the investment. Executives who complete crisis leadership training understand the critical steps they must take in order to survive a business crisis, lead restructuring and rebuilding efforts, and emerge stronger.

With practice and dedication, almost any executive can learn the crisis leadership skills that he or she will need to address issues as they arise and achieve long-term business resilience. A business leader with solid training in crisis leadership is an asset that no organization can do without.

Don’t wait until it is too late to learn crisis leadership skills. Arm yourself and your organization with the competencies needed to withstand whatever challenge arises.

Author information

Caroline Sapriel

Caroline Sapriel is managing director of CS&A, an international risk and crisis management firm serving clients globally across industry sectors. CS&A pioneered Crisiscom©, a secure, real-time crisis communication platform in 1998. She is based in Belgium, and can be reached at caroline.sapriel@csa-crisis.com.

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