Leading through Crisis: Steady, Ready, and Rise
Coronavirus presents every leader with a dangerous new environment and vexing challenges for which few of us have prepared, so this is no time to go it alone. This is a moment in which we all need help navigating forward – for ourselves, our teams, and our organization.
Unlike the many complex and complicated challenges leaders face on a typical day, no individual can simply think their way through this kind of slow-rolling global emergency, and no one person can get there alone. The best way to move ahead is for leaders to hone your emotional intelligence and build stronger connections, helping everyone to Steady, Ready, and Rise together.
The first step in responding to such a crisis is to Steady yourself and those around you, assuring the personal and professional safety without which no further progress can be made. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a useful place to start, as many leaders have done. Nearly two months in, you’ve probably already addressed the basics for yourself and your colleagues — food, water, warmth, rest, security, and safety. As you move forward, keep an eye on the higher level needs too, such as belongingness, friendship, prestige, feelings of accomplishment, and self-fulfillment.
The next phase in leadership is adaptation and preparation — what we call the Ready stage. With massive changes taking place in every sector of society and in every part of the world, leaders must accept that the old paradigms and ways of working may be obsolete. Without “best practices” or relevant experience to guide you, engage your team to provide wisdom, insight, and support, and to challenge established expectations and processes that no longer fit in the current situation.
The third phase is Rise, the stage when you and your colleagues pivot to new strategies and tactics. This is more than just dusting off the old plans and making small tweaks. This is the time to re-contract with internal and external stakeholders, promote rapid experimentation, and remove all obstacles that might slow your organization’s nimbleness.
That’s a quick overview of a leadership approach to crisis we call “Steady, Ready, and Rise.” In subsequent blog posts, I’ll dig a little more deeply into each one of these phases.
