I am surprised at how many leaders find themselves in crisis situations and do not know how to react. As a result of their poorly thought-out reaction, they are often forced to resign at best, and at worst their organizations crumble or people are harmed.
A crisis could be described as any of the following
- sudden drop in sales or revenue
- media exposure of poor quality product, product failure or fraud
- accident, fire or natural disaster
- major conflict among top executives or board members
- unexpected death of someone within the organization
In a crisis,our brains react differently than they do under even normal stresses. Specifically, the part of the brain responsible for "fight or flight" is triggered, and becomes a powerful decision - maker. Our rather primitive brains assume that in all crises we can run away or stand and fight off an attacker. We get increased heartbeat, rapid breathing, adrenalin bursts, and trembling muscles. When this energy is not used to run or fight it can be extremely self-defeating. One of its major side-effects is that it slows down the neocortex or "thinking brain" from operating properly. Leaders in crisis may actually become stupid.
The only way to avoid becoming stupid is to plan ahead for the worst. Most people in our civilization live in blissful ignorance of "the worst", to the point of denying our mortality. Extraordinary leaders are not "most people". Former New York Mayor Rudi Guliani said the most important thing in leadership is "to do your homework".
A leader who has done her homework will be a leader who can remain calm in times of crisis. She will know each next step and can proceed toward it calmly, even if her own life is in danger. Pilots of airplanes have procedures to go through right up to the moment the plane is crashing. These procedures are drilled into them in training so there is no time when the pilot starts running around the cockpit screaming "we're all gonna die!" I am amazed at how many chairs of boards do just that, metaphorically, when a conflict occurs among board members at a meeting or when sales revenue suddenly drops due to a product recall.
Tips for Crisis Preparation ("Doing Your Homework")
1. Imagine what are the worst things that could happen to you/your organization.
- typical conflicts
- business crises
- personal hardships, grief, loss
- accident situations (including acts of terror, natural disasters)
- exposure of fraud, criminal activity by someone important to the
organization
- worker strike or protest
- law suit
2. Think through carefully how you, as a leader, want to react in each and every one of these situations.
3. Consult with others in your organization about the best ways for everyone else to react. Refuse to let anyone shut down the conversation with "that'll never happen" or "let's spend our time on the crisis we have right now down in sales"(a minor employee conflict)
4. Take the time to write down on paper what your reaction will be to each of the above scenarios. Include whether you are willing to risk your own life in a situation for the sake of others you lead.
While crises are rare, the fact that you as a leader are prepared for the worst will have an effect on your day-to-day leadership during the "best" times, and times when things heat up slowly. Knowing that you fully prepared for the worst will bring upon you a calm when dealing with the day-to-day small stuff that raises our level of anxiety.
Crises rarely happen. Good leaders are prepared for them and respond faithfully and professionally. When they do, they move from being good leaders to great leaders or even heroes.
780/190
2 comments:
When the epinephrine and adrenaline flow and our heart rate increases, we become stupid. As our pulse approaches 180, we actually become functionally autistic. When we lose the capacity to choose, what will our cerebellum do in our absence? How many different behaviours does it know?
Someone I was reading recently (possibly neuropharmacologist John Brick) rephrased the proverbial "fight or flight" mechanism as "fly, fight, or freeze."
Years ago, a friend of mine said, "I don't think I have a fight or flight impulse. I have a sit-down-and-cry impulse."
I sometimes wonder why this third option is usually left out of the behavioural descriptions of people in crisis. Is it because fighting and fleeing are both "noble" and "active," while freezing is seen as cowardly or meek?
The mouse, hearing the cry of the hunting owl, instinctively freezes on the spot. The owl's screech is designed to trigger this very response. The owl is silent until it has already seen its prey, and the cry is used only to nail it to the spot. The frozen mouse, then, is praying while standing stock-still that it is not the chosen prey. Freezing is actually its best defense - because it might actually be true that the owl is watching elsewhere, and any movement by the mouse might expose it as more convenient prey. Are we so different? Do we not also freeze in the face of certain mortal danger?
Anna, do you think there is a three-fold response pattern (fly, fight, freeze) or is 'freezing' a part of some different response system?
Bah! I just wrote a comment and lost it into cyberspace. Try again...
Yes, Murray - good question. Freezing is common in humans as in other animals. In my book I talk about some video footage of people in an outdoor cafe right before a car bomb goes off. EVERYONE (without exception) freezes, then runs like hell in all directions.
People with anxiety disorders commonly freeze and often stay in a "frozen" state for long periods of time without realizing that's what it is.
The same phenomenon can happen to a leader at a board meeting when a conflict ensues or the situation heats up.
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