How to lead in a crisis

Humility, transparency and urgency are the keys to successfully steering an organization -- big or small -- through the challenges that come your way. Leadership expert Amy C. Edmondson provides clear advice and examples to help any leader rise to the occasion.

We think of a great leader

as the unwavering captain
who guides us forward

through challenge and complexity.

Confident, unwavering leaders,

armed with data and past experience

have long been celebrated
in business and politics alike.

But sometimes and certainly now,

a crisis comes along
that is so new and so urgent

that it upends everything
we thought we knew.

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One thing we know for sure

is that more upheavals are coming.

In a completely interconnected world

a single political uprising,

a viral video, a distant tsunami,

or a tiny virus can send
shock waves around the world.

Upheaval creates fear,

and in the midst of it
people crave security,

which can incline leaders

toward the usual tropes of strength,
confidence, constancy,

but it won't work.

We have to flip the leadership playbook.

First, this type of leadership requires

communicating with transparency,
communicating often.

So how can leaders lead
when there is so little certainty,

so little clarity?

Whether you are a CEO,
a prime minister, a middle manager

or even a head of school,

upheaval means you have
to ramp up the humility.

When what you know is limited,

pretending that you have
the answers isn't helpful.

Amidst upheaval, leaders
must share what they know

and admit what they don't know.

Paradoxically, that honesty creates
more psychological safety for people,

not less.

For example when the pandemic
devastated the airline industry

virtually overnight,

CEO of Delta Airlines Ed Bastian

ramped up employee communication

despite having so little clarity

about the path ahead,
facing truly dire results.

At one point in 2020,

losing over a hundred
million dollars a day,

it would have been far easier for Bastian

to wait for more information
before taking action,

but effective leaders during upheaval

don't hide in the shadows.

In fact, as Bastian put it,

it is far more important to communicate

when you don't have the answers
than when you do.

Second, act with urgency
despite incomplete information.

Admitting you don't have the answers

does not mean avoiding action.

While it's natural to want
more information,

fast action is often the only way
to get more information.

Worse, inaction leaves people
feeling lost and unstable.

When New Zealand
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

laid out a four level
alert system very early

in the COVID-19 crisis,

she lacked information
with which to set the level.

Despite lacking answers,
she did not wait to communicate

about the threat with the nation.

At first she set the level at two,

only to change it to four
two days later as cases rose.

That triggered a national lockdown,

which no doubt saved countless lives.

Later, when cases began to dissipate,

she made subsequent decisions

reflecting that new information.

Third, leaders must hold
purpose and values steady,

even as goals and situations change.

Values can be your guiding light

when everything else is up in the air.

If you care about customer experience,

don't let go of that in times of upheaval.

If a core value is health and safety,

put that at the center
of every decision you make.

Now doing this requires
being very transparent

about what your values are,

and in this way, your steadfastness shows

not in your plans but in your values.

Prime Minister Ardern's
clear purpose all along

was protecting human life.

Even as the immediate goal
shifted from preventing illness

to preparing health systems

and ultimately to bolstering the economy.

And finally, give power away.

Our instincts are to hold
even more tightly

to control in times of upheaval,
but it backfires.

One of the most effective
ways to show leadership,

if counterintuitive,

is to share power with those around you.

Doing this requires asking for help,

being clear that you can't do it alone.

This also provokes innovation

while giving people a sense of meaning.

Nothing is worse in a crisis

than feeling like there's
nothing you can do to help.

We follow this new kind
of leader through upheaval,

because we have confidence

not in their map but in their compass.

We believe they've chosen
the right direction

given the current information,

and that they will keep updating.

Most of all, we trust them

and we want to help them
in finding and refinding

the path forward.