During the recent upward growing economy most business strategies focused on growth. With the economy booming, sales growth happened with minimal effort. The biggest issue most companies faced was how to successfully handle and manage that growth. Now after years of strong expansion for most industries and companies, the bottom has fallen out. We are in a downward spiral that no one knows when will end and what the overall damage will be.
Growth and the successful management of growth is one of many leadership challenges. But it’s times like this that really test companies, their management, their strategies, and especially their leadership. The current crisis and times will be the test of many leaders. Some will lead their teams and organizations through this and show their strength as true leaders while for others it will likely be their undoing. In times like this, organizations look to their leaders for guidance and direction. They want a true leader. One that takes the reins, holds on tight, and shows the team the direction. A leader who is in control and makes the hard decisions is the one who the team will respect and follow, confident that the leader will in fact lead them out of the crisis in one piece.
Not making the hard decisions, being unsure, not instilling confidence in his or her command of the situation is the worst path for a leader. Team involvement and empowerment is great. At least in normal times. However, in times like these decisive leader decisions is what will make it happen. Getting input and advice is no less important now than when there is no crisis but making the actual decision and making it quickly and decisively is the leader’s job and responsibility. This is no time for leadership by committee.
A strong leader communicates through leadership challenges – a lot.
The last thing an organization wants is to be kept in the dark. It’s their life and their livelihood that is at stake. Uncertainty is not something the organization wants or will tolerate. Communicating positives and the good news is easy. Today, and perhaps for the foreseeable future, the news will be more negative than positive for most companies. Communicating bad news is certainly not as easy or fun as communicating good news, but at times like this, it is a critical requirement. Perhaps the most important ingredient of good communication is trust. The organization expects and deserves the truth in all communication in good times and bad. Leaders who in the past damaged the organization’s trust in them will be at a severe disadvantage during challenging times. Leaders who cannot be trusted by their organizations and their teams are not leaders in the true sense. Lack of trust in the leader can bring down the leader faster than not decisively making the hard decisions.
This crisis will eventually end and leaders will have a new challenge, leading their organizations through the new normal, whatever that becomes. Leadership challenges will never end but whatever they are, strong leadership will prevail regardless of the situation. Maybe if we learn one thing from this crisis, it’s that leaders have to be continually looking beyond today, always considering and planning for the what if’s, and always being a little paranoid.
The True Test of Leadership is How Well You Function in a Crisis … Brian Tracy
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