Leadership is the most important aspect of an organizations success. Leaders lead their teams daily. They communicate the vision, over and over, and point to milestone achievements as well as small wins. They establish the culture, and build a team that supports and protects every aspect of that culture.
This is expected from leadership during good times, when things are being executed and success is evident. But what happens when a crisis occurs? Organizations struggle while some even fall apart.
I have heard it stated that organizations with poor leadership fail quickly during adversity. Some may make it through, however, many will fail. Strong leadership works during the good times to build a foundation for when a crisis occurs. Remember, a crisis may occur at no fault of the organization. Crisis can be driven internally, as well as externally. But how an organization is prepared, and how they respond, can determine not only their survival, but also their success.
There are 3-Stages of Leadership Crisis Management, but unfortunately, when a crisis happens, which is Stage #2, most organizations never considered Stage #1 execution, or just gave small consideration to its importance. Therefore, they already start the crisis from behind, with no foundation, and they are in a scramble. This disarray filters into the organizations next moves where they make decisions on the fly, and therefore display poor execution. The organization then goes through different levels of execution plans, which drives a lack of confidence from all staff.
It is our responsibility as leaders to lead, follow, or get out of the way. We must build other leaders to fulfill our vision and drive our culture. We must instill confidence while driving towards success with the belief and ownership from our teams, in which they accept and assume accountability and responsibility. Leadership is influence, as stated by John Maxwell. Leaders build their teams around the influence that followers believe in, and hunger for. Create a team that will not only survive but flourish as the crisis sunsets.