Leadership During a Crisis

A crisis, by definition, is unpredictable and can be highly damaging to an organization.  In the event a crisis occurs, it needs to be managed; by mismanaging, an organization’s brand value could be permanently damaged and degraded.  However, by effectively leading through a crisis in a correct and efficient manner, recovery can be swift with long-term effects being neutral to positive.  Opportunities can arise in these crises and can lead to new possibilities for the future.  An organization’s reputation and credibility is highly influenced by its’ response during a crisis situation, thus making it highly critical to have excellent leadership.

During a crisis, a leader must deal with many strategic challenges such as risks and opportunities, errors they may make, as well as paths they may pursue to successfully emerge from a crisis.  They must face reality; this is a crucial step before any problems can be solved.  Also, it is best to anticipate the worst in order to get out in front of the crisis.  Avoiding isolation is imperative; by bringing in key people to assist, they will be able to gain commitment from others for any corrective actions they may have to take for the organization.   By being aware of the situation at hand, employing the above-mentioned guidelines and having strong leadership, it is likely that the organization will be better equipped in handling a crisis.