JLBC: Leadership

JLBC: Leadership

Once you learn Competence and commitment, then you are more likely to conduct yourself in the same manner during a crisis.

Communication plays a part in crisis leadership. During a crisis, people are often fearful about what has happened, what will happen, and how the situation will affect them. It’s an inescapable facet of the human element of a crisis. Information, particularly from someone in a leadership position, goes a long way in reducing fear and providing reassurance. Data can help people in an organization undergoing a crisis restore their emotional balance, sense of security, and confidence.

A leader can foster and encourage an emotional connection with direct reports, communicating through word, deed, and attitude that the intense emotions employees feel during a crisis are understandable, regular, and respected. In other words, leaders should assure people in the organization that it’s all right to feel emotionally stretched in these circumstances. Communicating that message helps to create a safe harbor for people to express their feelings, which is crucial in reducing the emotional impact of a crisis, promoting emotional healing, and reducing the long-term adverse effects of a problem. Without the leader’s support for full communication, the situation can significantly negatively impact morale, attitudes, productivity, retention, and other critical organizational functions.

Clarity of vision and values plays a part in crisis leadership.

Generally, both the vision and the values of the organization are created by senior leadership and are clarified, made practical, and implemented by the leaders throughout all organizational levels. A viable vision describes the direction in which the organization moves and what it will look like when it gets there. Values establish what is essential to the organization. They deal with items like quality, customer service, and taking care of the employees.