Navigating a Crisis Situation

I've always felt that the most important aspect of crisis management is leadership. I've seen leaders fail as well as succeed beautifully. Those that do poorly in a crisis are paralyzed, unable to make judgments, and overconfident, whilst those who are doomed to fail are unable to communicate effectively with the team, among other things.

However, the finest leaders recognize that the road ahead will be difficult and understand that they must rely on making decisions and adapting to what lies ahead. They are self-assured because they have a team behind them, one that feeds off their leader's confidence.

There are 3 aspects to a great leadership during crisis management:

1. Always lead from the front and be involved in every key decision that is being made. Take charge during a crisis and make sure everyone knows what you're doing. You're the boss and it's your responsibility to make sure that employees aren't left in the dark. You're not going to be able to make all of the decisions yourself, but you need to be around so that employees know who they can turn to when they have questions or concerns (whether they have them or not).
2. Restructure the organization that better fit the crisis needs. In a crisis, the organization chart may have to be restructured to ensure that the right people are in charge of the right functions. A lot of things will likely be happening at once. The leader has to see the big picture, while their staff has to take care of the details. In many cases, this means that the organization chart has to change. When moving the team around, leverage their core skills rather than what they were doing in their roles before the crisis hit. Shuffle them around specifically in a way that will help them respond to the crisis.
3. If you have built relationships within your organization, communicate with people proactively. Ask them what they are hearing from other businesses, what they thought, and what the situation on the ground was. This could become incredibly important in the decision-making process. It could also inform you as to how and what you are going to communicate up the chain in your organization.