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In Troubled Times Don't Lead Like an Ostrich

Leading people isn't easy at the best of times. But it seems so much more difficult when the world outside squeezes your business and shatters your plans.

Top of the list, of course, is an economic crisis and recession, which makes circumstances tough for everyone. But it might be the emergence of a new business rival, or the failure of your latest R&D project, which affects you more than most.

Whatever the threat, it can be hard to focus on what you should be doing right now. Planning is pointless, you think. And forecasting seems impossible.

So, naturally, many managers find themselves leading like an ostrich. They stick their heads firmly in the sand.

But there ARE positive things leaders should do - things that you CAN do. And if you do them, the intense pressure you're feeling will ease off.

There's another benefit, too, of taking constructive action. Your people and your business can get moving and perhaps even steal a march over the bad guys, the competition, before the bad guys notice anything has happened.

So let's tackle the personal pressure on you - the urgency you feel to do something, or even the urgency that paralyses you. Let's look at what you need to do to get out of the mire right now.

In times of crisis, most business objectives or priorities seem to shrink to the short term. But before you let your own priorities and objectives do the same, you need to think through a few issues.

First, you need to be clear on the real need for urgency. You need to ask yourself: why is this so urgent now? Why should I take this action now? (Or why should I NOT do this now?)

If you're tempted to shelve longer-term plans, for example, make sure you've thought everything through. Take a few minutes - it doesn't have to be a huge amount of time - to talk through the implications of your thinking with colleagues at all levels of the business.

The same warning applies if you decide to take a particular action as a result of the crisis. Ask yourself: "Is this a kneejerk response?" Would you still do this if you had more time to think?

Do you know what's even more important? You need to keep your people on board at all times. You need them to understand 3 important things:

1) What's the purpose of what you're asking them to do?
In the same way you need to be clear on your objectives, you also need to help your people understand what you're trying to do.

2) What's the reason why?
In the same way you need to understand why something is urgently necessary, your people need to understand why urgency is necessary.

3) What's your joint responsibility?
Your commitment to good leadership should not change just because you're facing a crisis. You have a responsibility to lead during tough times. In the same way, your team has a responsibility to try to understand the bigger picture. So they can see where their action fits into the overall plan.

In a sense your leadership task is the same as always: to make clear the business case for taking action now. But you must also help people to see that what you're asking for is not a pointless action, that you're not being a leadership ostrich, sticking your head in the sand.

In other words you need to help your people understand what is necessary; you need to teach your people what is necessary. Don't just tell them.

When people understand what needs doing first, they can accept it. Then they can act on it. Successful implementation or execution invariably follows.

It's tempting in times of crisis to shut everyone out of the decision process. It's tempting to keep your plans secrets, or simply to tell your staff what to do.

But your leadership success - in bad times as well as good - depends on your finding out what motivates your people and reducing their anxiety as well.

Don't forget, they're feeling the pressure too, and you're going to need their commitment and trust if your short-term and your longer-term objectives are to be achieved successfully.

Whatever you do, don't stick your head in the sand. Do something now.

Seed Newsvine

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