The importance of leadership in crisis management

Dealing with a crisis can be one of the most difficult tasks an individual or an organisation will face, and it’s up to those in leadership positions to bear the brunt when something goes wrong.

Leaders are also often the face of an organisation, so play an important role in crisis management. They’re also often tasked with making public comment and fronting the media.

At Adoni Media, we offer crisis management leadership training to assist clients to build a plan of action, should disaster strike.

Numerous leadership skills are needed for effective crisis management to ensure you and your company ride the wave and emerge with as little reputational damage as possible.

Control with confidence

When there is a crisis, leaders should take charge and show confidence and steadiness.

While this may be difficult, it’s important to instil confidence in your employees.

At the same time, don’t leave your employees in the dark. Let them know the significance of the crisis but reassure them that steps are being made to take control of the situation.

Stick to a plan

Good leaders will have planned for a crisis well in advance so they know what to do, and can do it quickly, should it occur in the real world.

This is not the time to panic and avert from the plan. Instead, use your leadership skills to keep all systems functioning.

Identify the important processes and organise a crisis management team meeting to ensure everyone is aware of the crisis plan moving forward.

Stay positive

When dealing with a crisis, it’s easy to become disheartened and for low morale to set in.

As a leader, it is important to use this time to motivate your employees, remind them of the positives of your organisation and its values. You’ll need support and trust to handle whatever is coming your way.

Listen to advice

Smart, successful leaders will not only have great ideas of their own but will listen to the feedback and suggestions of others.

Leaders should take the time to interact with their employees and, if appropriate, gauge their opinion on the issue. In turn, this will make employees feel valued and included.

Reflect and refine

Once the organisation has emerged from the crisis, use your crisis management leadership competencies to reflect on the situation to see what worked and what didn’t work. This is perhaps the most important step in order to keep refining and improving your crisis management plan.

If improvements can be made, communicate this to your employees to ensure any errors which occurred aren’t repeated should there be another emergency or crisis.