COACHING
Leadership In A Crisis
By Thrity Engineer-Mbuthia
W
ho doesn’t want to be a leader?
A leader in church, a leader at
the work place. The boss, the
one in control. If you google “definition
of leadership”, you get 2.5billion results
that can explain this term. First up is the
explanation that to lead, you must have a
group or team of followers to lead.
Next is that a leader is someone who is
in a position to lead. This is what the
majority of people think of if you ask them
to define a leader - someone in authority
who has access to power and resources.
That is what makes leadership seem very
worthwhile. There is also an ancient
survival mechanism that asks, “What is in
it for me?” So generally speaking, people
want to know how they can benefit from
being a leader. The lure of wealth and
power is powerful.
So how hard can leadership be in times
of a crisis? All you need to do is make
decisions, tell people what to do and we
can all move forward. If only things were
that simple.
Businesses usually have continuity plans
in place, that take into consideration
both internal and external risks. There
are mitigation plans for each of the
identified risks. However, all these plans
must be executed and this can only
happen via people. Human resource
management is now switching to people
management which is all about talent
acquisition, talent retention, performance
management, health, wellness, safety and
even communication and training.
There are challenges faced by business
leaders - changes in the political landscape
or economic variations. There could be
fires, or other disasters, product recalls
or contamination, hostile takeovers or
even customer experience disasters all of
which have an impact on the corporate
reputation of a company.
The world is facing unprecedented
challenges under the Covid-19 pandemic
and leadership is being tested to the core.
Social distancing is now the new norm.
The world has been forced to embrace
A crisis is a time of worry, panic and un-
certainty. As a leader, you need to project
an image of calm and collectedness. No
one will have confidence in a leader who
looks frazzled and harassed. Of course, it
is one thing to say stay calm, it is quite
another to be calm. Some meditation or
calming techniques may come in handy
around this time.
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alternative ways of working by using
technology. Even those who have been
resisting this approach are now joining
the club of Zoomers - as those advocates
of Zoom are now called.
Imagine being the team leader of a sales
crew. What will you put in place to ensure
the safety of your team and of your clients
under the social distancing guidelines?
You need to call a team meeting; and you
ask your team to log in via skype or zoom
and they aren’t there. What can you do to
motivate your team as they navigate these
troubling times?
Yes your team is going through this and
so are you. You have the same questions in
your mind. You are wondering how long
your organization will be able to sustain
paying salaries to a sales team who are not
able to work in the usual fashion or if pay
cuts are on the way. How do you motivate
a team when you yourself have all these
thoughts in your mind?
This is where the true test of leadership
comes in. McNulty and Marcus in an
article published by Harvard Business
Review in March 2020 noted that in times
of crisis, what is needed is both leadership
and effective management. The authors
note that organizations exist so that
groups or teams of people can together
achieve what individuals would struggle
to achieve. McNulty and Marcus point
out that in situations of crisis it becomes
even more important to “unite people in
their efforts and goals as valued members
of a cohesive team.”
Therefore, whether you are a sales team
leader or a marketing head or a leader in