Leading Through a Crisis - On The Job Training
Unprecedented may not be a strong enough word to describe the events that have unfolded in the past few weeks. The news is changing hourly, and with each update comes new information that can have wide-ranging effects on everyone’s lives and business. There were several things I learned as the week progressed, and I thought I would share some of those concepts here. Most of these would be right for any crisis situation, but they were the biggest takeaways I had from what was definitely the most challenging week in my career.
Flexibility and agility
Staying flexible. Things were changing and continue to change very quickly. The ability to be flexible and still decisive is necessary. Get what you can in motion now and then adjust accordingly. We knew when one local government restricted businesses that others would follow. We began to build the plans for multiple store closures, which then lead to all stores. We could build frameworks for the likely scenarios and then just fill in the pieces as they became available. The same will be necessary as we begin to think about what the reopen and rebuild process will look like.
Keep the focus narrowed and on what is necessary now
It can be easy to start thinking about all of the things that will need to be addressed, updated, or changed in the coming days and beyond. However, it has been essential to keep the focus narrowed to what is urgent and important for right now. The question is always - ‘what is the next most important thing to do?’ It is not about what will I need to be working on a week from now. The truth is, we don’t know. Last week, things were changing on an hourly basis. Some of that has slowed a bit but it could very well be an accurate statement again during this week. Staying focused on what needs to happen now keeps everyone aligned, and ensures the teams have what they need in the moment.
Empathy - what does the audience really want to hear?
This was a crazy week for everyone - titles didn’t matter. We all were experiencing a worldwide event at the same time. Some may have been more immediately impacted than others. Ensuring that we take time to understand that the other people around us are having to deal with the effects is important for many reasons.
Empathy will help create connections. Connections will build trust. And trust allows us to work through times of crisis much more effectively. People want answers to what will this mean for them. They also understand you may not have those specific answers immediately, but they want to know you’ve heard them and will take action on it. Placing ourselves in the shoes of those we serve and support may be the most important thing we can do as a leader. Tough decisions will have to be made - we need to understand what that will mean to people and craft our communications in the best way possible. Honesty and transparency are paramount. The message may not be a good one, but the team deserves to know what is happening, why, and how it is impacting them.
Fitting Empathy Into Your Leadership Style
Keeping the right people informed
Ensuring that the right people have the correct information when they need it is a vital element on any day. In a fast-changing crisis situation, that importance is multiplied many-fold. Remaining in contact with others also proved to be critical. Using tools like messaging, Microsoft Teams, and webinars helped us stay connected and on top of what was happening in different parts of the business.
Within my team, we established a morning video meeting to talk through what was new and what their key priorities were for the day based on that moment. As things changed, we adjusted and discussed via messaging. It was a way to keep key people informed and working in the right direction throughout the week. It allowed us to remain aligned and react quickly when new information became available.
There was no playbook for what this week looked like for many businesses. And the week played out very differently depending on the business you are in. The grocery business and many retailers that provide essential products and services saw huge spikes that they could not keep up with - creating its own set of unique problems. For others, it was managing store and location closures and adjusting ways of business to remain available to customers. Many companies introduced new services (e.g., curbside pickup) that may not have been available before. This flexibility certainly helped to solve some needs for many customers.
As this event continues to unfold, I am sure we will also face additional challenges. It is how we react, support, and help one another that will decide how we come out on the other side of this crisis. There were many heartwarming stories of people helping other people - it is that nature to help, support, and connect that gives me the confidence to say that we will all figure out a way through this and emerge stronger. If we weren’t sure that the statement of ‘it’s a small world’ was true, I think we say can now definitively that it is. We are all in this together. Be safe, and stay well.
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