Let’s face it, we’ve all had more than our fair share of disaster as of late. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced most of us to adapt to unexpected change, which has been made all the more difficult due to the great deal of uncertainty surrounding the situation. At times of crisis, people tend to look toward strong and calm leaders to guide them. We only have to look toward those countries where this has been notably absent to see how a lack of clear guidance can lead to chaos.

The same goes for business. It’s perfectly
natural to be caught off guard when a crisis occurs. However, it’s how you
respond that can dictate whether your company is flailing to keep itself from
sinking or addressing the challenges and adapting successfully. As a leader,
your attitude influences those around you, and more often than not your
employees and colleagues will emulate your approach. If you exude a sense of
calm, you can set them on the right course. 

It’s not always easy, though. You are only
human, after all, and not impervious to the pressures of a disaster. Therefore,
it’s important to consider what strategies you can employ to make it easier to
maintain calm when it seems everything around you is going wrong.

Plan
Ahead

When a crisis arises, there tends to be a lot
of confusion in the air. Likely, you’ll even be caught off guard yourself. This
is why it’s important to formalize protocols that can be put into action when
sudden change occurs. This gives you a step-by-step framework for how to
proceed, even when you are still trying to wrap your head around the extent of
what is happening elsewhere in the business.   

Writing a business continuity plan is vital
here. The main goal of this tool is to ensure that when a disaster occurs, the
company can keep running at an optimal level of performance. That said, an
effective continuity plan doesn’t equate to a comprehensive roadmap for all
disasters; rather, it produces protocols to respond to each type that is likely
to affect operations. This generally includes power outages, pandemics, cyber
attacks, and natural disasters — all of which are common dangers to most types
of business. Bear in mind too, that there are likely to be specific challenges
based on your geographical area. Look into the likelihood of severe storms,
flooding, and earthquakes. This is particularly important in our contemporary
environment, as the effects of climate change are expected to
result in increased natural disasters.   

Each scenario needs to have a clear order of
operations. This includes those who are primarily responsible for executing
elements of the plan and how they should be contacted. Central to maintaining
your calm during problems is the knowledge that you also have all the resources
to fix those problems ready in your plan. Set up financial safety nets —
emergency cash funds, lines of credit with backup suppliers, and make certain
that your insurers have reinsurers in the case that your original underwriters
go bankrupt during a disaster. 

Keep
Communicating

We tend to associate calmness with quiet.
However, this is almost the opposite of what a leader should be doing during a
disaster. While you certainly shouldn’t be raising your voice or confusing
matters with a lot of chatter, communication should remain constant. A silent
leader leaves their business uncertain and unsupported. 

Your first responsibility here is to keep on
top of the company-wide disaster communication strategy. Ensure that as soon as
the crisis hits, you and the key members of your team engage in communications triage. Seek to
understand who needs to receive communications — staff, customers, suppliers —
and what the clearest, quickest, and most effective form of outreach is for the
circumstances. It’s also important to be transparent here. A calm leader does
not seek to hide the situation from stakeholders. Honest and accountable
communication breeds trust.

Throughout the immediate emergency, and
beyond, the key to success is in how you approach your communications. At a
time when your staff feels at sea, you must exude confidence. This not only comes
from communicating with your employees pragmatically but also maintaining
clarity. If you make your expectations clear, you give the impression that
these actions will have a positive effect on the situation. Your employees want
to be assured that you know what you’re doing, and decisiveness is one of the qualities we all
look for in good leaders. The best way to represent this is to keep in constant
communication with staff about where the company is and where you intend for it
to go. 

Engage
in Collaboration

Part of being a calm and effective leader is
knowing that you can’t take care of a crisis on your own. In fact, the failure
to collaborate effectively increases vulnerability in a crisis. As early
as possible, you need to gain the input and support of key staff from each
department of your business.

Form a team made up of members of each
department in your organization. This doesn’t necessarily have to be
management; they should be staff who have in-depth knowledge of their area of
business operations and be able to assess what the challenges can be during a
disaster. Their first collaboration should be in the continuity planning phase;
their insights into the potential for issues and how to solve them is
invaluable. When a crisis hits, bring them together and make certain that they
are working as a team to enact solutions. This delegation of responsibility
means that the most urgent matters are being taken care of, and still leaving
you free to calmly address other issues.  

 Your collaboration should also be with your
industry partners and the local community. You know that these disasters don’t
occur in a bubble, they affect others too. Strong partnerships are an essential part of
leadership, and you should be focusing on the relationships you’ve built to
improve your response to the crisis. This doesn’t just mean reaching out to
seek assistance; being a calm leader is also about knowing that you have things
under control, so you can afford to help others too. Seek to understand how
your business can assist those in your network or local area to weather the
storm too. 

Conclusion

You can’t effectively get your business
through a crisis if you can’t keep a clear head. By making sure you plan ahead,
you have the tools to confidently meet the challenges you face. In maintaining
clear communication, and positive collaboration, you can guide your business
through the worst, and inspire your team to thrive beyond it.