The Art of Leading through a Crisis: Part 1
“Crisis” is a word that gets used frequently in our line of work. In political campaigns especially, it sometimes feels like our days flow from one crisis to another, of varying degrees of intensity. Some crises are just minor issues, easily solved in a few minutes or with some wise counsel. But others have the ability to define or shatter the entire reputations of people, organizations or movements.
The reality is, there is no better opportunity for a leader to prove oneself than in a crisis. That goes for leaders and organizations who the crisis is happening to, as well as the teams like ours, who are advising, guiding and supporting them.
John F. Kennedy once said, “When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters - danger and opportunity.” And in my many years of experience in public affairs, communications and politics, I have seen both of those characters play out. What it all comes down to is how crises are handled – or mishandled. Which is why my team, and I have built an entire practice dedicated to crisis management and counsel.
The ability to lead effectively in these tense and arduous situations is critical, and I have been both the client and the consultant in countless crises over the years. That means I definitely understand the stress, the tension and the urgency that come with a crisis situation. As consultants, we need to be prepared to fully enter an all-consuming endeavor as true partners to our clients, while safeguarding our business to continue functioning successfully. We may not be the ones in crisis, but our clients hire us to act as though we are in the trenches with them, which is exactly what my team and I do.
While every crisis is different, one thing remains true: they are never easy. In this two-part series, I will share the guard rails and strategies I have developed through experience that can help counsel a client in a crisis, while still keeping the rest of the business operating strongly. To start, it is important to ensure your business will be sound as you and some team members may become fully engulfed in a client dilemma:
Get on the same page quickly: Before any other planning and strategic implementation can take place, it is essential to get everyone on the same page, including your team, the client team and any other partners who may be involved in the response. Moving forward as a solid unified block is required for the other pieces to not just work effectively, but to work at all. Spinning off in different, and often, competing directions is not just counterproductive, it can be detrimental.
Decision making chain: Establish who in a crisis will sign off on external and organization-wide messages. It is a critical to have a clear decision-making chain to ensure speed and accuracy as you navigate through a dynamic and evolving situation.
Communicate immediately: Once you learn of the situation, and your strategy and support needs as partners, communicate the situation immediately to your team or to colleagues that can help cover other client work while this unfolds. You will need to honor confidentiality, but communicating your evolving situation will allow others to plan accordingly.
Ask for help and coverage: Be clear in your communication that your time will be taken over in the near-term and that your other work will need to be covered. If you don’t have a team that can do so, try close colleagues. And if needed, let your other clients/commitments know you won’t be available for the next few hours or day.
Quickly build the right team: While the principal may be the main client communicator, quickly identify who can be read in on the situation with approvals and who you will need to support the crisis.
Re-assess regularly: As the crisis evolves, you will have a better idea of timing and length. This will help manage expectations and coverage needs from your team and other client contacts.
While it is easy to imagine worst case scenarios while you and some team members may be fully immersed in a client situation, you’ll be pleasantly surprised how others will step up, and how understanding most will be. Effective and clear communication will give you every chance to come through it successfully.
In part two on this topic, I will dive into my tips for managing clients through a crisis.