Navigating the Crisis - 10 Things Outstanding Leaders Do In Tough Times

If you are a Business Leader, CEO, C-Suite Executive, HR Professional, Entrepreneur, a thought leader in your community or you just want to know how to lead your family through these times, this is for you!

Through my association with John C. Maxwell and The John Maxwell Team, I put together a 10-Step Strategy to Better Navigate Through the Crisis and I built a 10-part online course to share with you how to unpack and apply these ten steps.

Here is a summary video with the 10 steps and we already posted the first three detailed teaching videos on our online platform where you can create an account and get access to the full program completely free.

And if you scroll through our Become Your Best Version LinkedIn and Facebook pages, you'd find them as well.

So let's dig into these steps. Click on the picture below to play the video or continue reading to discover the 10 Things Leaders do in Times of Crisis.

Dealing with the Crisis - 10 Steps to Better Navigate Through the Crisis.

#1 Make it Safe for your people to share

Whatever type of crisis we're in, what people need most in tough times is to be listened to. They are worried. People worry about the situation and they need support.

They're not thinking about the work, they worry about their families and their safety. So make it a safe place for them to share and reassure everybody that you have things under control and that they can trust you.

#2 Define reality

Max DePree asserted that "The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality." And in his book, Leadership Gold, John C. Maxwell shares that leaders distinguish themselves in these tough times.

What you want to understand is, what kind of crisis are we facing. Are we're dealing with a structural change or a cyclical change?

A structural change, it's a disruptive change. And usually, in a crisis like now, we're facing a structural change.

A cyclical change is what we see when things evolve and change based on a cycle that goes up and down, up and down. You could look at the oil price, the gold price, the coffee price. All of those prices go up and down based on a cycle. Those are cyclical changes and they will come back.

Now we're dealing with a structural change.

After this crisis, things will never be the same. We will have to rethink everything we do. From the way we travel, the way we eat, the way we go out, the way we socialize, everything will change.

So in these times, we have to be careful and be realistic about what it is that we're dealing with. And we're facing a structural change.

#3 Get Perspective.

"Vision is the world's most desperate need. There are no hopeless situation, only people who think hopelessly." - Winifred Newman

We have to put things into perspective and be grateful if you and the people you love are healthy. See the bigger picture.

What is the bigger picture? If you would have the chance to detach yourself from the situation and look from a higher level, how that higher perspective look like?

What's happening in the world and how would the world look like tomorrow? Just stop and reflect for a while.

It is very easy to get stuck in negative media. Step back and think about how would the world look like in one year from now or two years from now? And have that in mind when you decide what actions you take.

#4 Make Good Choices

"Whenever you see a successful business, someone has made a courageous decision." - Peter Drucker

So you need to redefine your priorities. And as Peter Drucker asserted, in his book, The Effective Executive, "First things first and last things not at all."

In one of the lessons, John C. Maxwell taught after the 9/11 events, he shares five types of decisions that we have to make during a crisis.

1. Courageous decisions. What must be done?
2. Priority decisions. What must be done first?
3. Change decisions. What must be done differently?
4. Creative decisions. What are my options?
5. Support decisions. Who can help me?

Now the next step you could do is...

#5 Create A Plan

You know,

"A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees further than other see, and who sees before others do." - Leroy Eims

You might have to change your plan daily, but you need a plan. You need to develop one and give your people some direction. Keep in mind that speed and flexibility are crucial.

This is no time for business as usual. You have to respond, not react.

Reacting is what animals do. They react to stimuli. You have to think and respond. Think about what's the best thing you could do today? Freeze and do nothing? Watching the news? Or plan for the next thing to do?

What is the best thing that you could do to prepare for when this would be over?

#6 Learn From Bad Experiences.

"A crisis must never be experienced for the second time." - Peter Drucker

When was the last time you went through a bad experience? What did you learn from that? And in hindsight, what should you have done differently?

What can you apply from what you learned in today's situation?

A chain restaurant owner said, "I learned more from the one restaurant that didn't succeed than from all the ones that did."

And John Maxwell wrote a whole book on learning from experience called, Sometimes we win, sometimes you learn.

#7 Promote Teamwork

John Maxwell's Law of Mount Everest from his book, The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork says,

"As the challenge escalates, the need for teamwork elevates."

In these difficult times, people step up to the challenge and amazing things happen. But in your role, you have to gather the team together towards the same goal. So, promote teamwork. Bring your team together.

#8 Give Hope

As Napoleon Bonaparte once said,

"A leader is a dealer in hope."

So as you might look up to the government and the authorities for some help, and at least to know when this will be over, in your workplace, in your business, in your community, in your family, you're the leader. People look up to you for hope.

But there's a difference between hope and optimism. Optimism is the belief that things will get better. Hope is the faith that together we can make things better. And optimism is a passive virtue. Hope is an active one.

So it takes no courage to be an optimist, but it takes a great deal of courage to have hope.

#9 Be the Catalyst

Catalysts are the make-it-happen-and-some type of people and you have to make things happen in this period. The Law of the Catalyst says "Winning teams have players who make things happen."

They not only make things happen, but they also encourage others to make things happen as well. So you need make-it-happen people. You need to make things happen for your team.

#10 Watch Your Attitude

Charles Swindoll shares, “I am convinced that life is 10% of what happens, and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our attitudes.”

We cannot always choose what happens to us. But we can choose how we respond to what happens to us. And people do what people see. Remember, you're the leader in your community. You're the leader in your workplace. You're the leader in your business and people look up to you and model your attitude.

So these are the 10 Steps to Better Navigate Through the Crisis.

And let's recap.

1. Make it safe for your team to share.
2. Define reality.
3. Get perspective.
4. See the bigger picture.
5. Make good choices.
6. Create a plan.
7. Learn from bad experiences.
8. Promote teamwork.
9. Give hope to your people.
10. Be the catalyst. Make things happen, and...
11. Watch your attitude.

And now I will go into more detail and will unpack each of these in separate videos that I will share with you on our online platform.

So make sure you click on the picture below and create a free account and don't miss out on any of these and the Q&A support calls and the Leader-development resources we've put together to help us all navigate through the crisis.

See you on the other side.

For now, I encourage you to look forward to the future because this should pass too.

Take good care of yourself and your loved ones.