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Responding to a Crisis and Emerging Stronger
By Simon Marshall
revised on 20th October 2020
When faced with a crisis or big discontinuity in our business lives, experience would suggest we go through three phases.
Reacting – in this phase we experience high levels of threat, uncertainty and are required to take uncomfortable action.
Stabilising – when we have lowered levels of threat, but need to guard against complacency, as there is a tendency to relax a bit (after all we have got through the Reacting Phase) we seek to engage everyone in finding new solutions and get everyone focused on working in the new operating environment.
Re-generating (notice not recovery) – there will be a natural desire that things return to normal, yet there will still be much uncertainty. If this is embraced, rather than seen as a threat, we can create our new future from our Higher Purpose and values. This creation process, as opposed to merely predicting the future and responding to it, is the single most important factor in determining which organisations will thrive as a result of this crisis, rather than just survive or worse.
Adaptive Leadership¹, focuses on connecting to people on a very human level, evoking leadership in everyone to work through this together, empowering and enabling teams to adopt new ways of working. Those leaders that engage and lead in this way during a crisis will build the most trust with their people and have the opportunity to start the process of regeneration. They recognise and embrace the seemingly intractable challenges rather than try to over prescribe and protect; they see the possibility for a new culture and new way of working through the crisis. As they are clear on being sourced from their Higher Purpose and their values, not from the old ways of how they did things, new opportunities emerged, for themselves, their people and the business. The organisations that best prepare for this opportunity at this time, are the ones who will succeed and contribute most to society’s needs.
The above diagram shows these three phases and their typical characteristics with the types of response required.
As you can see in figure 2 below, companies need to focus on three main things in each phase. To enable them to navigate these unchartered waters effectively and emerge stronger as a result. It is important to note that these phases are not linear. The greatest possibility for regeneration starts with how you lead right now, how you react, stabilise and engage people in the process.
In Reacting, it is even more important than ever to stay very closely connected to your Higher Purpose and Values, as the context for anything and everything you say or do. Our Higher Purpose sets our direction and our values combine to define who we are, these are things that will not change. During this phase it is so important to communicate what will not change since it provides a sense of balance and stability. It is important to Act and Communicate regularly, using many different channels. Ensuring people are carried along this journey during times of uncertainty, managers need to Be Present and Empathise deeply with what others are going through.
In Stabilising, engaging people in the adaptive challenge is essential. This requires managers to Enquire, Learn and Empower enabling others to lead. They need to focus on evoking leadership in everyone rather than a tendency to over manage. At this time the perceived threat level is seemingly reduced, so it is also important to Guard against Complacency, focusing people on core activities and reinforce what is important right now. As managers, we need to Lead Adaptively, getting everyone in the game of observing, learning, speaking up and contributing. Using the collective wisdom of everyone to design new ways of working and communicating in this new world we are living in.
In Re-Generating, it is essential that we Resist Entropy, the natural tendency to relax, wait and wish for things to return to normal. Particularly during a time of ongoing crisis with no clear end in sight, traditional hierarchy, expertise and management practices will not provide the answers. Learning to lead adaptively will be critical for the survival of organisations in the future. We need to continue to Embrace Uncertainty and see this as an opportunity to Create the Future.
Context
There appears to be a lot of distress amongst managers across all industries, worries about cash flow, profit, even survival of the business, all these areas need to be addressed whilst looking after their people and building for the future. Many people may feel out of control and can’t necessarily see a way through. These are challenging times that call for extraordinary leadership. As a manager, we can lead by example in terms of how to connect, engage and inspire people towards a different future. Being honest about what we know, what we don’t know and the tough decisions that must be taken.
Below is a short summary of four areas where we are supporting our clients to navigate through these unprecedented circumstances:
- Build Capability in Adaptive Leadership – WhyNot has developed a methodology to swiftly build organisational capability to tackle difficult and seemingly intractable challenges. Framing the adaptive challenge is key to setting the right context for what is about to be taken on. Getting started early and getting everyone in the game is critical. We have a range of tools, techniques and coaching that helps organisations to develop their managers and people at all levels, to become adaptive leaders and put this into practice to effectively navigate through tough challenges.
- Focused Coaching for all managers using the 9 elements in the above diagram.
- ‘Integral’² Diagnostics – getting really grounded in what people see as possible, what they perceive to be the barriers and opportunities, develop new possibilities for creating the future you want. Understanding the context for people and the perceptions of key leaders³ (at all levels) during this time provides the foundation for relationship and a deeper understanding of what it will take to create a shift in leadership, culture and performance. It is from this engagement and assessment that we are best able to support the organisation through adaptive leadership development and re-generation.
- Creating Our Future, a process of regenerating the business from your Higher Purpose and values as an act of leadership which develops more possibilities than are currently seen.
All of this is being done ‘remotely’ by our consultants working with teams and individuals using technology including our collaborative online learning platform e-transform⁴
¹ Adaptive Leadership, the ability successfully take on difficult and complex challenges that have never been seen before. This requires a different approach than taking on ‘technical’ challenges, ones where we can apply past solutions or defer to hierarchy or expertise.
² Integral – as first defined by Ken Wilbur, a way of looking holistically at any situation, that includes both objective and subjective domains, revealing the unique intricacies and characteristics of the business.
³ Leadership as WhyNot defines it is not a title role or position, but a choice available to everyone. A choice to stand for what you believe, to declare what you see as possible and to enrol others to join you to bring that into existence.
