If you have ever been involved in crisis management, a big change in strategic direction at your company, or a significant personal challenge, you know how difficult it is to navigate successfully. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you must be the one managing through significant change or crisis, it is imperative that you call on your experience and remain calm. I want to offer some tips to help you get through it and get others on board.
Whether it is a significant health crisis, an issue in your business or company, or another type of crisis affecting you, it can really get you off-center and confused about what to do next. You can go from executing your overall plan and schedule day-to-day to living in chaos and unsure what to do next.
One thing I can tell you is that you’ve got this!
When you are faced with new situations – even urgent ones – your intuition and experience will kick in. You might be used to having a plan with specific steps and deadlines or a standard routine, but all of that can be interrupted in times of crisis or big change.
What will work is to take a step at a time and be willing to adjust as you learn more information. I want to share my Change Leadership Power 5 tips with you, so you have them available if you ever need them. Besides being used for this purpose, they are great leadership tips in any context.
CHANGE LEADERSHIP “POWER 5”
- Exhibit courage when you wish to retreat. Show up powerfully for yourself and others.
- Make forward moves when others are stuck – even when you don’t know exactly what to do.
- Show empathy while focusing on action but remain clear in your communication and expectations. Work to contain your own emotions so others will remain calm.
- Position yourself to remain creative and vigilant regarding what may be next. Use strategic and critical thinking to turn your creative ideas into actionable ones.
- Manage performance and structure every day. Remain ready to change direction and try something new when things are not working.
There is certainly no “magic formula”. It is always hard work to keep things moving in a positive way, but it is inevitable that we will all experience times of significant change or crises that we must tackle.