--Abraham Lincoln
To effectively lead people in a crisis, you must have the trust of the people you lead. How do you gain their trust? You gain their trust by telling them the truth about the situation and the path forward. Telling the truth builds trust, lying destroys trust. Give them the facts, don't give them spin. People know integrity when they see it.
Secondly, they must believe that you care about them and their wellbeing. Listen to them. Talk to them, not at or down to them. Walk with them. Empathize with them.
Also, please know that your track record matters. If you have been tone deaf in the past, or if you have been callous or untrustworthy, people are not going to trust you. They're going to trust your actions.
As crisis manager and lawyer Judy Smith said, "There's always an opportunity with crisis. Just as it forces an individual to look inside himself, it forces [an organization] to reexamine its policies and practices." A crisis is not the end of the world. It can be the beginning of something much better than what was before if leaders meet the challenge with integrity and a commitment to change.
If we look at our current national crisis, the #BlackLivesMatter protesters are saying what we have, the policies, systemic racism, and callousness regarding black and minority lives when it comes to police accountability, is not working. Do you hear them? Don't be tone deaf.
We must take this opportunity to build something better now. But it must start with the truth. What we have is not working for all. Only then can we move to build something better that includes accountability, true equality and opportunities for all.
On Tuesdays, womenatliberty.com provides #LeadershipTuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. Follow #LeadershipTuesdays on Twitter at @LeadershipTues to see daily posts with resources that help you develop and strengthen your leadership skills.
No comments:
Post a Comment