Leadership in Turbulent Times: Competencies for Thriving Amidst Crisis

Abstract

Many organizational leaders have a laissez faire attitude toward the possibility of a crisis happening in their firm, despite the high probability that every business leader and every organization will experience a crisis of some significance. Consequently, leaders are underprepared not only for "managing" crisis situations when they occur, but also - and more important - for leading organizations in turbulent times with a vision or expectation that they and their organizations can be positively transformed by the experience. This article proposes that there is, in fact, a difference between crisis management and crisis leadership, and that what differentiates firms that thrive following a crisis from those that do not is the leadership displayed throughout the crisis-management process. Using years of prior research, we introduce six competencies for leading amidst crisis. Our framework of crisis-leadership competencies goes beyond managing corporate communication to highlighting the notion that the best crisis leaders are those who build a foundation of trust not only within their organization, but also throughout the supply chain. These leaders then use that foundation to prepare their organizations for difficult times, to contain crises when they occur, and to leverage crisis situations as a means for creating change and, ultimately, a better organization. The article's concluding message describes a study that conveys the significant impact of crisis leadership.