leadership in a crisis - executive war college · leadership in a crisis ... seen the holy grail,...

Leadership in a Crisis

Dr. Jeffrey D. McCausland Diamond6 Leadership and Strategy, LLC

May 2015

“There cannot be a crisis today! My schedule is already full!” -- Dr. Henry Kissinger

05/01/2015 copyright2015, Diamond6 Leadership, LLC

http://flickr.com/photos/davidb/39354586/

What is a crisis?


Definition of Crisis

• an unstable situation of extreme danger or difficulty; "they went bankrupt during the economic crisis"

• a crucial stage or turning point in the course of something; "after the crisis the patient either dies or gets better"

It can be immediate or “slow-moving….” 05/01/2015 copyright2015, Diamond6 Leadership, LLC

What would be a crisis for you?

Can be a very short term event with long lasting effects! 05/01/2015 copyright2015, Diamond6 Leadership, LLC

Possible Crises for Laboratories • Pandemics -- Ebola, A/H1N1 Influenza,

HIV/AIDS, SARS, etc.

• Widespread release of inaccurate test results.

• Major lab scandal that affects industry.

• Personal crisis…

• Major change in Federal spending for Medicare.

• Effects of aging population. 05/01/2015 copyright2015, Diamond6 Leadership, LLC

Definitional Elements Fundamental: -- Unexpected -- Extraordinary -- Time sensitive -- Potential for harm -- Ambiguous Elaboration/Variation: -- Conflict -- Stressful -- Multiplicative -- Public vs. Private -- Opportunity???? -- Deliberate????


Multiplicative --A Perfect Storm…..


Does crisis ever yield opportunity?

“Never waste a perfectly good crisis….”

-- Rahm Emanuel

Last miner to be rescued, Luis Urzua, shakes hands with Chile's President Sebastian Pinera after being freed.


General Motors and the “Switches from Hell…”

copyright2015, Diamond6 Leadership, LLC 05/01/2015

“I really feel–obviously we want to do the right thing and serve the customer well through this–but it’s also an opportunity to accelerate cultural change.”

U.S. Implicates North Korean Leader in Attack WASHINGTON — A new American intelligence analysis of a deadly torpedo attack on a South Korean warship concludes that Kim Jong-il the ailing leader of North Korea, must have authorized the torpedo assault, according to senior American officials who cautioned that the assessment was based on their sense of the political dynamics there rather than hard evidence.

Can a Crisis be deliberate???????


http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601030113,00.html

In Extremis Leadership Framework • Competence, Trust, Loyalty (in

that order)

• Inherent Motivation

• Learning (outward) Orientation

• Shared Risk

• Common Lifestyle

If you win a National Championship, or you win two, people think you have not only seen the Holy Grail, but you've embraced it. Basically, I do what a lot of people do, but I've been able to win. -Mike Krzyzewski


In Extremis Leadership Framework United Flt 232, 19 Jul 1989, departs Denver for Chicago

• Competence, Trust, Loyalty (in

that order) • Inherent Motivation • Learning (outward) Orientation • Shared Risk • Common Lifestyle

Captain Al Haynes

FITCH: “I’ll tell you what, we’ll have a beer when this is done.” HAYNES: “Well, I don’t drink, but I’ll sure as hell have one.”


In Extremis Leadership Framework

• Competence, Trust, Loyalty (in that order)


• Learning (outward) Orientation -- fight? Or flight?

• Shared Risk



In Extremis Leadership Framework • Competence, Trust, Loyalty

(in that order)



• Shared Risk


In Extremis Leaders do not wear parachutes unless their team does!!

Why would the first question your team has involve a bus?


In Extremis Leadership Framework How does Tony Heyward and yachting fit here?????

• Competence, Trust, Loyalty (in that order)



• Shared Risk

• Common Lifestyle Rory Stewart

and a walk across

Afghanistan 05/01/2015 copyright2015, Diamond6 Leadership, LLC

BEFORE THE CRISIS INOCULATE THE ORGANIZATION!

Sounds good but how do you do that????

Nothing says “Get the #$!* off my lawn” like 100,000 tons of steel. -- Anonymous Naval Aviator

Succession planning. Avoid “one point” safe. Empower.


Generate Leadership!

• Requires Leadership + Preparation.

• More than “common sense”….Place to fail and grow!!!!!!

• School of “hard knocks” is not always the best way to learn crisis leadership.

Give people at all levels of the organization the opportunity to lead experiments that will help it adapt to changing times.


Leader Character is essential…

Leadership is character in action….


Run the plays but encourage initiative! Effective communications is

critical… Think Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) !!!

BUT remember Murphy’s Law and Schultz’s corollary!

Longer term…why is this the most dangerous thing in your home or organization?

EMBRACE DISEQUILIBRIUM!!!


Have a Crisis Action List • Key things to do and

people to contact when crisis strikes.

• Formulate disaster plans and keep them current. Who else needs a copy? Exercise?

• Do we have a viable “succession plan”??

“Failure to have a workable Crisis Management Plan is akin to playing Russian Roulette with an automatic pistol. You don’t have the luxury of pulling the trigger on an empty chamber….”

“No plan survives the first round fired….prepare to adapt!”


http://flickr.com/photos/terry/156680744/

What did Captain Phillips do twice a day??

Management by walking

around..prepare for the unexpected!


If all you want is good news….all you will get is good news..

Ken Lay, CEO ENRON

The company will implode in a wave of accounting scandals…..


Those Nearest a Crisis Must Act! Have You

Encouraged/Empowered Them To Do So?

DURING THE CRISIS


Emotional Intelligence is Essential • Self-Awareness

• SELF-REGULATION

– Weepy Leaders??

• Self-Motivation

• EMPATHY

• Social Skill

• Optimism 05/01/2015 copyright2015, Diamond6 Leadership, LLC

Lead and Be Seen Leading

Set the tone – “Let’s not make it worse by guessing…you have to be cool!” -- Eugene Kranz - Apollo 13 Mission Director


http://flickr.com/photos/21626048@N00/392284042/

The Media can be a friend…or an enemy Social media is here to stay!!

copyright2015, Diamond6 Leadership, LLC 05/01/2015

What is the difference between Columbine (1999)

and Chardon HS (2012)?

“92 AF Missile Control Officers Caught Cheating on Tests”

In a crisis there is a tendency to close ranks, but Secretary James informed her staff and the Air Force leadership that she wanted them to do the opposite “…there’s already suspicion about this; we need to be open with the media”.


Be an Intentional Model • You must ACT

and be SEEN acting.

• Inevitable parent role.

• Failure to lead publicly = fear, helplessness, hysteria.


Decide, Delegate, Disappear • Paradox of Empowering

• Pygmalion Effect

• Praise Constantly

• Punish Reluctantly

• Unleashing Achievement

vs. Demanding Obedience

• Reduce “The Bystander Phenomenon”.


Demonstrate caring and set a new course….

AFTER THE CRISIS


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http://flickr.com/photos/_millhollin/711523287/

Leaders’ Own Psychological Health

How long did the crisis actually last?


http://flickr.com/photos/29788585@N00/176706265/

Personal Response to a Crisis and Trauma

• Human leader in an inhumane event?

• Accountable to engage in self-assessment.

• Accountable to seek assistance.

• Accountable to scrutinize the fitness of colleagues and subordinates.


TRAUMA

serious accident violent victimization

life-threatening calamity

fires earthquakes

riots

war abuse

witnessing tragedy 05/01/2015 copyright2015, Diamond6 Leadership, LLC

Symptoms of PTSD • Recurrent Thoughts, Memories, and

Flashbacks.

• Nightmares & Sleep Problems.

• Efforts to Avoid People, Places & Things That Remind Them.

• Amnesia for Aspects of the Trauma.

• Diminished Interest in Hobbies.

• Emotional Numbness.

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN: One in 10 veterans returns from combat report mental

health issues relating to PTSD

If you think it can’t affect you…YOU are wrong. 05/01/2015 copyright2015, Diamond6 Leadership, LLC

Identify Lessons and Pass Them On • Honest Post-Mortem

Analysis.

• “Murder Board”.

• Responsibility vs. Authority.

• Tenaciously Work to Correct Problems.

• Include Younger Leaders (next generation) must be crossectional

Remember the USS Cole?


http://jmbell.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/uss-cole.jpg

Create a New Vision

Anniversary of Columbine

After Virginia Tech shooting

Were any of these orgs the same afterwards? How do we learn as an organization?

Aurora, Col.

Newtown, Connecticut


Visioning Creating a “new” vision for the organization:

– Meaning in negative events.

– Frame a future ideal.

– Who we can become?

– Who relies on us?

– It is a team effort.

– Give directions and a dose of energy.


A Historic Example of Strategic Vision, 19 Nov 1863

Strategic Vision As a leader you must clearly articulate a vision for the organization and communicate it to all members. Are you adapting and evolving the vision for your organization after a crisis?


So What? How does this apply? Crises will occur! Prepare for them! They can be an opportunity! Before the crisis – INOCULATE! Generate leadership and sense of initiative. During the crisis – EMPOWER. Think EQ, be seen, and be a model.

After the crisis – ORG LEARNING. Caring and a new vision/reality!


Some thoughts to help you thru a crisis!!!

• Indecision is the key to flexibility.

• Happiness is merely the remission of pain…

• The facts though interesting, are irrelevant.

• You can’t tell which way the train went by looking at the tracks…

• Careful application of terror is also a form of communication!

• Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate.

• Three correct guesses in a row and you qualify to be an expert!


QUESTIONS?? “These are times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life or in the repose of a pacific station that great characters are formed…great necessities call out great virtue.”

Letter from Abigail Adams to son, John Quincy Adams.


leadership in a crisis - executive war college · leadership in a crisis ... seen the holy grail,...

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