MESSAGE FROM TMA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CELIA BESORE other stakeholders is to keep them informed. Make certain to explain and educate employees on new policies and procedures in a clear and concise manner. Be as specific as possible by openly communicating the employees’ role. Share with your clients the steps that you are taking to keep them safe, while continuing to provide your services. To the greatest degree possible, share the purpose or reasoning that influenced your decision making.
“Learning Forward” I recently came across LeadershipNow™, a website established by Michael McKinney in 1980 to study and share information and insights relevant to leadership, management, and personal development – subjects for which I am particularly passionate. The April 6th LeadingBlog post, titled “Dealing with the Two Fronts of Any Crisis,” offered a unique and powerful perspective for leading in a crisis – like the unprecedented one that we, as business leaders, face today. In the post, the author speaks to his observations of leaders’ responses to a crisis situation. One response focuses on managing the situation, many times through innovation; the second approach focuses on managing fear to prevent raising panic among employees, clients, and other stakeholders, which could result on hampering the business’s potential continuity. Fear is absolutely paralyzing in a crisis situation. Chaos often erupts. The proliferation of information from multiple sources – both internal and external – creates confusing “noise,” which ultimately generates even more fear and uncertainty. Thankfully, the author offers four very valuable TMA Dispatch | Spring 2020
strategies to reduce a leader’s tendency toward fear. Focus on the Big Picture Particularly in a crisis situation like the one our world is facing now, it is vital to not get bogged down in minutiae or the smallest of details. Keep an open mind and logically weigh, or process, the information that you receive from multiple sources. We have so much information flowing from so many sources that putting things in perspective is critical to business success. Inform and Educate One of the best ways to combat fear among employees, clients, and
Stay Steady Steady as she goes! The author tells us that honest, straightforward communication is imperative – especially acknowledging when the answer isn’t known or clear. Uncertainty is built in to every crisis. Most importantly, leaders should never resort to playing the blame game. It actually evokes more fear. Focus in the positive (more below)! Exhibit Confidence and Be Positive A leader’s outlook is as contagious as COVID-19! Great leaders embrace anxieties and effectively covey hope in a crisis. One of my heroes, Winston Churchill, believed so much on the power of confidence and fearlessness that during World War II he issued a directive to all his ministers to put on a strong, positive front, without minimizing the gravity of events that would reflect their confidence in their ability and their inflexible resolve to win the War.
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“This great Nation will endure, as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.” Source: Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1933 [5]
