Crisis Leadership

by Mark S. Fulton

As America recovers from the horrendous terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., stories of heroism and extraordinary leadership continue to unfold.

In his address at the National Cathedral, President Bush mentioned a few of these: the priest who died giving last rites to a dying firefighter; the person who perished by staying behind to assist a paraplegic friend; the people who helped an injured co-worker out of one of the World Trade Center towers. Countless other acts of heroism will never be known by the general public.

While the calamity of September 11 is unprecedented in American history, crisis and tragedy are not uncommon elements of life in the workplace. And just as there were individuals who rose to the occasion on that day of infamy, there are people who step forward to provide leadership during other times of adversity.

When a crisis arises in the workplace, the responsibility for taking charge naturally falls to a person who has been vested with corporate authority—a departmental manager, a division vice president, the CEO. While the likelihood of facing a terrorist attack is extremely remote—or so we hope—emergencies such as fires, natural disasters, blackouts and attacks by deranged workers are occurrences that have periodically invaded the daily routines of working people.

Then there are the more common trials of ordinary corporate life: the death of an employee; a workplace accident; a round of layoffs; a budget crunch; the loss of a key supplier. Add to those the lightening bolts that can unexpectedly toast a company’s fortunes: fraud by an employee; government fines; labor unrest; group protests; lawsuits; customer allegations or investigations by watchdog agencies. The possibilities for stress-inducing events seem endless.

"In calm water every ship has a good captain," says a Swedish proverb. The true test of a leader comes when a vessel sails into dire straits.

History is replete with stories of outstanding crisis management. Here’s a good one:

In 1914 British explorer Ernest Henry Shackleton set out by ship for Antarctica, hoping to cross the continent on foot. He and his men never even made it to land. Shackleton’s ship became stuck in the ice, trapping him and his crew for months.

When things seemed hopeless, their situation got worse. The ship sank, stranding Shackleton and his crew of 27 more than 1,200 miles from civilization, floating on ice floes with limited provisions. Undaunted, Shackleton led his crew to a small island using barely seaworthy life boats.

After setting up a makeshift camp, Shackleton decided to split the group. Leaving some of the crew on the island with their limited provisions, Shackleton and a few men took a rickety lifeboat and sailed 800 miles to a whaling station in South Georgia, a British-administered island in the southern Atlantic Ocean east of Cape Horn.

Immediately after arriving, Shackleton chartered another ship and returned to rescue his remaining crew. Later, he went on to lead other expeditions to Antarctica.

In their book “Shackleton's Way: Leadership Lessons From the Great Antarctic Explorer,” Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell offer lessons from Shackleton’s exploits. Here are some leadership steps he followed in his confrontation with crisis:

1. Immediately talk to your staff and offer a plan of action.

2. Ask for everyone's support and show confidence in a positive outcome.

3. Give your staff an occasional reality check, because eventually people will start to treat a crisis situation as business as usual and lose their focus.

4. Keep malcontents close to you and win their support.

5. Use humor and other diversions to relieve tension.

6. Let all the people involved in a crisis participate in the solution.

Naturally, it’s a good idea to think ahead as much as possible. Having a crisis management plan makes sense for businesses of all sizes. To the best of your abilities, consider potential crises and formulate a strategic response for each. Your plan should provide clear instructions to all who could be affected by the crisis and take into account actual and potential consequences. It should also provide for the continuity of business operations during and immediately after the crisis.

Of course, even the best laid plans can’t account for every contingency. Modern-day corporate crises—Johnson & Johnson's cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules in 1982, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Firestone’s defective tire debacle—have taught us that even your worst nightmare can be upstaged by reality.

Shackleton didn't tell his people what to do—he involved them all the way and stayed personally involved himself. His conviction that they would triumph gave hope, inspired confidence and moved people to do things they would not have thought possible.

That’s a good lesson for the leaders of our wounded nation and for business leaders facing uncertain and threatening times.

Copyright 2001 © Mark S. Fulton