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Leadership / Leadership in Crisis

5 Don’ts for a Successful Leadership in Crisis

January 6, 2021
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We hope you enjoyed our first episode of the Successful crisis leadership series. If you haven’t read our first episode yet, then click here for the “5 Do’s for a Successful Crisis Leadership”.  

While leaders can be a pillar of safety and certainty when it comes to leadership in times of crisis, we are all human.  We have now compiled 5 DON’Ts of crisis leadership based on empirical evidence.

1. Do not lash out. Understand your emotions. 

Since leaders experience extra responsibility during crises, they may also experience lower energy levels. Depleted leaders are more likely to exert abusive behaviours towards employees. Such behaviours include lashing out, verbal attacks and lack of transparent communication.

Moreover, leader’s moods can trickle down to employees. For example, displaying anger might negatively impact employees and reduce their work effectiveness and engagement. Additionally, leaders who express anger are often perceived as hostile and defensive by employees. This in turn, leads to employees experiencing negative emotions at work.

Interestingly, leaders who display sadness are usually perceived as sympathetic and concerned with their employees’ well-being. Thus, if you ever struggle with the thought that a leader should always be happy, there is good news for you.

What employees appreciate during crises is authenticity and empathy that does not create turmoil.

Do you catch yourself lashing out at employees? Maybe it’s time to revisit these emotions and switch gears. A successful crisis leader is someone who engages in efficient emotion regulation and thus creates and maintains healthy relationships with employees even in times of uncertainty. 

2. Do not take everything upon yourself. 

In a crisis, leaders are pressured to maintain high levels of performance. In turn, this pressure can affect leaders’ mental health. More specifically,  a leader’s task is doubled. Not only they have to ensure high performance, but they also have to attend to employees’ psychological needs. For example, they need to create a safe climate, provide feedback and clarity but also but also keep output at an optimal level.

In such straining situations, sharing responsibility becomes crucial for preserving a good mental health.

Research shows that shared leadership might prove useful. Shared leadership is positively associated with team performance, but it also predicts both individual and team creativity. Team members who have shared leadership responsibilities were also found to be more willing to put more effort in the project at hand.

Moreover, shared leadership was also associated with high quality problem-solving in skills and increased team learning orientation. Therefore, it seems that shared responsibility might not only be beneficial for leader well-being, but it can also contribute to a better team performance and employee job satisfaction. 

3. Do not engage in command and control management.

In times of uncertainty, individuals’ need to control the environment is elevated as they have to anticipate events and make efficient decisions. The first impulse when it comes to crisis leadership is turning to command and control management. But be careful, such a leadership style decreases employees’ perceived supervisor trust, thus making employees feel like their supervisor does not have faith in their skills and performance.

Another downside of command and control management is the lack of autonomy. Since autonomy is one of the basic needs that fosters intrinsic motivation, leaders in crisis should offer just the right amount of autonomy while also making sure to provide directions and prioritise tasks.

When it comes to situational uncertainty, leader flexibility is key.

Therefore, leaders should adopt a learning style, in which they view difficulties as reasons to grow and learn, thus gaining advantages from the crisis. In such a way, leaders do not only offer the right amount of trust and autonomy to their employees, but they also start to perceive uncertainty contexts as opportunities to grow and become more effective and resilient as leaders. 

4. Do not deliver prevention-oriented messages.  

During crises, the way leaders convey their messages is crucial, as their rhetoric influences what emotions employees perceive. In turn, these can either alleviate or intensify the effects of the crisis on their employees. Promotion-oriented communication focuses on ideals and advancement, while prevention-focused communication emphasizes the prevention of suffering, being careful and fearful of threats. These rhetoric styles seem to impact individuals in a crisis situation. Promotion-oriented communication has been found to motivate participants in a crisis condition.

For example, a leader who focuses on change, growth and progress in their speeches, were more endorsed by their followers in times of crisis.  It seems that crises activate a need for optimism and hope rather than an accent on preventing threats. Leaders can thus include hopeful messages in the way they communicate with employees, so that they are motivated and leadership proves itself effective.

5. Do not wait for employees to approach you.

Management by exception is a leadership style by which the leader only gets involved when a deviation occurs. While such a leadership style is useful for employee task performance, it is negatively associated with psychological safety and feelings of empowerment. That means that having little or no proactive involvement in checking up on employees’ psychological state can reduce their feelings of safety and their well-being. In contrast, leader support increases the feelings of psychological safety and helps employees not only be more proactive in communication but also know that their supervisors will listen to them with empathy.

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This post is based on the folowing sources and academic articles