Video Transcript: How to Lead in a Crisis

We think of a great leader as the unwavering captain who guides us forward  through challenge and complexity. Confident, unwavering leaders, armed with  data and past experience have long been celebrated in business and politics  alike. But sometimes and certainly now, a crisis comes along that is so new and  so urgent that it upends everything we thought we knew. One thing we know for  sure is that more upheavals are coming. In a completely interconnected world a  single political uprising, a viral video, a distant tsunami, or a tiny virus can send  shock waves around the world. Upheaval creates fear, and in the midst of it  people crave security, which can incline leaders toward the usual tropes of  strength, confidence, constancy, but it won't work. We have to flip the leadership playbook. First, this type of leadership requires communicating with  transparency, communicating often. So how can leaders lead when there is so  little certainty, so little clarity? Whether you are a CEO, a prime minister, a  middle manager or even a head of school, upheaval means you have to ramp  up the humility. When what you know is limited, pretending that you have the  answers isn't helpful. Amidst upheaval, leaders must share what they know  and admit what they don't know. Paradoxically, that honesty creates more  psychological safety for people, not less. For example when the pandemic  devastated the airline industry virtually overnight, CEO of Delta Airlines Ed  Bastian ramped up employee communication despite having so little clarity  about the path ahead, facing truly dire results. At one point in 2020, losing over  a hundred million dollars a day, it would have been far easier for Bastian to wait  for more information before taking action, but effective leaders during upheaval  don't hide in the shadows. In fact, as Bastian put it, it is far more important to  communicate when you don't have the answers than when you do. Second, act  with urgency despite incomplete information. Admitting you don't have the  answers does not mean avoiding action. While it's natural to want more  information, fast action is often the only way to get more information. Worse,  inaction leaves people feeling lost and unstable. When New Zealand Prime  Minister Jacinda Ardern laid out a four level alert system very early in the  COVID-19 crisis, she lacked information with which to set the level. Despite  lacking answers, she did not wait to communicate about the threat with the  nation. At first she set the level at two, only to change it to four two days later as  cases rose. That triggered a national lockdown, which no doubt saved countless lives. Later, when cases began to dissipate, she made subsequent decisions  reflecting that new information. Third, leaders must hold purpose and values  steady, even as goals and situations change. Values can be your guiding light  when everything else is up in the air. If you care about customer experience,  don't let go of that in times of upheaval. If a core value is health and safety, put  that at the center of every decision you make. Now doing this requires being  very transparent about what your values are, and in this way, your steadfastness shows not in your plans but in your values. Prime Minister Ardern's clear 

purpose all along was protecting human life. Even as the immediate goal shifted from preventing illness to preparing health systems and ultimately to bolstering  the economy. And finally, give power away. Our instincts are to hold even more  tightly to control in times of upheaval, but it backfires. One of the most effective  ways to show leadership, if counterintuitive, is to share power with those around  you. Doing this requires asking for help, being clear that you can't do it alone.  This also provokes innovation while giving people a sense of meaning.  Nothing is worse in a crisis than feeling like there's nothing you can do to help.  We follow this new kind of leader through upheaval, because we have  confidence not in their map but in their compass. We believe they've chosen the  right direction given the current information, and that they will keep updating.  Most of all, we trust them and we want to help them in finding and refinding the  path forward.