By CNR STAFF

Crises are experienced in different ways by different people at different levels of an organization or ecosystem.

Prepared leaders – those who have worked to ready themselves and their organizations to withstand crises – should be open to all input and perspectives that can help create a solution and improve outcomes, wherever that input and those perspectives surface within the organizational hierarchy.

As a prepared leader, you need to be ready to do the following:

• Make space for other people to stand up, speak up and contribute as the situation dictates
• Let go of your ego and be humble enough to allow others to take the lead as the situation dictates
• Let these things happen spontaneously and without obstacles as the situation changes

Building a crisis team is like putting together a puzzle. Each piece should play its role and fit well enough with the others to make a complete picture. Try these four action steps:

1. Compose the Team: Be diverse, strategic and inclusive in your thinking. Source diverse competencies that will help you overcome blind spots, make connections and connect the dots. Look all over your organization for this talent; don’t stick to the usual suspects or those who volunteer first. And make it a priority to really listen and to value other people’s contributions.
2. Establish Purpose and Accountability: Align around a shared vision, goal and actions by being purposeful, clear and personally accountable. Set out the team’s purpose and establish goals that you can assess and revise at different points. Make it clear you all share responsibility for achieving your goals.
3. Create the Culture: Empower your team to experiment, try new things, bounce back (or forward) when things go wrong and fully leverage all the learning opportunities along the way. Let them know you don’t have all the answers and that you are open-minded. Encourage them to forge new connections and to unearth expertise from new or different sources. Inspire everyone to share, exchange and respect all ideas and input – wherever they come from –  without blame or judgment. Model this mindset and lead by example.
4. Empower Your Team to Respond and Adapt: Minimize red tape and bureaucracy, remaining as open and accessible as possible. Be ready to share bad as well as good news so as not to minimize real threats or risks and encourage your people to share feelings of anxiety or stress. Know, too, when to step away and let others take the lead. Understand when you need to focus on the long-term strategy, leaving the immediacy of the crisis to your team and when it’s time to defer to the expertise of others.