A few months ago, Matt Andrews, Harvard Lecturer and Director of the Building State Capability Program, started a blog series about Public Leadership Through Crisis. I went through all the blogs and found it really valuable, full of resources and questions for reflection. It made me think about my time in government and the responsibility and potential that being a public servant implies. People often think of Cabinet Members -like I was-, as politicians. While this is true, we are also public servants, our mandate is to do everything in our power to improve the life of the citizens we serve. I liked Matt’s blog series because his posts were not about what to do, but about how one could organize a response in times of crisis. The blogs are about navigating what could feel like big waves and high winds in a small boat. I’ve written two blogs that summarize my takeaways, as well as some of my own thoughts and ideas. The first is about the leaders in charge of a crisis and the second is about the organization’s capability to deal with a crisis.
Leaders
When there is a crisis people turn to governments to respond. But as Matt says, many people tasked with leading public organizations in times of crisis struggle to know if and how to rise to the occasion. This is particularly challenging in countries with low capability. His first seven blogs are focused on the leaders, the challenges they face and recommendations to address those issues. This is what I learned:
- It is in the human nature to avoid change, or to limit how much change we undergo, which is the opposite of what a crisis requires. Crises require quick changes. Feeling frightened or paralyzed is not only normal, but an instinctive response of our brain when there is risk. Nancy Koehn – Harvard Business School Professor and author of Five leaders forged in crisis and what we can learn from them – explains that what differentiated successful leaders was their ability to not plunge into the chasm of doubt. That doesn’t mean that one doesn’t listen and adapt as circumstances change. But the leader must have conviction to act, even with partial and imperfect information.
- To navigate through a crisis, leaders need a ´worthy´ mission – something that is bigger than themselves. Koehn calls this “the fire of serving others”. This is true in every circumstance, not only crisis. There is a great book that I like (and a Tedtalk) by Simon Sinek, Start with why, which expands on the same point. Sinek argues that all organizations know what they do, some know how to do it but very few know why they do it, their purpose of being. Inspiring leaders start with why, with a sense of purpose, with a belief. That sense of purpose is what will keep you motivated, focused on your objectives and what will inspire those around you to do the same.
- Leadership is all about taking risks and motivating and mobilizing people to be with you in that journey. Navigating a crisis is never a one-person job. It is important to understand your role and facilitate everyone´s unique role. Matt refers to this as a multi-agent leadership engagement. The blogs discuss different definitions of leadership. I liked two in particular. The first, by David Foster Wallace as described by Koehn, is that leadership is about helping others to overcome their weaknesses and fears, and ‘do better, harder’ things in the face of a crisis. The second, as presented by Marty Linsky, is that leadership is about taking risks on behalf of something you care about. I liked the short video Matt added from him. In order to motivate your team, you need to know your people very well and lead them in the way they need to be led.
- Be focused and make decisions using the best information you can get. Matt considers the greatest error would be to be paralysed by the fear of failure. We need to act. For Matt it is about balancing action and patience, and adapting your style and behaviour to the situation you find yourself in. For me, it helps to know that I am making informed decisions, with the best available information I have. Understanding how our brain works, the ‘shortcuts´ it takes to make fast decisions, what is known as heuristics and biases, can improve our decision-making process. In his blog (great short video included) Matt talks about some of these biases and actions we can take to correct them. There are no obvious, clear or easy decisions, even less so perfect decisions. What matters is making decisions with the imperfect information we do have. The blog suggests having a process in place to manage information and monitor its progress. It is also essential to have trusted people, with different and complementary skills, to help us make decisions. Outsiders, being distant from the crisis, can bring new perspectives.
- Crises require clear, simple and consistent communication, both within government and with the public. I liked this article by Nancy Koehn where she says leaders need to provide brutal honesty and credible hope. That means acknowledging the situation, addressing your people´s fears and helping them accept the change they may resist. Telling the truth and adhering to your principles is the best way to show consistency and gain trust. In times of crisis leaders need to overcommunicate, be present and tangible. To communicate better, Matt recommends a leader be mindful of: i) the quality of the message (the content) – identify three to five key ideas you want to transmit with the adequate factual support; and ii) have the adequate medium – who carries the message and how – in order to generate trust. UNESCO, for example, trained young media influencers in Iraq to help with an awareness campaign related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Crises are characterized by uncertainty. Course changes would be easier to adopt if you communicate, early and often, that learning is a key part of your crisis response, that there will be progress and adaptation.
- Take care of yourself, no one else will. When you are facing a crisis, 24 hours don´t seem to be enough. You need to balance action and rest, self-care thus matter. As Matt writes try to get a reasonable amount of sleep, eat properly, set teams up with morning and evening shifts (a rhythm), where possible. Preserve your energy for the important decisions you have to make. Learn to prioritize. I´ve learned that the best way to help in a crisis is to do your part extraordinarily well.
Read the second part of this blog regarding Organization’s Capability here.
Photo credit: Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash
