Are You Still Leading In Crisis Mode?

We saw it last week during the Sweet 16 and Elite 8. Under pressure some teams stayed true to the process and other teams fell apart under Crisis. There is a stark difference between crisis mode and staying competitive as leaders. Our teams would probably agree.

Just like our families appreciate us talking to them in a calm, clear, and respectful manner - our teams do as well. It helps everything work a little bit better because everyone feels honored.

Many leaders across the country are still communicating to their organizations in crisis mode and are struggling on how to make the strategic shift without losing momentum. Meaning we cast quick messages throughout the organization instead of cascading messages and gaining buy-in from the right leaders at the right time. We bypass leaders who need to champion the cause in the name of speed and run out of fuel to see it through because they don't know how to get there teams to buy-in.

Let me belabor my point by saying the same thing twice

When we blast messages without cascading them we generate unneeded anxiety. At this point we also cause our leaders to feel devalued. They feel like their opinions aren't considered and instead of championing projects and change they respond to frustrated individual contributors with age ole "they said". We know nothing motivates a team to work hard like a good old, "we don't have an option or opinion". Hence ... the great resignation.

During the past two years our people have navigated enough personal crisis and don't need us to add to it at work. Creativity, engagement, and inspiration occurs more in the calm than the crisis. Don't overlook the word, "engagement"!

Here are two insights to help:
1) Create a priority of list of what needs to be communicated and why.
2) Create a timeline of who needs to hear the each message first so they can have time to process how to champion the priorities. Be sure to build time to adjust plans accordingly based on feedback.

The key is that we learn to slow down so that we can go fast together. So we can make sure we only operate in crisis mode when there is a full crisis.

We know that you might want more than two tips on how to solve this problem and improve your strategic communication That's why we have created "Green" It's an immersive leadership golf experience that will take place June 15-17 in Dallas, TX. Check out the flyer here.

What's Next?
Let's meet up for a virtual coffee to talk about what's happening in your world and figure out the best next steps to address it: https://calendly.com/insightleadership/virtualcoffee