Leadership in Turbulent Times - E-book - ePub

Turbulent times occur due to crises, which can happen at anytime and in any organisation. Even if the firm is doing welltoday, it does not eradicate the possibility of the firm beingthrown into trouble in the nearest future. No one can predictthe future. While leaders of a company are enjoying the goodtimes, they should equally consider the possibility of turbulenttimes; as a result, they should prepare for eventualities.
Theyshould get themselves ready for those times that crisis will bethe order of the day. No one wishes for crises, but the crisisdoes not come by wishing for them; they come a random andthe causes can be internal or external. Preparing ahead of time can prevent the problems of underpreparation for crises. A company and its management shouldunderstand how to manage crises situations when such arise.
The leaders in a company should be visionary enough to getthem set for any problem that may arise. There is a clear difference between crises leadership and crisismanagement. Company A may thrive in times of crises, whilecompany B may fail in the same situation. One major factorthat differentiates the two is the quality of leadership beingdisplayed during such period. A manager should show him orherself worthy of the place of leadership throughout thecrisis-management process.
In this text, emphasis will be laid onseveral competencies that a leader should have during crises foreffective crisis management; lacking any of these qualities willnot augur well for the company during those severe downturns. Leaders should develop top quality corporate communicationstrategies and also build a foundation of trust among themembers of staff of the organization and those involved in thesupply chain.
The foundation thus built can then be used inpreparing the organization for those difficult times. The last statement indicates that learning about crisismanagement should not start when the problem begins, butshould have been well versed long before such a situationarises. If well managed, the leader can leverage crises situationsfor creating a better organization via change creation. Theorganization should also not lag in public relations, which is anintegral part of crisis management.
PR activities andcommunication should not be limited to the members of thepublic, but should also involve and include members of staff;yes, it is crucial to carry the members of staff along during thecrises situation. Despite the place of importance ofcommunication and PR activities, they are not sufficient to seethe company through the crisis period; more still needs to bedone. It is essential to build a camaraderie spirit among themember of staff, which will buy the confidence and image ofthe organization among the staff member and the generalpublic.
Transparency and wise management of information aresome of the essential factors a good leader should put intopractice during crises management. Many members of staff willbe more disposed to tag along faithfully if they feel carriedalong. Failure to carry members of staff along can have a forebodingeffect on leadership effectiveness, which will not augur well forthe company. The leaders should see the big picture of thecrisis and be able to spot an opportunity that can help theorganization scale through this uncomfortable situation.
It ismandatory for an organization to be professional and humanein its crisis management activities, considering the increasedcompetitive state of the business environment.