Crisis Leadership Guides

Land the plane. If you’re in it right now, dealing with a missed goal, a major bug, a failed launch, or an angry keystone customer, this is for you. In a crisis, panic and confusion spread fast. Everyone wants answers. The team needs clarity and direction. Without it, morale drops and execution stalls. This is when great operators step up. They cut through noise, anchor to facts, find leverage, and get to work. Your job is to reduce ambiguity, direct energy, and focus the team. Create tangible progress while others spin. Goal #1: Bring the plane down safely. Here’s how to lead through it. Right now: 1. Identify the root cause. Fast. Don’t start without knowing what broke. Fixing symptoms won’t fix the problem. You don’t have time to be wrong twice. 2. Define success. Then get clear on what’s sufficient. What gets us out of the crisis? What’s the minimum viable outcome that counts as a win? This isn’t the time for nice-to-haves. Don’t confuse triage with polish. 3. Align the team. Confusion kills speed. Be explicit about how we’ll operate: Who decides what. What pace we’ll move at. How we’ll know when we’re done Set the system to direct energy. 4. Get moving. Pull the people closest to the problem. Clarify the root cause. Identify priority one. Then go. Get a quick win on the board. Build momentum. Goal one is to complete priority one. That’s it. 5. Communicate like a quarterback Lead the offense. Make the calls. Own the outcome. Give the team confidence to execute without hesitation. Reduce latency. Get everyone in one thread or room. Set fast check-ins. Cover off-hours. Keep signal ahead of chaos. 6. Shrink the loop. Move to 1-day execution cycles. What did we try? What happened? What’s next? Short loops create momentum. Fast learning is fast winning. 7. Unblock the team (and prep the company to help). You are not a status collector. You are a momentum engine. Clear paths. Push decisions. Put partner teams on alert for support. Crises expose systems. And leaders. Your job is to land the plane. Once it’s down, figure out what failed, what needs to change, and how we move forward. Land the plane. Learn fast. Move forward. That’s how successful operators lead through it.

The most respected leaders aren't born in the C-suite, they are forged during crises. (how to best manage a crisis) The stakes couldn't be higher: - Only 42% of companies emerge stronger after crisis. - Poor crisis response leads to avg -63% company value. - Transformational leaders have 3.5x better survival rates. Crisis management teaches us that all crises have four phases, each demanding a unique leadership approach. Here’s how the best leaders adapt across the full cycle: 1️⃣ Pre-Crisis Stage ↳The warning signs are subtle, look for them. ↳This is where quiet leadership matters most. ✍ Leadership focus: - Spot weak signals early - Build contingency plans - Clarify roles, train teams - Engage stakeholders before you need to 💡 Key skills: Foresight. Strategic planning. Proactive communication. 2️⃣ Crisis Stage ↳Everything feels urgent. ↳Decisively take action and lead. ✍ Leadership focus: - Make decisions fast, and own them - Control the chaos, guide the response - Communicate clearly and honestly - Stay calm, especially when others can’t 💡 Key skills: Decisiveness. Emotional regulation. Orchestration. 3️⃣ Chronic Stage ↳The headlines move on, but the damage lingers. ↳This is where leadership shifts from fast to sustained. ✍ Leadership focus: - Contain the ripple effects - Support your team - Stay adaptive, the full picture is still unfolding - Keep people informed, even when there’s no big news 💡 Key skills: Resilience. Empathy. Focused follow-through. 4️⃣ Resolution Stage ↳It’s tempting to “move on” ↳ But this is your chance to embed the learning ✍ Leadership focus: - Reflect and document what worked (and what didn’t) - Repair relationships and reputation - Turn the crisis into cultural memory - Strengthen your systems for next time 💡 Key skills: Reflection. Strategic improvement. Organisational learning. Effective crisis leadership doesn't rely on one skill. But a series of strategic shifts: From foresight → to control → to recovery → to reflection. Each phase demands something different from you. And while most teams can survive a crisis, very few know how to grow stronger because of it. Be the leader who knows the difference. - - - ♻️ Repost to help your network. ➕ Oliver Ramirez G. for leadership & process improvement tips. Data sources: PwC Global Crisis Survey, FTI Consulting, Marsh. Research sources: Fink (1986), Mitroff (1994), Coombs (1999).

In crisis, most CEOs hide in boardrooms. Anne Mulcahy did the opposite and saved Xerox. Here’s what she saw that spreadsheets couldn’t: In 2001, Xerox was $17B in debt and weeks from bankruptcy. Stock had crashed 92%. Employees were demoralized. Most leaders would’ve cut staff and called consultants. Mulcahy hit the road instead. For 6 months, she skipped HQ meetings and visited front-line teams. No slides. No script. Just questions. She showed up at 2 AM print shifts, call centers, repair vans. Everywhere people were living Xerox’s problems in real-time. What she found shocked her: - A warehouse manager built a system that saved $98M but no one had listened. - Sales reps lost deals over 47-page contracts, corporate refused to change them. - A technician’s software tweak could reduce service calls by 30%, ignored 3 times. Mulcahy didn’t just nod and move on. She acted: Adopted the warehouse system → $98M saved Killed bloated contracts → Win rates jumped 23% Fast-tracked software fix → Service capacity +40% In 2 years, Xerox was profitable again. Stock quadrupled. Engagement scores more than doubled. But the real shift? Front-line workers felt seen. Heard. Valued. Mulcahy’s playbook is simple and rare: • Leave your office • Ask what’s broken • Actually fix it • Publicly credit those who spoke up Want truth in a crisis? It’s not in the boardroom. It’s on the floor at 2 AM. That's the type of leader you should aspire to be. Want more research-backed insights on leadership? Join 11,000+ leaders who get our weekly newsletter: https://lnkd.in/en9vxeNk

🚨 “We are losing control of the narrative.” That was the first thing an anxious executive told me during a late-night call. Their brand was in the middle of a PR storm. Headlines were brutal. Stakeholders were furious. Employees were confused. But here’s the truth no one wanted to say out loud: 👉 The crisis wasn’t sinking the company. 👉 The communication was. ❌ Leaders were dodging tough questions. ❌ Press statements sounded defensive and robotic. ❌ Customers felt unheard, investors felt uncertain, and employees felt abandoned. The damage wasn’t just external — morale inside the company was cracking too. One executive whispered to me after a failed press briefing: “We had the facts. Why did it feel like we lost?” Because facts don’t win trust. Communication does. 💡 That’s when I stepped in. I designed media training and message-framing workshops for the leadership team. We practiced tone. We worked on body language. We re-framed statements with empathy, clarity, and credibility. I told them: “People don’t just want answers. They want to feel you understand.” And slowly, the shift happened. ✔ Their press conferences became calmer, clearer, and more confident. ✔ Stakeholders started nodding instead of frowning. ✔ Employees began to rally behind their leaders again. ✨ Within weeks, the storm began to settle. The company didn’t just survive the crisis — it walked out with stronger credibility than before. And that day, the executives realized something profound: ➡️ Soft skills are not “soft.” They are the strongest armor a leader can wear in a crisis. I’ll say it again: Crisis doesn’t destroy reputations. Poor communication does. 👉 If you’re a leader, don’t wait for a crisis to discover the power of your voice. Train it. Shape it. Use it — before you need it. #Leadership #CrisisCommunication #ExecutivePresence #CommunicationSkills #SoftSkills

Crisis Maps: Your Silent Advantage When Chaos Strikes In the world of risk, timing is everything. When a critical incident occurs—a cyberattack, data breach, natural disaster, or reputational blow—organizations have minutes, not hours, to act. Yet many still rely on static documents or fragmented threads to coordinate their crisis response. This is where crisis maps shine. More than a visual tool, a well-designed crisis map offers an immediate, shared understanding of what needs to happen, who does what, and in what sequence. In times of uncertainty, this clarity isn’t just helpful—it’s a competitive advantage. A crisis map is a structured visual guide that helps organizations manage high-impact events through a consistent and pre-established response flow. It fosters critical thinking, streamlines collaboration, and eliminates ambiguity—especially when pressure is high and time is short. These maps don’t replace automated systems; they work in synergy with them. As companies deploy automated threat detection, SOAR; and even AI-powered decision-making systems, crisis maps provide the governance overlay that ensures such tools align with strategic, ethical, and regulatory expectations. Integrating crisis maps into a broader GRC program is not only strategic—it’s essential. Governance defines who makes decisions and why. Risk management assesses what threats are likely and how damaging they could be. Compliance ensures responses adhere to legal, ethical, and regulatory standards. Crisis maps bridge all three by converting policies and risk scenarios into executable, intelligible workflows. They support consistency, cross-functional action, and accountability—even when key steps are executed by intelligent systems in real time. The rise of AI and automation doesn’t eliminate the need for human leadership—it heightens it. A crisis map ensures automated detection and containment tools (e.g., for ransomware or data loss) operate within a structured framework. They also define when systems must escalate to human teams, ensuring transparency and control. The map becomes the logic that binds machine-driven response to oversight—critical when legal, reputational, or ethical decisions arise. It also bridges operational response with external communication, which cannot be fully automated. This approach aligns naturally with leading ISO standards: ISO 22301 - ISO 27035 - ISO 37301 - ISO 31000. Now more than ever, preparation is power. Waiting for disruption to build your response is like buying insurance during an earthquake—it’s too late. A crisis map provides a repeatable, organization-wide process to integrate people, technology, and decisions—across physical, digital, and strategic layers. It helps leaders activate the right actions at the right time. In an age of AI-powered automation, cyber threats, and growing regulatory pressure, those who have a map won’t just survive. They’ll lead—confidently, compliantly, and with purpose.

In a crisis, you don’t rise to the level of your plan—you fall to the level of your governance Everyone loves to talk about how they'll lead in a crisis. They’ll “step up.” They’ll “own it.” They’ll “rise to the occasion.” But here’s the truth no one likes to admit: 👉 In a real crisis, you don’t rise to the level of your ambition—you fall to the level of your systems. To the quality of your governance. To the strength of your escalation paths. To how well your team can make decisions when everything's on fire. 🧯 Leadership in regulated industries hits different! When you’re building in a regulated space, it’s not just about moving fast—it’s about moving responsibly. & that means governance isn’t paperwork. It’s operational infrastructure. It’s what ensures: 🔐 Material issues are flagged before they become headlines 📣 The right people are informed at the right time 🧭 Decisions are made with clarity—not panic 📝 Regulators see consistency, not chaos According to the Institute of Risk Management, 87% of reputational damage in regulated companies happens not because of the event itself—but because of poor handling & late communication. 🧠 What I tell executive teams (From a CEO who’s been there) I’ve led regulated entities through fast growth, audits, incidents, even acquisition. The one thing that separated those who survived from those who spun out? Crisis-ready governance. Here’s what I tell my leadership teams: 1. Build your escalation paths like emergency exits. Clear, fast, practiced. 2. Log everything. If it’s not written down, it doesn’t exist. 3. Have someone who owns the ugly scenarios. Risk management isn’t a deck—it’s a discipline. 4. Practice when it’s calm. Because when it’s storming, it’s too late. 🔍 Governance ≠ bureaucracy. Governance = trust. It’s easy to dismiss governance as overhead. Until the day you need it. & then suddenly—it’s everything. Because governance isn't about control. It's about credibility. With your board. With your regulator. With your people. If you're leading in a regulated industry, remember this: Plans are theory. Governance is muscle memory. When things go wrong—& they will—your systems kick in before your speeches do. So, don’t just plan for the perfect day. Lead for the worst one. #Leadership #CEO #Governance #Compliance #Regulations #RiskManagement #ExecutiveLeadership #RegulatedIndustries #CrisisManagement #Management #Regulation #CEOs #Trust #Crisis #Reputation #Communication

Harvard's latest brain study disproved a core assumption about leadership. Introverted leaders outperformed extroverts by 37% during crisis situations. Here's the science: For decades, we assumed extroverted leaders were better in chaos - their charisma and quick decision-making seemed perfect for turbulent times. But Harvard's groundbreaking fMRI study of 200 leaders revealed something that's making executives rethink everything. While extroverts made decisions 37% faster, they were 28% more likely to overlook critical details. The introverted leaders showed remarkably different brain patterns: • 37% more activity in the prefrontal cortex (complex decision-making) • 42% stronger connections between error detection regions • Significantly lower amygdala activation (fear response) This translated into real-world advantages: • Maintained focus 31% longer during crises • 35% more likely to consider long-term consequences • 33% higher employee retention in difficult times • 40% more likely to seek diverse perspectives Perhaps most striking: Team members were 44% more likely to follow flawed decisions when presented confidently by charismatic leaders. The real power of introverted leaders came from their ability to stay calm. While extroverted leaders showed higher fear responses in their brain scans, introverts maintained remarkable neural stability. This translated to clearer thinking under pressure and better outcomes. In their teams, members spoke up 31% more frequently during crises. This inclusive approach led to more innovative solutions when traditional methods failed. But here's the crucial insight: This isn't about introversion being "better" than extraversion. It's about understanding that our assumptions about leadership are often wrong. The qualities that make someone appear like a great leader aren't always the ones that produce results. If you're building a leadership team: • Look beyond charismatic personalities • Value thoughtful, measured responses • Create space for different leadership styles • Prioritize cognitive diversity The best crisis teams combine different thinking styles.

Nonprofit executives - I've spent 20+ years working in transformational change environments & crisis moments. Here are 3 things that can help you and your team right now: 1 >> Keep Communications at the Table Your heads of external AND internal communications are vital members of any crisis or critical strategy conversations. Often, decisions are made without these leaders in the room and they are brought in too late to contribute their expertise about how best to position challenging information, share meaningful updates, and respond to tough questions. This will make it harder for everyone in the long run. Do yourself the favor and keep communications at the table - as a contributing, strategic member - from the beginning. 2 >> Provide a Proactive Channel for Questions Your team is probably pretty shaken right now. They have questions. And while you may not be able to answer them all right now, it's important to acknowledge them and work toward answers where possible. Provide a proactive way for folks to submit questions (e.g., an email address they can reach out to, a form on your intranet, designated team members throughout the org) and then find a consistent way to provide meaningful responses (e.g., all-staff meetings + a standing document on the intranet that is routinely updated). 3 >> Help Everyone Understand Their Role You and your executive team may be working through scenario planning, major donor outreach, and many other emergent needs. Your team needs to hear how they can play an important role, too. Is there specialized support or research that can be gathered? Should they focus on continuing to provide great service to your community and donors? Help them know how and where to focus their energy - and when that may need to change. Don't assume that they will know to keep following the playbook that was laid out prior to the crisis or big change. What other practical tips do you have for nonprofit executives operating in transformational change or crisis environments? Share in the comments. #nonprofit #leadership #management #ChangeLeadership --- I'm Veronica - I help CEOs and Department Heads at established nonprofits create strategic clarity and lead change well. On LinkedIn, I write about practical approaches to improving the ways we think, plan, and work.

Since inauguration, nonprofits, governments, and higher ed have been in a state of uncertainty. The most acute effect? Decision paralysis. Contracts are delayed, teams are anxious, and leaders don’t know what’s coming next. Organizations in these sectors, built for slow, consensus-driven decisions, are struggling to respond to constant shifts. The result is churn, stress, ambiguity...AND complying in advance out of fear. We can each help bring clarity and calm to these situations. Whether you’re a CEO, a middle manager, or a program lead, you can model crisis communication by answering (or asking) three simple questions: 1️⃣ What do we know to be true? State clear facts. If you don’t know, ask the room. Example: “This executive order is in effect,” or “We have funding through next year.” 2️⃣ What remains uncertain? Don’t stay silent on unknowns—it breeds fear. Explicitly name the gaps: “We don’t yet know the impact on our programs, but we’re monitoring closely.” 3️⃣ Does this change what we should do right now? Be explicit about the impact on the day-to-day. Should your team continue as usual? Pause? Prepare contingencies? If this question is punted or delayed, everyone will make individual, implicit decisions anyways. So make them intentional. This framework has helped me as an interim CEO, in coaching program leaders, and in navigating crisis moments. And it needs to be repeated every few weeks right now (because uncertainty isn’t going away). We may not have all the answers, but we can choose to communicate in a way that fosters trust instead of chaos. Let’s bring clarity where we can. #Leadership #Communication #DecisionMaking

I watched a CEO destroy his career in real time. He had everything going for him. A whip-smart and dynamic guy, he was brought in to lead a massive digital transformation at a traditional company. ✅ He had a corporate mandate for change. ✅ He had a talented team around him. ✅ He had the resources to succeed. ✅ He had an executive coach. But the old guard resented him. They hated the mission. They thought he was moving too fast. And, when the pressure mounted, he: ❌ Chose defensiveness over vulnerability. ❌ Publicly lashed out at people on the team. ❌ Pushed everyone away instead of engaging them. A year later, he stepped down. Here's what I learned about being in over your head: 1/ Make your team feel essential, not expendable ↳ Don't micromanage when stressed ↳ Say "Your expertise is exactly what we need." 2/ Turn crisis into connection ↳ Don't wall yourself off ↳ Say "We're in this together and we'll figure it out." 3/ Admit what you don't know ↳ Don't pretend to have all the answers ↳ Say "I'm figuring this out as we go. I'd like your input." 4/ Ask for specific help ↳ Don't say "I need support." ↳ Say "Can you handle clients while I focus on strategy?" 5/ Own your mistakes immediately ↳ Don't blame external factors first ↳ Say "I made the wrong call. Here's what I learned." 6/ Schedule regular check-ins during crisis ↳ Don't assume everyone knows what's happening ↳ Say "Let's meet every Tuesday to recalibrate." 7/ Create psychological safety for dissent ↳ Don't surround yourself with yes-people ↳ Say "I need you to tell me what I'm missing." 8/ Give credit when things go right ↳ Don't take solo credit for team wins ↳ Say "This success happened because [name] did [specific thing]." The leaders who survive being in over their heads: - Choose curiosity over control. - Build bridges when others build walls. - Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Vulnerability isn't weakness. It's the fastest path to the help you actually need. ♻ Repost to share this lesson with leaders navigating tough challenges. 👉Follow me Stephanie Eidelman (Meisel) for more ideas about authentic leadership and building the confidence to lead through uncertainty.