“Keep Calm and Carry On” is a common saying we hear these days but it’s often easier said than done. It’s a tough world out there, especially when it comes to running a small business in the highly competitive economy we live in today. Your expectations and actions can help your company recover, hurt your company, or even lead to its failure.
When a crisis hits or the business environment becomes brutal, strong leadership can mean the difference between success and failure. Here are 9 strategies designed to help you lead your team or organization through a difficult period.
Step Up
Accept your role as the leader and step up. Tackle the problem head on and address the issue right away. Bring your team together and ask questions, even the hard ones you don’t want to face, brainstorm answers and take action accordingly.
Stay Calm
When you are calm, everyone else stays calm and the crisis gets managed. It’s really important that you keep your cool and show your team that you have control, even if you are unsettled deep down inside. Be aware that your team will be directly effected by your emotions and actions. Showing that you are distraught will cause uneasiness amongst your staff. As a leader you need to stay clam to keep the entire group calm.
Communicate With Your Staff
When crisis hits, it can consume your thoughts. People want to know what’s going on. Odds are, they’ll find out anyway, or worse, fill in the gaps with conjecture. One great temptation during a downturn is to put your nose to the grindstone to get work done. Instead, your first priority should be to get those who work for you to become a unified force. They are looking to you for answers because their future is uncertain. Give as many answers as you can.
Assemble The Right Team
To manage the issue you need to have the right people at the table. While you do need to handle this crisis, keep in mind that you still have a business to run too. It’s a good idea to have some team members focus on crisis management and have others continue to focus on driving the organization to ensure it stays operational and focused.
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