EFFECTIVE CRISIS LEADERSHIP By: Dr. Jeffrey C. Fox, PhD Fox Public Safety: Training, Educating, and Consulting LLC https://www.fox ‐ publicsafety.com/ Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/profile/preview?locale=en_US&trk=prof ‐ 0 ‐ sb ‐ preview ‐ primary ‐ button Fox Public Safety: Training, Educating, and Consulting LLC Online Training Offered https://foxpublicsafety.eleapcourses.com/
Course Description This webinar will provide attendees with a strong foundation for understanding and implementing the necessary skills needed to be an effective crisis leader.We will examine collaborative leadership, systems thinking, and creativity. We will discuss emotional intelligence, risk communication, and the art and science of influence and negotiation. Further, we will consider conflict management. Finally, we will look at exemplary leaders who dealt with crises.
Objectives 1.The student will analyze collaborative leadership. 2.The student will examine emotional intelligence. 3.The student will describe risk communication. 4.The student will describe the how to deal with conflict management. 5.The student will identify traits of a successful crisis leader.
Poll Question Have you ever been involved or impacted by a crisis (disaster, emergency event, or major incident)? • (Involved means as a follower or a leader) Yes_____ No_____
Poll Question If you answered yes to the last poll how well was the crisis (disaster, emergency event, or major incident) handled by the leaders? Excellent ____ Good____ Okay____ Not so good ____ Very poorly_____
The Need for Skilled Crisis Leaders • Acute threats; natural and human ‐ caused • A crisis causes dramatic systems change • Systems means a combination of related parts organized into a complex whole. • There are differences between management and leadership • A crisis will affect multiple systems; there is a need to manage conflicting goals, values, and responsibilities • In addition to the impact on the population affected, there are workforce changes • What is the impact on people? • Need to have multiple and flexible plans • Crisis leaders must be able to influence others in a positive way; they can’t rely on title or position alone
Leaders v. Followers • Leaders work on the system. • Followers react • Leaders lead, spend time planning. • Followers listen, spend time reacting. • Leaders invest in people and prioritize. • Followers spend time with people and fill the calendar with requests.
Leadership vs. Management • Leaders work on the system. • Managers work within the system. • Leaders do the right thing. • Managers do things right. • Both are important and are needed.
Essential Leadership Skill Set • Collaborative leadership • Systems thinking • Creativity • Emotional intelligence • Risk communication • Influence and negotiation • Conflict management • What is your leadership style? • Maybe it is fluid and depends on the situation? • Transformational (with a sprinkle of transactional as needed) • Situational • Servant
Leadership is Complex • No one is given a set of directions or a plan • Failure is not an option • Leaders take into account the totality of systems • Leaders are held accountable for outcomes • People are both predictable and unpredictable • Leadership skills must be honed and sharpened • Leadership exists at all levels of an organization
Defining/Measuring Crises • A crisis can happen any time, any where, to any organization or community • Some are predictable; others come unannounced • Characterized by a high degree of instability • Carry potential for extremely negative results • Brings about dramatic change
9/11/01 The day that changed everything
It was necessary for rescue A record number of vehicles were Some of the vehicles burned personnel to cut the roof off some involved in the Feb 22 crash on I ‐ 95 vehicles to remove the occupants. in Stafford County, VA. The 117 ‐ vehicle pileup resulted in one fatality and 31 injuries.
Organizational Crisis Scenarios • ALL HAZARDS • Hostile take ‐ over (change in political group in power) • Financial catastrophe (budget reductions; loss of grants) • Loss of facilities/resources • Employee sabotage/ violence • Executive or employee(s) scandal/defection • Strike/boycott • Act of war • Natural disaster • Accident • Terrorism/Crime
Comparing ICS with Crisis Leadership • Incident Command • Crisis Leadership System • Leadership isn’t just • Command about title or position • Control • Leadership skills can • Coordination be learned/honed • Highly structured; • Communication clear roles and responsibilities • Clarifying vision and values • Training and exercises are • Caring conducted regularly
Leadership’s Role in a Crisis • Leaders set the tone by their example and conduct • Leaders must pay attention to the components of influence • Positional Power • Emotion • Expertise • Non Verbal signals • Leaders can have a significant positive impact on the very human, emotionally charged climate • Leaders cannot rely only on authoritarian or fear tactics to get results during a crisis
It’s like a war zone out there! The military’s single peacetime focus is preparing for combat, the ultimate crisis situation because it involves life and death. A major element of the military’s training teaches soldiers how to deal with the range of emotions they will experience before, during, and after combat. These emotions generally include horror, apprehension, grief, rage, revenge, loneliness, sadness, repulsion, vigilance, anguish, and guilt. Military leaders know these emotions will be experienced and must be controlled or the soldiers will not be able to function on the battlefield. Combat leaders must learn to deal with their own emotions as well as with the emotions of the soldiers under their charge. This is the same challenge civilian leaders face during a crisis, and they can expect the same kinds of emotional chaos to flow over the people in their organization and themselves. Crisis Leadership, by Gene Klann, The Center for Creative Leadership (2003)
Communication • Well ‐ honed communication strategy • Clear, articulate verbal expression • Careful listening • Body language • Clear, concise and straightforward writing style • Example: Sir Winston Churchill during WW II
A Real Crisis Leader • Three strikes and you’re not out! There is always one more thing you can do to influence any situation in your favor. • A leader must ask, “What am I doing that I should not be doing, and what am I not doing that I should be doing?” • A leader must be visible and exhibit confidence under any set of circumstances. The determination to prevail must be felt by all. • A leader must always be ready! When there is nothing going wrong, there’s nothing going wrong except there is nothing going wrong. • Trust your instincts. Instincts and intuition give you an immediate estimation of a situation.
A Real Crisis Leader • Everything in leadership boils down to judgment. Intelligence and good character does not imply you have good judgment. • Study history and leadership qualities. Pay special attention to why leaders fail. • A person in a position of authority does not automatically become immediately respected or trusted. This is earned. • Every person in an organization is as important and necessary to a mission as the next person. That goes from the top to the bottom. • Instill the will to win. There can be no second ‐ place trophies on display—awarded or accepted. • Never deprive a person of their self ‐ respect. NEVER!
A Real Crisis Leader • To do well in any field of endeavor, it is an advantage to work with good people. • Strive to have one or two people around you who are totally trustworthy. • Spend quality time with the team, learning who they are and what motivates them. Create a family. • Great leaders learn to lead self first. Before you can lead others, leading self successfully must be accomplished day in and day out. • Successful leaders create the future. • Leaders must lead. Be the first boots on the ground and the last boots off.
Clarity of Vision and Values • Personal and/or organizational • People need to understand it; feel ownership; endorse it • During a crisis, leaders can leverage and use as a rallying point • Example: Martin Luther King, Jr. and civil rights
Caring • Sincere interest and genuine concern for others • Treat with respect, dignity, approval, appreciation, attention, significance, value and trust • Presence; leading by example • Example: Mayor Rudy Guliani during 9/11 response
Emotional Intelligence • An ability and capacity to recognize your personal feelings and the feelings and emotional reactions of others. (Goleman, 1998a) • Leaders must also be able to manage their emotions and feelings in their relationships with others. (Rowitz, 2006) • Emotional intelligence requires a balance between heart and head
Competence No amount of personality, political skills, or cracker ‐ barrel wit can disguise or overcome a deficit in basic technical and managerial competence. And almost nothing can multiply employee anxieties and reduce confidence more during crisis than a leader who is perceived to be marginally competent. Crisis Leadership, by Gene Klann, The Center for Creative Leadership (2003)
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