Leading through a crisis

- As a leader, you are constantly putting out fires and others, including your team, are still looking to you for inspiration, motivation, and answers. You are the captain of the ship, whether it's sinking or not, so it's important for you to never stop leading even through a crisis. So in this lesson, I want to teach you how to remain a calm and confident leader under crisis situations. First, take it slow, take as much time as you can when responding or taking action through the crisis. It is always better to slow down and respond, than to react in an instant. It is so easy for us, including myself, to fall into the right now trap due to the human brain's fight or flight response to stress. So it's important to take a breath, override that instinct, and slow down. So take more time to make decisions, especially when there is a crisis. Next, I want you to overly and effectively communicate. People get nervous about their job security, they fixate on the worst case scenarios, and anxiety can replace productivity. So it is imperative that you, as a leader, shut it down. Communicate even if the communication is "We are working on a plan of action to get through this. "In the meantime, we will keep you informed." Keep communicating anything that you can. Put yourself in their shoes. What would you be worried about? What would you want to know? Good communication during times of crisis helps team morale, helps productivity, and makes employees feel like their personal needs are being considered. So don't be afraid, communicate. Finally, be open and available to your team. This not only includes open communication, but the efforts and actions you take to motivate, encourage, and care for your team. Have daily meetings, talk to your team members individually so you can address their specific needs. Of course you will be busy when things are in crisis mode, but remember that your job as a leader is about leading and business and the people to overcome obstacles. Taking clear action to connect with your team is a great way to keep on top of a crisis and keep your team's morale and productivity a top priority. As a woman in leadership, you will encounter all kinds of stressful situations, but it doesn't have to keep you stressed. Take the time now to come up with ways that you can prepare yourself and your team for stress. Start making close relationships now. You'll need your team to trust you if a crisis should occur. Now, of course, you can't prepare for every stressful situation, but you can't keep stress management a top priority and protect your team's wellbeing.