Six Things Leaders Should Never Do in a Crisis

Planning for downturns is as important as planning for anything else in the business.

I have had to contend with lots of crises in my 25 years as a CEO. Most of them I didn’t see coming. A few of the more significant ones:

In the aftermath of 9/11, no one knew what the impact would be on sales, supply chain—and most of all, employee morale. People were pretty scared then. And we had a significant Muslim population in our workforce at the time, giving rise to concerns that they would be singled out by other employees.

The “Great Recession” of 2008. While I could see a recession coming, I had no idea how deep and long it would be.

The industrial recession of 2016. That one came right out of the blue but caused a significant and sharp drop in sales.

The mother of all crises, the pandemic of 2020.

These were only the major ones. In between, I had many mini-crises to deal with such as unpredictable competitor moves, surprising adverse government regulations and the sudden loss of key people.

Through all of these, I learned from experience six things you should never do in a crisis:

Never tell your people that you do not know how to handle the crisis. You must exude confidence in your ability to deal with the crisis. If you don’t, people will get scared. Even if you don’t know exactly what to do, pretend that you do. That may seem disingenuous, but just remember, people won’t follow a leader who doesn’t have a clue. So don’t act like you don’t.

Never drag your feet or equivocate over what to do. You must move quickly because the crisis will only get worse the longer you fail to act. The longer you fail to act, the more anxiety your employees will feel. And anxiety equals loss of productivity and turnover.

Never forget that your team feels the crisis a lot more than you do. That is because they do not have as complete a picture as you do of what the problem is and how to fix it. They feel a lack of control during a crisis, which leads to more anxiety.

Never think your team doesn’t need or want constant communication about the state of the crisis. When people lack information, they make things up. What they make up is never good. People tend to imagine the worst when you don’t give them the facts and the action plan. More communication in a crisis is always better than less.

Never think your team cannot productively contribute to the solution in a crisis. Seek their views, often and early. People closer to the ground always see things you don’t.

Never fail to recognize and reward people who go above and beyond in a crisis. Some people will step up more than others. Those that step up should be recognized and rewarded for their efforts. You may be surprised at who rises to the top. These are your superstars and should be considered for future promotions.

And make no mistake--your next crisis is on the way. It isn’t a matter of if, but when. You need to put as much effort into planning for it as you do in planning for anything else in the business. Any plan you create for a business downturn needs to include quick, decisive reductions of operating expenses and headcount. Every day you delay reductions is a day of lost profit that you can never regain. Once profit is gone, it is gone for good. 

Don’t make the mistake of only planning for growth and good times. Take the blinders off and plan for the worst times as well.

Written by:  Steven L. Blue, president & CEO of Miller Ingenuity, for IndustryWeek.