When going through a crisis you must listen to trusted voices. When it comes to the coronavirus, COVID-19, there are few voices as trustworthy as my spiritual hero John Maxwell. Recently, John spoke on the 7 things leaders do well during a crisis. I felt his comments were so impactful I want to share them with you.
You can watch the full video by clicking HERE or on the image above to watch in full.
The following are John Maxwell’s 7 Things Leaders Do Well During A Crisis. First, a few thoughts on the subject of crisis. All comments below are from John.
3 Crisis Comments
1. A Crisis Moves Us
- When something bad happens it never leaves us the same.
- Is it a positive movement or a negative moment? That’s the question.
- In the beginning the movement is almost always negative because we were caught by surprise.
2. A Crisis Reveals Who The Real Leaders Are
- Crisis separates contenders from pretenders. This crisis reveals who I am.
3. A Crisis Tests A Leader’s Competence
- We are in continual change all the time. There is no leadership playbook to help us through the coronavirus.
Craig Groeschel said, “You don’t motivate through a crisis. You lead through a crisis.”
Crisis Leaders:
1. Understand Context
- Awareness – It’s all about openness… You’re asking for a lot of voices… I don’t buy-in to one thought or one perspective but I hear them all.
- Anticipation – During crisis, trust your intuition more than at any other time… Gifted leaders have a sense of intuitiveness and a sense of timing.
- Agility – I’m able to be flexible.
- In a crisis you don’t have a picture of the future.
- The key to gaining clarity is movement.
- We’re always observing. We’re always looking at the options we have. We hold decision and actions to the last possible moment because we want the clearest picture.
- Contextual leadership is the ability to see the big picture and hear many voices, but integrate them in such a way that you have one voice.
2. Embrace Good Values
- Crisis leaders lead by value, not by pressure.
- Fear makes a crisis much more severe.
- We live in a dysfunctional culture. We live in two generations of dysfunction now. The first generation of dysfunction did not get into leadership much. Now you have leaders who grew up in dysfunction… They don’t always have the emotional strength to lead well.
- We’ve lost our way and we’ve lost our values. Values are our pillars.
- Most of the values people have today are not good solid values.
- Moral courage is doing the right thing in face of your fears.
- Values hold us stable and help us be responsible in our leadership.
- Be the leader for others that you wish you had… You want leaders who value people and put people first.
3. Communicate Effectively
- Our next step is to take the next step.
- They effectively communicate reality… When I argue with reality I lose 100% of the time… This is not the worst crisis we’ve had. We will get through this crisis.
- They effectively communicate frequently. In a crisis things change all the time.
- They effectively communicate with care.
- They effectively communicate by putting “we” in the picture… We are entering a time of mass communication… As this crisis worsens, I think we’re going to see Americans get better… Democracy doesn’t work well when it’s us against them… If there’s a hole in the boat, we all go down unless we work together.
- They effectively communicate hope.
- Winston Churchill would say, “Courage is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”
4. Think Creatively
- There is always an answer.
- Good fear causes me to prepare. Bad fear causes me to avoid… Crisis leaders have a good fear.
- Every opportunity is surrounded by a problem.
- What good thing is going to come out of this?
- Carly Fiorina said, “Fear hides possibility.”
- The only thing worse than fertilizing weeds is fertilizing fear, doubt, and worry.
- What do I love to do now that I have more time? What should I need to do now that I have more time?
- The worst excuse is a good excuse.
- Opportunities are never lost. Somebody found it.
5. Embrace Technology
- Technology is right now king because we can touch our people through it.
6. Show Humility
- Crisis leaders are very open. They’re honest… They’re not trying to fake it until they make it. They ask, “I need you to help me.”
- A humble leader values people.
- If you’re a leader you have to lead with your heart.
7. Focus On Constructive Change
- Crisis causes huge distractions… Leaders do their best to get people back on track.
- Wisdom is always extracted from adversity.
- Great thoughts, great wisdom comes out of a deep valley.
- A leader never has the luxury of having all the answers.
- It takes a crisis to help me understand that life is beyond me and there are questions I do not have answers for.
- It’s during these crises that I wish everyone had faith.
- There’s a whole bunch of bad stuff happening right now. This list is about 50:1 bad things vs good things… It’s not the number of items on my sheet that’s determining if I’m having a good day or a bad day. It’s the weight of those items… The one thing that’s happened good to me weighs more than the 50 bad things.
- The best thing we can do right now at the John Maxwell Enterprise is not do business but do relationships. Love people unconditionally. Add value to them and do everything possible to help them lift their load.
- It’s not what happens to you. It’s what happens in us that’s going to make a difference in this crisis.
What is one thing from John’s thoughts above which will make you a better leader during this COVID-19 coronavirus crisis?
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