Leading during crisis is the biggest challenge a leader faces. While the crisis can take several forms -technological changes, a grim macroeconomic scenario, regulatory changes and a company leadership's involvement in unethical practices -the strategy to deal with a crisis has certain thumb rules, explains Shreya Biswas.
1 Bring Back the Trusted Leader Bring back a former successful leader who enjoys the faith and trust of the management and is respected for his leadership and can hit the ground running. They will fire up the company's growth prospects. For instance, Edward Neville Isdell was brought back by Coca Cola, and so was Steve Jobs of Apple and recently, Narayana Murthy was brought back by Infosys,“ says Rajiv Burman, managing partner, Lighthouse Partners.
2 Make a Future Road Map Make employees aware about the present market scenario and the upcoming challenges to inspire confidence and optimism in overcoming difficult situations. “Ensure that the leadership team is competent to lead and implement the above strategy and quickly make the necessary changes,“ says Burman.
3 Take Initiatives to Motivate People In a crisis or downturn when the overall employee morale is low, a leader must launch strategic initiatives to engage the team in positive activities to create synergies. “These initiatives might not be able to solve the situation but would act as a catalyst in infusing positivity and motivation among the employees, to keep them surging forward,“ says Bhavishya Sharma, MD, Athena Executive Search & Consulting.
4 Set Common Targets Align the organisation around common goals and generate a sense of urgency so that plans are implemented quickly. “Create milestones which are celebrated as the company moves along its new path. It will motivate the employees,“ says Sharma. For instance, generate ideas for pushing up bottomlines, bring in cost efficiencies, generate new product lines and services lines, and celebrate each of these when they prove successful.
5 Act as a Shield A leader should act as a shield who absorbs all the conflicts and problems of the world outside to inspire the team in battling a rough situation.
If the leader leads from the front, it will be inculcating confidence, security and strength amongst employees,“ explains Sharma. Teams should look upon the leader, as someone who is there in this downside protecting them from external factors that influence their careers.
If the leader leads from the front, it will be inculcating confidence, security and strength amongst employees,“ explains Sharma. Teams should look upon the leader, as someone who is there in this downside protecting them from external factors that influence their careers.
(The Economic Times, Mumbai, 16-05-2014)
No comments:
Post a Comment