How Leaders Steer Through Crisis and Adversity

It is said that great leadership is sometimes forged during a crisis. And indeed, we do see many of such inspiring leaders. Still, there are others who could have done better.

When faced with a crisis, leaders are forced to face the unfamiliar, and sometimes even forced to make difficult moral decisions. Whether it’s a technological, financial or health crisis, crises demand that leaders overcome adversity by thinking — and acting — on their feet.

With the coronavirus pandemic exposing the shortcomings of how we lead, perhaps it’s time to rethink leadership — through a crisis, and also leadership after one. In this issue, pick the brains of some exemplary leaders of crisis and learn how we can be leaders of tomorrow.

The psychology behind effective crisis leadership

In a crisis, people don’t necessarily need a vision to inspire them — they’re already raring to act. Instead, they need what psychologists call “holding” — leaders who acknowledge their emotions and give them a sense of context and reality.

Leaders who hold through this crisis will keep their organizations afloat, and they are whom we’ll turn to when the time for a vision for the future comes.

Learning from Jacinda Arden’s crisis leadership

If there’s someone politicians can turn to for advice on crisis leadership, it’s likely going to be New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Arden.

In this feature by The Conversation, several leadership experts give their assessments on how Arden was able to make difficult decisions and rally people to act for the collective good.

A guide to resilient leadership for social change

Non-profits are facing a growing need among the communities they serve, and the pool of volunteers and resources needed to get the job done is shrinking. These are just some of the immense challenges that leaders in non-profits and philanthropic organisations face. How should they act?

The Stanford Social Innovation Review has a series of articles with suggestions for fundraising, collaboration, and creative thinking to help social change leaders navigate this difficult terrain.

Further reading and resources

Reads

• With coronavirus closing schools, here’s how video games are helping teachers — Washington Post
• Analysis: The inside-out of a post-carbon economy — Phenomenal World
• The myth of the disease-spreading migrant — Undark

Podcasts

• Will Covid-19 make modern monetary theory mainstream? — Project Syndicate
• Will Covid-19 spark a cold war (or worse) with China? — Freakonomics Radio
• What Shakespeare can teach us about conspiracy theories — CBC Radio

Film

• Darkest Hour — Netflix