leadership through crisis

Leadership is a trait coveted by many yet not many has the reputation or clout to be in that position. There is always this general conception that a leader is born rather than made. No doubt, a natural born leader is always the best bet as this can be construed as a gift from the divine. It cannot be denied that some leaders can be trained into the role as well. But how do we gauge whether the leadership undertaken is of quality and excellence? There is only one avenue possible to gauge this; through a crisis.

In good times, not much leadership is required as the condition is peaceful and conducive for any undertakings. There are no conflicts or obstacles available to impede progress or well-being of an organization or even a country. Only when a crisis is at hand, then we will see what our leaders are made of and capable of doing. Leadership through crisis is when all the critical elements are meticulously scrutinized and analyzed to ensure the best decision are being made to address the issue. The next course of actions should be effective and efficient to mitigate the crisis and not causing more harm and prolonging the event.

In times of crisis, the military concept of chain of command must be adopted immediately. Democratic means are not effective in crisis handling whereby everyone has their own views and a vote must be put forward. This will delay the response time. The leader must lead the people under his command and not allow them to run around like headless chickens. Those people that are not kept in the loop of information and are not authorized to manage the crisis should be kept out indefinitely. All information must be carefully vetted and statements released must be consistent and without any shred of ambiguities. Decisions taken must be executed promptly without any doubts. This is to create an atmosphere of confidence and credibility in managing the crisis.

Sad to say, our country’s leaders failed miserably in this sense based on their handling of the missing flight MH370 to the extent of being vilified by the international community. It is clearly seen that our leaders are definitely not natural born leaders and substantial training is clearly needed in this area. Hopefully there are not many crisis of this proportion down the road. God bless Malaysia.