Leadership lessons from two crises

Leadership lessons from two crises

Wars have a peculiar character. They overwhelm resources, even of a nation. The stakes of the two leaders in the two wars were vastly different.

Why do I think about this? The word crisis has two meanings: A time of intense difficulty or danger; a time when a difficult or important decision must be made.

I realized that leaders (whether political or business) have to own the crisis even though things may seem outside their control, even if the resources may seem momentarily inadequate. They also have access to data for taking action, which others do not have. They have an accurate picture of what is happening (intelligence). They need to maintain mental balance, not fret, keeping emotions in check. They must correctly frame the problem: identify the boundaries of the problem, what is to be managed, and what can be ignored; what is the immediate objective, i.e. is it about saving lives or beating the enemy?