Essential leadership skills you need during a crisis
During a crisis managers need to give their healthcare and other essential services specialists the physical and digitals tools they need in very difficult circumstances.
This is why at PARiM, we are focusing on giving you a fast way to get started with the best staff management tools on the market. We encourage you to book a free demo to see why you can be confident in our solution.
However, besides best-in-class tools you also need leadership skills to avoid unknowningly stepping into problems or creating ones on your own.
What does not work: an autocratic style
Before we talk about positive traits that ought to be cultivated we have to highlight what we should avoid. A meta-study, combining together different scientific studies, clearly elucidates that an autocratic leadership style holds healthcare organisations back. The key characteristics are:
low or no tolerance of mistakes
making decisions without consulting your team
individuals rather than process take the blame
A sample of the autocratic style
A good recent example of this comes from the US Navy:
"Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly made an unhinged speech to the crew members of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, in which he lashed out at former Capt. Brett E. Crozier and told sailors to stop complaining and do their jobs." – Task and Purpose
The result was predictable:
"Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly resigned Tuesday after traveling nearly 8,000 miles to Guam to berate thousands of sailors on Monday, later saying he stood "by every word," and then subsequently apologizing for the remarks within the span of about eight hours." - Task and Purpose
When bad leadership becomes even worse
Bad traits such as this can gain a momentum of their own and grow into absurd directions. For example, it may include leaders ordering surveillance of their team members they do not trust as happend inside the top management of Credit Suisse, one of the leading banks in the world.
The result?
"The move backfired in spectacular and tragic fashion with the death of a private investigator, the ouster of a top-ranked Credit Suisse official—the CEO’s top lieutenant—and the bank’s reputation in tatters." – Fortune.com
Stop losing control. Divide problems into smaller parts
One key ability that great leaders have is that they can in real-time analyse and slice a problem into concrete problems. The critical part is that they do that without being disrupted: each problem is divided into a set of tasks that a team working under the leader can deal with.
This preserves energy and allows you as a leader to remain calm no matter what. And it leaves an astoundingly good impression – like watching a professional athelete compared to an amateur.
In a word: you have the eye for the game
What works: three traits that you should focus on
The outcome of the study shows that the following three qualities help leaders drive the organisation forward:
consensus-focused
resonant and
task-oriented
Healthcare organisations with consensus oriented leaders reported improved quality of healthcare services. Whereas task-oriented leaders were rated the best according to staff and relatives of patients. Resonant leadership style, where leaders are authentic and hands-on, was corrolated with lower patient mortality.
Whether you work in healthcare or in other sectors – we'd love to partner with you to quickly transform your staff management processes to meet the challenges of today's difficult environment. Let's talk!