• by Jim Solomon and Bruce LaRue, Ph.D. with Josh Bowen •

“Learning” While Leading During Crisis: Leadership expert and practitioner, Josh Bowen, had responded to our quest for insight as to how best to lead during crisis earlier this year.  Recently, he came back with a more in-depth look after he personally had engaged in leading his organization during the COVID-19 pandemic. Great leaders “check” themselves regularly to ensure they remain on their azimuth and true to

their philosophy.  It takes a strong leader to catch themselves falling short of where they expect themselves to be; but it takes a great leader to use it as a lesson not only for them, but to share with others to learn from it as well.

Josh is not a perfect leader, none of us are, but he is a great leader! As the infamous John Wooden stated: “It’s what you learn after you know it all, that counts.”

Here’s Josh’s insight –

Leading through crisis has certainly been the hot topic on leadership over the last five months since COVID hit the US. There is no shortage of new work addressing the challenges of and need to lead through crisis well; a simple internet search can offer hundreds of perspectives and ideas. It is an important topic to discuss, though.

A crisis can be defined as a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, especially for better or for worse, is  determined; turning point. A crisis can threaten the wellbeing of our people and mere existence of our organizations; crisis requires effective leadership.

While recognizing the importance of leading well through crisis, I initially chose not to write on the topic. I felt I had no relevant or fresh perspectives to offer on it. But then a friend asked if I would share some personal thoughts on the topic for his blog (below and here). While I was happy to share and humbled by the consideration, I did not feel passionate or qualified on the topic.

To be honest, I ended up writing about what I call my “leadership philosophy”: how I intend to authentically lead regardless of circumstances or environment. I think I subconsciously did that to send the message that leaders need to remain authentic to themselves and committed to the organization as they were before the crisis; we don’t merely alter our leadership in response to a crisis.

However, I wrote that piece prior to actually having to lead through crisis in my own work context. While many people and organizations felt and had to react to the COVID crisis immediately back in March, I did not until June and July due to our organization’s mission at the time.

But in finally having to lead through crisis myself, I discovered a harsh reality that I underestimated: it really is hard! Even after writing about how I intend to lead through crisis in my own authentic way, I found that it was so easy to toss that plan out the window. I became disappointed in how quickly I placed other things as priority over people, loving them, and engaging them.

So, I share my original piece that I wrote on leading through crisis below. I don’t offer it under the presumption that this is how you should lead through crisis. Instead, I offer it as a challenge to ensure that we, as leaders, remain intentional and committed to our own leadership philosophies even in a crisis.

I truly believe that leadership is a people-centric business and that our people should always be a top priority. However, I feel that I failed at that recently; I prioritized the daily urgencies of the day over the enduring important things. This failure has triggered a considerable amount of personal reflection on how I can be more deliberate in my leadership, remain committed to my leader priorities, and be effective in leading and developing others. I hope that others can learn from my recent struggle.

Original piece shared on the Chambers Bay Institute blog Read Here

We want to hear from you – send us your tips on how you lead and thrive in uncertain times – send to: leadership@chambersbayinstitute.com

Josh Bowen, US Army Officer, leadership expert, and founder of the 3×5 Leadership (a blog dedicated to making people and organizations better by providing robust leader development resources).