Adapted from the new book, Leadership in Crisis by Dr. Clayton Wilcox
Leadership in Crisis
“Great” leaders seem to be in short supply these days – maybe not short supply really, maybe unrecognized really. It seems like we live in an era when anyone with a platform feels empowered to call themselves a leader through their ability to criticize, to second guess, and to demonize any decision and the person accountable for it without really understanding, experience, or perspective.
They offer their “leadership” skills simply because they disagree with a decision or for some reason things didn’t work out as the real leaders planned. Rarely a day goes by when someone we believed to be a real leader – someone we thought we knew, someone we trusted suffers a fall from grace – a crisis in leadership.
Traditional media driven by click rates have become more sensational, creating headlines that scream “fire in a crowded theatre” and offer stories which rarely match the glare of the headlines which live on as the story, self-anointed voices of the internet pounce, current and former colleagues and acquaintances weigh in after the fact on the reason behind the fall – most of these commentators offer their with little regard for the leader and oftentimes because they harbor an unspoken issue with the leader in free fall, they care little for the truth or the reality of the situation. Friends and colleagues “ghost” leaders fearing they will get swept up in the firestorm that surrounds an embattled leader.
It’s of little wonder that folks are shying away from positions of real leadership today – the stakes and the consequences of decision making have never been greater – the rush to judgment has never been quicker or crueler.
So maybe it isn’t that there aren’t “great leaders” today or that they are not recognized – maybe it’s that we see them differently. And while seeing leadership and leaders differently might be good in many ways – I think we have to maintain some balance in how far and how quickly we shift our thinking.
I believe we may have lost something if we fail to recognize that good and great leaders make honest mistakes, they often initially place trust in folks who prove to be untrustworthy, they sometimes misread challenging landscapes or fail to recognize the impact of technologies or events – and in our rush to judgment, we fail to afford them at least a sense of grace and forgiveness. As a lifelong Catholic, I also understand the difference between venial sin and a mortal sin. I get that some sins are more serious than others.
Two quick observations:
Many leaders have a mindset and leadership style which disrupts the status quo, not to mention a mandate from owners and the Board of Directors; which doesn’t necessarily engender the types of relationship gravity that binds the leader to people within some organizations.
More and more today, it seems that changing the leader is less painful and more acceptable than changing the organization and the entrenched powers within.
Look, leading any organization can be challenging, and oftentimes leaders make decisions based on intuition or information they “knew” to be true at that moment. And sometimes they make decisions based on a good idea not fully formed or thought-through due to circumstances well beyond what might have been expected. I believe we need to stop some of the judgmental madness and think before we leap to judgment about the quality of those decisions – let alone the intention of the leader.
There are times when failing to fully understand the circumstance, context, or impact of those judgments is more than counterproductive; it’s hurtful to the community, the leaders, and the organization entrusted to them. Maybe it’s time we pause and consider the leader’s full body of work and extend a little grace.
One could suggest that I am the wrong person to point any of this out, as my own perspective has been colored by recent events in my life. So, let me acknowledge that I come at this as one who was questioned about decisions I made, about my allegiance and trust of colleagues “not from here,” about my own style of leadership and my view of and care for some of my colleagues.
I am not wholly innocent; I know I have made mistakes; I know that I placed my trust in some I now know I should not have, and I have not always done what I said I would. I have paid a heavy cost for my real and perceived missteps. My faith in people and some systems have been shaken, my circle of trusted friends and colleagues has been reduced to a tiny fraction of what it once was.
Yet on balance I know that I made a positive difference in the organizations I have been privileged to lead. I also know that I have never intentionally harmed or mistreated another, and I have strived to build positive work cultures in every one of my leadership stops. I write this because I fear we are in a leadership crisis – where doing your best is not good enough, where a career of positive and thoughtful leadership can be erased over a misstep or error in judgment seemingly overnight. And while there are surely “bad” leaders, I believe we should be concerned with how some are now using the toxic lens of hindsight to second-guess, impugn, and undermine good leaders, even great leaders, who simply have made honest mistakes or are perceived to have done something that doesn’t pass the day’s evolving standards of practice or cultural re-norming.
So, this is written not just to chronicle a personal leadership crisis, but rather to take lessons learned over forty years in the public and private sectors to help new and even veteran leaders navigate the challenges associated with creating change and altering course in our new reality. A reality that is a contradiction in practice - less forgiving of leaders while demanding leaders that forgive, a society that is more judgmental while demanding judgment-free zones and a culture that demands empathy without understanding. I will share personal experiences, the compelling stories of others who disrupted the status quo or caused others to act in ways not initially comfortable but leading to a better place, and I will offer some practical applications for weathering your crisis in leadership – because if you really lead others – you will face a moment that feels like the beginning of the end – a crisis in leadership.
New Reality
Today, it seems everyone believes they could have done it better, whether or not they have the skill, tools, or experience to tackle the task. Cynicism and snark are valued by many over the honest effort that falls short. It’s becoming increasingly clear that there are some who will use a momentary lapse in judgment or understanding to tear down an organization or a person who might otherwise have an unblemished, longstanding record of service and support. Critics today weigh in instantly on decisions after the fact - never mind they have no real understanding of the issues at play in many of the real decisions of the day nor have never led an organization making this type of decision before. We seem to be blessed with a new breed of the critic today – the newly elected leader, the activist board member, or new-age journalist (read anyone with a keyboard and a platform) who has no real experience that might provide worthy, honest insight or credibility into the decision. They simply have a “mandate,” an opinion, and a platform giving them a voice, not to mention because they are not in the arena - the time to offer their version of the “truth.”
And their “truth” or critique – while sometimes well-intentioned - can honestly just be wrong. They may not have all of the facts and the benefit of the deliberations leading to the decision. Or they can simply be uninformed or misinformed. Their version of the truth can be designed to advance an alternative narrative or to take advantage of the moment or emotion around the incident. Yet, an emotion-driven perspective from someone with voice rather than responsibility often competes for airspace and credibility in an unfiltered and unbridled environment.
Today, there are more and more leadership critics posting comments posing as truth offered publicly to make others look small or to cause damage through misinformation and innuendo. People are being led to connect dots through social and other media to create a narrative that serves an audience rather than the leadership, the truth, or an organization.
Sadly, this is all too frequently coupled with a growing trend in society, the need to appear to be in the know, to be more relevant than the current position or situation allows a critic to be. This troubling new ethos empowers some users of traditional and non-traditional media to publicly humiliate others – to make leaders look bad, small, or insignificant in order for the commentator or author to grow in his or her own social status as measured by clicks, forwards, and likes.
In this book, we will consider the new world leaders must navigate. I will share some of my story and the stories of others who have faced potentially defining moments in their leadership careers. I will offer practical tips and insights into leadership strategies that successful leaders and the research supports.
