While Rome is burning CEO John Tuld (Jeremy Irons) is eating his lunch at the restaurant located at top of the building, just under the rooftop where his helicopter landed some hours ago. Tuld is on the Wall Street for a crisis meeting, which ends with a decision to sell off the toxic mortgage-backed securities portfolio to minimize the losses and stabilize the company’s financial position, marking the beginning of the global financial crisis.
The character of John Tuld wasn’t based on a single character (just as the film wasn’t based on a single organisation) but it manages to portray the pressure and decision-making processes of insiders with authenticity.
Most CEOs and senior leaders will face some kind of crisis in the course of their careers.
These are the situations that truly test your ability to take care of yourself, to think constructively and rise above fear. It also truly tests who you are as a leader and what you stand for, your principles and your boundaries.
When you lead yourself effectively, you also lead others with integrity.
Here are four factors to focus on in the time of crisis:
1. Self-Care: Take care of yourself if you want to make it.
It’s might be difficult to maintain your daily habits as if everything is normal, but getting off the track entirely will cause you even more stress and decreased effectiveness. Decide on your baseline. What are the non-negotiables that you need to have in place in order to perform? Consider:
- Getting adequate sleep. Get at least 80% of proper rest each night. If you have to choose 1 non-negotiable, choose sleep.
- Exercise. Incorporate any kind of regular exercise, if you can’t keep up with your regular fitness routine.
- Breathing exercise. Incorporate a short-meditation of 13 minutes.
Get more information on personal effectiveness and self-care:
Three Dimensions of Success: Take Care of Yourself, If You Want To Make It
High Performance & Well-Being: Take Care of Yourself, If You Want To Make It
2. Confidence Management: Constructive thoughts
Become your best ally not only for yourself, but also for the people around you. The thoughts you entertain about yourself are reflected in your actions, and are thus confirmed and reinforced as you reflect upon them. You have to have a self-belief that you can do it, otherwise you won’t put as much effort into actions.
So, talk constructively to yourself how you want to be and act in the moment. Pay attention to your thoughts, are they:
- Focused on the outcome that you want to reach.
- Providing encouragement so that you can meet situation with determination and understanding.
- Helping to maintain a constructive perspective, what can be done to improve the situation.
Get more information about confidence:
How To Become The No. 1: Decide How You Think About It
How To Increase Your Self-Confidence, and Reach Your Next BreakThrough
Confidence Boost: To Increase Your Confidence, Increase Your Resilience
Not A Movie Review: Leadership Lessons From A Lawyer Who Never Failed Before
3. Emotion Regulation: Manage Yourself.
How you deal with negative emotions is very telling about your personality. You need to carefully regulate how you deal with fear and anger, and regulate what you say and how you say it. If you succumb to anger and fear especially during crisis, you will make suboptimal decisions. You will also set a certain tone that negatively influence others. Poise, calm and composure under stress are essential. Find support in other leaders (perhaps outside of the company, or industry) with whom you can have an honest conversation and from whom you can get a useful advice.
Get more information about emotions:
Emotional Flexibility: How To Deal With Emotions, Like A Winner
4. Leadership Principles: It’s Your Story.
One of the first lessons in Executive Presence is to craft your own Leadership Principles that will guide you as a leader: what’s your story, who are you as a person, and what kind of a leader do you want to be. It’s difficult to think deeply about leadership principles when there is fire, but it’s essential to have at least one page, especially during difficult times. Leadership Principles:
- Ground you, in who you are as a person
- Act as a basic guide to your decision-making
- Remind you of the purpose you have as a leader (your Why)
- Guide your behaviours when emotions are running high
- Influence how other’s perceive you.
Get more information about Leadership Principles and Leadership Presence:
All the World is A Stage: A Guide to Executive Presence
The Power Of Non-Verbal Communication
Bridging the Gap Between Values and Actions: Creating your own Leadership (Personal) Principles
The Best in Business: A persuasive Leader’s Checklist
What else helps you deal with difficult times?
Image
Alamy, Jeremy Irons, Margin Call (2011).