7 Ways To Lead During A Crisis And Make Progress Amid Uncertainty

How do you navigate uncertainty with poise? How do you successfully weather a crisis and come out on top? - 7 minute read.

Just when you thought you knew how to build a high-performance culture, everything changed.

Between, the pandemic, The Great Resignation, Gen Z demanding work-with-purpose, hybrid and remote work, AND the global economy on edge, it’s time to rethink the link between culture and performance.

Many of the threats that organizations face today are existential threats.

“As a leader, you aren’t sure what you’re supposed to do and how how’re supposed to do it."

There is no clear playbook.

It’s easy to lose a sense of who you are and where you thought your career was going. You feel stuck. Stagnant.

What can you do to stay focused and upbeat during this uncertain time?

How can you learn to reframe the situation you’re facing? Who can you vent to?

And, what can you do to recharge when most of your usual outlets aren’t available?

Here are 7 ways you can navigate uncertainty with poise.

Tip #1 - Manage Emotions.

Your ability to successfully weather the current crisis lies in your ability to manage emotions.

When you don't understand your mental health, you get more fatigued than you realize.

The first thing to do is calm yourself and quieten the mind. This is a crucial step and one we are most vulnerable to overlooking.

Then we must find a way to accept all the changes we are going through. In that acceptance we can become more present.

We must also find ways to bring everyone along, which is difficult to do since we are always apprehensive about relinquishing control. And we never want our ideas to be shot down.

These are the ways you can adapt to and navigate adversity:

• Choose self-compassion.

• Reflect on your purpose.

• Reframe the situation, trying to see opportunity in everything.

• Seek out a sense of achievement, focusing on small wins.

• Embrace your humanity.

Embracing your humanity makes you more approachable, and you may find support from unexpected quarters.

If you are open about the challenges you are going through, your employees will appreciate your candor and feel a sense of "solidarity" with you.

They may think, "My leader is a lot like me". And this will keep them going.

Never underestimate how important it is to manage your emotions in life. Almost anything can be fixed by a calm smart response under stress.

Tip #2 - Work On Your Vision.

Nothing in this world is more powerful than a compelling vision!

This is how the Berlin Wall came tumbling down at the end of the last Cold War. Or even how the Beatles became famous. It all started with a vision !

I am not religious myself and my intention is not to evangelize. But from a purely human perspective, think about that man, Moses.

Think about how he was able to lead his people to the promised land, despite an angry Pharaoh with his army hot in his heels.

Have you wondered?...

Can you be a Moses to your people?

The secret to leadership across the centuries has been that no matter how difficult the present maybe, and no matter how dangerous the journey is, if the vision is compelling enough and there is faith in it, it is possible for people to bear willingly almost any amount of pain on the way.

And this is the key!

It is this simple truth about humans,.... which is the key to great leadership!

The truth is that in times of crisis, for people to forget their immediate hardships, they need a vision of a "promised land" they can truly believe in, and they must have a reason to trust that there is a way of getting to that "promised land”.

Tip #3 - Engage With Your Team

The more you brainstorm with your team, the more you give shape to your vision.

And the more your team see themselves as having contributed towards your vision, the more faith they will have in it. And when you have set up a process to do this regularly, you have taken the first steps towards building a GREAT team.

A team that believes in themselves, and rallies around a compelling vision, with faith in the roadmap they sketch together.

Your team will help you connect with your customers - through marketing, customer support - and build you a GREAT product.

And I can promise you this…. When you finally have a team that believes in your vision, they will figure things out for you on a day-to-day basis. Far more effectively without you needing to push them. They will chase their managers around to solve your problems. Your investors will chase you to give you money to realize your vision which is now also THEIR vision. And you will no longer spend sleepless nights.

All the tools you need to build a vision together, motivate and bond are in our product, The Toot App.

Tip #4 - Brainstorm With Your Customers And Turn Them Into Raving Fans

Apply the same principles of brainstorming to your customers and TURN THEM INTO RAVING FANS.

While it may be true that you cannot always get your customers into a room, UNLESS ITS A COMMUNITY HALL, A FOOTBALL PITCH OR A STADIUM, there are things you can do that will allow you to brainstorm with them.

The easiest of these would be to open a community page, via which you can start brainstorming with them online using webinars, help pages,.. the list goes on.

You can take it further by organizing yearly festivals in which your team can brainstorm with fans inside tents or large open spaces. Imagine music playing, neighbourhood rock bands jamming, free beer flowing, and freebies being given attendees. Don't you think that attendance will be high in such events? Your fans will really start loving you!

But to really turn the knob on high, you need to ensure that your relationship with your fans is a give AND take, and not just a give or take.

In a give AND take relationship, you do not only make announcements and give freebies and, that's it, you are done. Instead, you have your team members go out into the crowd and talk with your fans, you ask them for suggestions and give them a pen too for the whiteboard. You start making plans together!

You make your vision also their vision. You give them a sense of "shared parenthood" over your vision.

This is another way of saying you give them some ownership over your vision.

As they say in rock bands, you got to make your audience sing too during concerts.

And this is the way to really inspire people and create an unstoppable REVOLUTION. An all-conquering tsunami of fans who will drive away your competitors to the gates of Hades.

Tip #5 - Build Your Tribe.

Invest in people despite uncertainty. Good people never want to feel stagnant. Stuck sucks. When they find that you are helping them grow, you will earn their gratitude and loyalty.

There is no more powerful feeling in human society than the sense of Belonging To A Tribe.

Everyone longs for a sense of belonging. And in a tribe, it is the role of the chieftain to find how everyone can become better versions of their selves.

Delegate decision-making to the junior members of your tribe. Empower them and fill them with confidence, all the time having conversations with them around the purpose and meaning of their work, and how it is important in the bigger scheme of things.

You will find that your team will achieve miracles for you.

Tip #6 - Be Proactive and Create Processes.

Things change and move very quickly. Speed and productivity are crucial to our success.

Unless you are proactive and create processes that are not only efficient but are also flexible and scalable you are likely to hit roadblocks.

Anticipating future roadblocks is like a muscle that gets stronger with frequent use.

If you anticipate future troubles, and plan efficient processes in advance, you will be able to avoid disruptions most of the time.

In fact, it is during times of upheaval that you can frog leap in front of your competitors.

In chaos you will find the greatest opportunities!

Tip #7 - A Good Support Team Will Communicate Your Vision With Your Customers.

Happy Customers is what will keep your company alive during uncertain times.

Think of your Customer Support team as frontline warriors. They are the closest to your customers and in the best position to collect feedback from your customers.

Ultimately, the reason why anyone buys anything is to make his or her life just a little bit easier.

If your vision is about making your customers' life easier, it is an easier sell.

But you need to first have your team buy into this vision, before they can sell it to your customers. Which is why you need to really work hard on selling your vision first to your team.

And the way to do this is through regular brainstorming with them.

You have to constantly drive home to them how the daily work they are doing is important in the larger scheme of things.

The Toot App Will Help You Give Form To Your Vision And Get Your Team To Buy Into Your Vision

If you would like to know more about how you can build a Rock Star team that will help you achieve your vision, you can try The Toot App.

The Toot App is an entirely new and exciting way to:

• create a compelling vision and a roadmap together with your team,

• build trust and belief in your journey together,

• lay the foundation of a strong company culture.

• and by doing all the above, build a great team.

Its a new SaaS app that works on the cloud, and if you want a motivated workforce that is fully aligned with your vision and is 100% invested in your success without you needing to chase them around to get things done..... Then This Is For You.

If you want to bring your overwhelm down by a notch, And you want your team to feel like they belong to a tribe, You want a team you can trust, who will not bail out on you, Without needing to hire an expensive consultant, Use the Toot App to rally your team around your vision.

Here's why you should enroll today.

To prove to yourself that you value your team.

And that you want to include them in your vision, of a better company and culture.

Try The Toot App today and

Put Team Building On Auto-Pilot So You Can Go Play Golf!