Michele Weldon* says that in times of crisis, stereotypically feminine qualities such as being collaborative or good with people are often seen as particularly important.
Do you have what it takes to maintain control in a severe crisis?
Southwest Airlines pilot Tammie Jo Shults, a veteran pilot of three decades, demonstrated she did earlier this year.
Shults safely landed a Boeing 737 in Philadelphia following an engine fire at 30,000 feet, and was applauded for maintaining her cool.
Because of her demeanour and acumen, 144 passengers and five crew members survived, while tragically one passenger, Jennifer Riordan, died from her injuries.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “A website called ATC Memes has posted on YouTube the conversation between Ms Shults and air traffic controllers.”
“At the outset, the pilot calmly announces, ‘Southwest 1380 has an engine fire. Descending.’”
James Freeman writes, “A short time later she reports, ‘Actually no fire now, but we are single-engine.’”
“At one point she informs controllers, ‘We have part of the aircraft missing, so we’re going to need to slow down a bit.’”
“Each report from the cockpit is delivered in the same even and reassuring tone.”
Rebecca Nicholson writes in The Guardian that passengers recalled that after the plane had landed, Shults walked through the aisle to talk to them, to see how they were doing.
This approach of persistence and congeniality may indeed be female traits, research shows.
“In times of crisis, more stereotypical feminine qualities like being collaborative or good with people are often seen as particularly important,” writes Marianne Cooper of Stanford University on LinkedIn.
“Thus, it may be that women are thought to be more suitable in certain types of crisis situations, since they are believed to possess these kinds of social qualities more so than do men.”
She continues, “Research into the particular circumstances under which feminine traits are considered to be especially important are when a leader is expected to manage people, work behind the scenes to manage a crises, and be a scapegoat.”
Gender may or not play a role in how a leader handles a crisis, but as a woman leader, you can decide how you will behave.
And it is likely you will have a crisis on your hands eventually.
“A disaster is a moment of truth for an organisation,” writes Karima Mariama-Arthur, founder and CEO of WordSmithRapport in Entrepreneur.
“It’s a time when competent leaders prove their mettle and when pretenders reveal their impotence.”
“Data breaches, customer service debacles, recall fiascos — crises are everywhere, and countless institutions have been sunk by an unseen bombshell.”
“But in many cases, it isn’t the crisis itself that causes an organisation to flounder; too often it’s a leader’s response … that causes the greatest damage.”
Here are five tips from experts on how best to handle a crisis on your watch.
It does not have to be life or death — as in the case of Shults — but a crisis can have grave consequences professionally, economically and personally.
Get the best information you can
“One of the most important things that you can do in any crisis is understand what’s going on to the best of your ability, and that begins by gathering facts and assembling information, and many times as you know in a crisis there’s tremendous confusion, incredible uncertainty,” says Regina Phelps, founder of Emergency Management and Safety Solutions.
“You have no idea what’s going on.”
“You’re getting many conflicting pieces of information, but these are so important and we have to assess how we’re positioned to deal with this emergency based on the situational awareness.”
Stay calm and carry on
“Demeanour and decisions are hallmark and legacy of leadership in crisis, and the first has direct bearing on the second,” writes leadership coach and consultant Alicia Bassuk in Huffington Post.
“Both are served well by calm.”
“How you present yourself, to those who must execute your decisions, immediately imprints their organisational and administrative focus, resolve and implementation.”
“Astute analysis and assessment requires clarity, which comes when settling the dust storm of thoughts and emotions whipped up by the event threat.”
Act quickly, but be careful
“Once a decision has been made and a plan has been developed and vetted, it must be put it into action as quickly as possible,” Mariami-Arthur writes.
“Time is usually of the essence in such scenarios, so there can be no dillydallying or feet dragging.”
“When more time is available to consider possible solutions, take it.”
Seize the chaos
This is number five of the “9 Leadership Power Tools” developed by Gloria Feldt, President of Take The Lead.
She explains that chaos and crisis can indeed be confusing.
“But chaos also means boundaries become more fluid,” she says.
“That’s when people are open to new ways of thinking, to innovation, and to new roles for women.”
It’s not personal.
“Good leaders don’t take failures personally,” writes Sameer Bhatia, CEO of ProProfs, in Forbes.
“Failure is a part of life.”
“Not every strategy or decision you make will yield favourable results.”
“As a leader, you would do well not to take things personally or feel rejected when things don’t turn out well.”
“The more you start taking things personally, the more difficult it gets to maintain your composure.”
Communicate with precision
“Communication is a staple of crisis management,” according to Regina Phelps.
“No one will ever complain for being communicated with too much during a crisis as long as communications are clear, concise and timely.”
Hopefully you may never have to manage a team or an organisation during a severe crisis.
But knowing how best to lead during and after a crisis can give you the reassurance and confidence that you can handle anything.
* Michele Weldon is Editorial Director of Take The Lead. She tweets at @micheleweldon. Her website is www.micheleweldon.com.
This article first appeared at www.taketheleadwomen.com.
