Leading in crisis

Just recently I had the opportunity to listen to a top Director of an important multinational company giving a speech about how 2008 was a lousy year in sales. The basic message was he wasn't going to put up with this again in 2009. He had more than 500 people listening.

Later on, in the Q&A section of the conference someone had the courage to ask a question that many people has had in their minds for a long time: "how can we stop top down directives?"

It was a brave question, but the answer was one of the worst answers any Director could ever give: "Top down decisions are not going to stop. And these won't stop because I'll make sure they keep coming. Many of them will come from me".

In a time of crisis people needs a reason to believe. People need someone to believe. People need someone that leads, someone to follow. The last thing anyone needs is to be bullied.

The only message I could get by hearing this is that people inside this organization lack real leadership and the only way to get things done is by fear.

In times like this, you need to hear what employees have to say more than ever. The best ideas always come from people who are in the trenches, working with your clients up close. If you keep thinking the only one that has all of the experience and all the answers is you let me give you some news: you are heading the wrong way. The only way to survive in today's economic environment is to change and adapt fast. Without the ideas and commitment of people working inside your company this is impossible to achieve. And to commit they need leadership not a bully.