7 Tips on How to be a Great Leader During a Crisis

Great leaders are role models for their teams. That’s a given, but one of the many qualities of great leaders is that they are best in managing a crisis. Read stories of great leaders, and you’ll get validation of this fact. They have an innate ability to bounce back in difficult phases of life.

True leaders have a tendency to change situations with their strong resilience and willpower. Even in the worst circumstances, they never lose hope – and they come out successful. They’re achievers who aren’t afraid of adversary. Rather, they take it as a challenge to make possible the seemingly impossible.

So what do you do if you’re going through the rough waters of a crisis and want to be a great leader? Emulate great leaders – becoming one yourself in the process – by following these 7 tips:

1. Take a Crisis as an Opportunity to Grow

A crisis is itself is a learning phenomenon that can teach life-long lessons. A true leader sees bad times as an opportunity to identify weak areas of his organisation – and then resolves to overcome them. For a great leader, a crisis is an opportunity to rectify loopholes in his organisation to make it even bigger and better.

2. See the Larger Side

Great leaders see a crisis as a good thing. It’s in their interests because it reveals their shortcomings and keys in on where improvements are needed. Similarly, you should not feel depressed if you are struck with a crisis – it does more good for you than bad. A crisis is like a fever that tells a person that something is wrong with his biological system. When you face a crisis, then, it implicitly means there’s something wrong with your approach. By providing you an outlook into your shortcomings, a crisis helps you groom your team and prepares your organisation for a better future.

3. Be Strong-Willed

Keeping yourself strong-willed helps you respond to difficult times with a better approach. No one can be a successful leader if he fears failure. Similarly, a true leader is never afraid of a crisis. He is not affected by its downstream effects and, instead, comes out as a stronger force. The lesson here? Instead of taking a passive approach, you need to face a crisis with perseverance – without fearing its possible implications.

4. Be Determined

Every successful leader has determination. Truly great leaders never hesitate to make attempts – continuously – no matter how many times they have failed in the process. They have an innate faith that they will overcome one day. It is that trait of constant efforts and attempts that helps them achieve their goals against all the odds.

5. Believe in Yourself

True leaders firmly believe in themselves, staying high-spirited even in the worst circumstances. With this belief, they can create a strong support system of people who believe in them and allow them to build camaraderie to come out of a crisis. They’re on to something here. They know that when you lose faith in yourself, you cannot expect others to believe in you.

6. Be Patient

A crisis is temporary. The world around us changes constantly. What went wrong a day earlier might become your chance of success the next day. It’s all about waiting for the right time and striking while the iron is hot – in other words, it’s about patience. Similarly, true leaders change bad situations into their favour with patience.

7. Do Not Lose Sight of Your Vision

Leaders have that one vision that they want to achieve no matter what the circumstances. But a severe crisis can change our perspective to the extent that we sometimes lose sight of our goal. To keep it alive, you need to remind yourself time and again about that one goal that you intend to achieve. This mental recall will keep your vision alive, and you will feel high-spirited about coming out of it sooner—like a true leader.

Even if you implement these tips, the most important thing about crises to remember is that, when a crisis strikes, it comes with a package of good and bad things. Great leaders choose the good facets of it and let go of the residual bad effects.

What about you, our readers – what crises have turned you into a great leader? Share your leadership success stories in the comments, and let’s discuss.