Leadership in Times of Crisis

Leadership is  a key component of any organization's success. When I completed my doctoral work over 15 years ago (!), my key finding was the impact a strong principal has on a school's academic success. Leadership's importance is born out in numerous research studies and is assumed to varying degrees by all serious analysts of organizations. However, good leadership is especially important during times of uncertainty and crisis. So what are some traits that leaders should exhibit in a time of crisis?

The first characteristic that should be present prior to experiencing a crisis is character and integrity. Michelle Obama famously said that, "Being president doesn't change who you are, it reveals who you are." Another way to put this is that leadership and character are amplified in times of stress and crisis (since being president is essentially dealing with daily stresses and crises). For schools, this can be wonderful when the principal is a strong leader. But the amplification goes both ways and, if the leader is not strong, that also will be made evident during a time of crisis. "Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching" according to C.S. Lewis.  Catholic schools especially should be focused on recruiting and developing principals of integrity and character who live their faith through daily actions and behaviors. This will prove beneficial at all times but especially during times of crisis.

It is important to be calm and confident during the chaotic early moments and days of crisis. This may present a challenge because there could be conflicting information with advocates for certain approaches who try and convince the leader to move in a definitive direction. Understanding the facts of the situation and making decisions in both a timely and deliberate fashion is very important. Collect the facts, talk to those you trust and make decisions in a collaborative manner.

Being calm and confident is also important because there will be many others at the school who will feel tremendous anxiety and concern about the future, and they will express this through their, at times irrational, actions. The challenge for the leader is that he or she might also experience anxiety and doubt but it is important for people to see the leader as being in charge. One of the reasons leadership is so difficult is that it is hard to outwardly express positive  confidence when one is filled with other, more conflicted emotions. But it is important in times of uncertainty. 

As much as possible, leaders must be honest and transparent during times of crisis. I clarify this point because there may be things that leaders are unable to share for valid reasons. But everything that can be shared with the community should be shared. This gives people confidence that they are hearing the truth and they know where things stand. And factual knowledge is often what is most intensely desired during a rapidly (or even not so rapidly) changing situation. The principal has cultural capital within the community and this should be treated in a sacred way so that when he or she communicates information, it is widely held as being accurate.

The secondary part of being honest and transparent is a leader also has to always express vision and hope in the future. This should not manifest itself as blind optimism but rather as honesty regarding the storms that may lie ahead and confidence and hope that the school will ultimately get through them. This is communicated by establishing a vision for what will be and how, if at all possible, it will be better than before. When the reality of the situation is communicated to the community, and the principal then follows that with a positive vision of the school's ultimate future, people feel reassured. 

A final note, crises are unique, and the one we are experiencing now with COVID-19 was the impetus for this post. But leaders have to be adaptable. For example, some circumstances (like an earthquake) will require more rapid, on the spot decision-making. But the tenets outlined above do hold true, trusting that leaders use their own sound judgement in each circumstance. 

In the Age of Coronavirus

The level of disruption taking place in American society due to the coronavirus pandemic is unprecedented. The scope of the current situation is already such that students are learning remotely and most adults who are able to do so are working from home. The bigger issue and concern is where it goes from here. There are projections that some of the protocols in place now could last six months to a year and there are models for the spread of the virus that has 50-60% of the U.S. population being infected over time. Actually, unprecedented doesn't do this current situation justice.

Catholic schools, like all schools, have had to move to remote instruction and learning in a rapid fashion. Many are rising to the challenge and are doing incredible work. Social media has a mixed reputation, and I am one who has gone on 'fasts' in the past because of the level of distraction it provides. But for teachers during this time there are countless resources available to educators about how to move classes online. You have to separate the wheat from the chaff a bit but there are really credible, high level resources that can impact what you are doing today. 

For school leaders, communication must be the focal point, especially in this early period of transition. Communication is an important component of leadership in the best of times but during times of crisis it is absolutely essential. Leaders need to communicate calm while also delivering the true reality of the situation. It reminds me of the Stockdale Paradox which balances optimism and hope that better days lie ahead while confronting the brutal facts of your current situation. 

The Irish Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, gave a speech to his country on St. Patrick's Day that is a template for all leaders. It was honest but hopeful, true to the brutal reality but inspiring at the same time. Those who have the responsibility to lead and guide others should look to such examples for ideas in how best to balance those two different aspects of reality. And that is an accurate description - one reality is that our current situation presents unique and extremely daunting challenges but the other reality is that we will get through this at some point and our belief, especially as faith leaders, is that we will be better because of the experience. 

That is the aspect of the Stockdale Paradox that always amazed me the most. That Jim Stockdale realized, while he was a prisoner at the Hanoi Hilton being tortured nearly daily, that his current experience would be something he would look back and value to the point where he would be glad that he went through it. That the experience itself would be transformative for him and make him a better person. 

I have used this for years with Catholic schools that have faced the brutal fact of potential closure while at the same time hoping that growth was possible. The message centers around the idea that the challenging times are what shape you and form you to become the school you are meant to be. So when the growth does come, you look back on the challenging times with gratitude because they forged the community in a way that led to the growth.

In the current reality of coronavirus, more Catholic schools are faced with this dire prospect. And I know it is hard to see where the growth or future success lies in the midst of such uncertainty. However, the best advice for schools to address the current reality is to look in an honest and transparent way at the core facts, whether it is low enrollment, financial strain, confidence with online learning, technology infrastructure or something else and own that reality. Then view the challenge through the lens of the long term - what path gets the school to the point of sustainability? 

The hard fact is that crisis reveals the truth - who we are as leaders and what we bring to our communities. My prayer is that each of us can rise to the challenge we face today and realize it will be something we look back on as event that helped shape a future for Catholic schools that will be better than ever before.