A Founder's Perspective on Communicating During Crisis

Being a founder of a growing dynamic organization, I have always been preparing myself to deal with a genuine emergency that could turn the entire world around overnight.

I have had my fair share of such crisis moments and dealing with them gave me some insight here which I am gonna share below as I believe this could help my fellow peers from the founders' community. It'd be great if you could drop me a line and let me know your thoughts as well.

 What I've discovered in these tough times is that when an emergency hits, the most powerful instrument you have at your disposal is communication.

Don’t Fool Around and Cut to the Chase

A leader's sole responsibility during a time of crisis should be to nurture an environment of transparency and lay the cold hard facts out just the way they are instead of playing around with pacifying words. This establishes a pace of straightforwardness which is an absolute must for navigating through the troubled waters. 

Focus on the Bull’s Eye

In the midst of an emergency, a leaders' duty is to make a 'call to arms' and make sure the things that need to be done first have the most attention. This priority-wise approach clears up the noise and projects a clear path ahead which alleviates the anxiety in the atmosphere and increases the likelihood to get us out of emergency. A razor-sharp focus on a single task from every employee is a colossal asset to the organization.

Dissolve the Channels and Enable Direct Communication

During this time, it is critical to realize that communication does not get bottlenecked at any stage in the hierarchy. You need to step up and clear out the lines and enable everyone access to the answers to get things moving. And as I have written earlier the answers need not be pretty or sugarcoated but direct and effective. I have pushed out emails directly to everyone in such times and have been swamped by the replies but have later realized that it was exactly what got us out of the mess.

Be Authentic and Legitimate

Being authentic is the most important piece of advice I have ever received. The times where leaders relied on diversions and distractions are over. You have to be legitimate and straightforward to forge your way out of difficult situations.

These are the mantras I fall back on whenever I am faced with adversity. I hope this was an interesting read and would love any constructive criticism in my approach.