Leadership is easy - when there is no crisis

The world of leadership advice is a bunch of cliches that go back thousands of years.

In the many blogs I wrote about management and leadership, I have never stated it's easy. Leaders show their true colors when the sh*t hits the fan. When crisis management and damage control turn out to be things you are not very good at. I learned this the hard way, like any other person put in a leadership position.

During the past days, it was the turn for the highly respected mayor of Amsterdam, mrs. Femke Halsema, to enter crisis hell. Halsema is a seasoned national politician with an impressive resume. She was appointed mayor of Amsterdam 13 months ago. Apparently, her 15 year old son was arrested on July 14th 2019. He and a friend entered an abandoned houseboat and emptied a fire-extinguisher they had dragged outside. They panicked when the police came, ran away and were caught. Or, if you read what her political opponents and the tabloids wrote: "Mayor covers up son's armed burglary, vandalism and possession of a firearm and two knives".

The mayor was shocked, referred the case to another district in order to avoid a conflict of interests and without the mayor's request, the local police removed the boys' name from the internal search in the computer system so his privacy would be ensured. Case closed?

No....

But wait, there is more....

Why did the news break only a month after the event, apparently leaked by a policeman to a newspaper? Why did the mayor write a highly biased reactive statement hours after the news broke? I had to laugh when I read it and decided to heavily edit the letter to take the unnecessary bias and downplaying out. Was the cover-up intended or initiated by the mayor? Was the police leaking to the press to purposely harm the mayor?

To make things worse, the same Wednesday a police investigation was launched to find who leaked to the press, but no investigation was started to find if the mayor had handled this case correctly.

The mayor's letter backfired; more noise was added and controversy exploded. The same day the news broke, Halsema's family lawyer (top gun Peter Plasman) was a guest the leading national late night talkshow Jinek to further downplay the whole thing. More controversy of course. Why such a bigshot lawyer for what the mayor described as an act of bored Beavis & Buttheads? Why did the mayor mingle in the investigation by judging her son's actions on the city website? Did she consult her lawyer before publishing it?

It is easy when you are not the one caught in the middle of this. But there are some ground rules when it comes to handling crises and you can get trained to handle them better.

So stop rubbing in stains - Learn Richard's Ten Rules Of Crisis Handling!

1 Get the facts. Understand them, don't deny them. Seek to understand, not to respond.

2 Think before you act. Knee jerk emotional responses are always wrong. Legal issue? Get a lawyer. PR issue? Weigh the spindoctors against ethics and choose wisely. It is easier to remember the truth than a lie.

3 Communicate openly and calmly. Don't cover up or hide. Don't delay the inevitable. Swallow your pride. Rationalize.

4 Own it. Don't play the victim. You're the boss!

5 Ownership, Acceptance, Responsibility is what you are supposed to display.

6 Do the right thing, then do things right, in the right order. Focus is not enough, you need to set firm solution priorities and make sure your team understands. Plan the work, work the plan.

7 In order of interests served, there is only one correct order: first the organization, then your department and only then you.

8 Spot if you or the team are doing the opposite of what's the right behavior: avoid Blame, Excuses and Denial. Downplaying and trivializing are forms of denial. Don't blame the messenger.

9 When you go public, stick to the facts. People are not interested in the subtleties of the problem anyway (they already know enough), focus on what you are going to do about it. Start with saying you are responsible.

10 Apologize for everything you, the team, the organization, did wrong. Nobody goes under the bus. Admitting failure is the best way to be forgiven quickly.

So now you know. When there is a crisis, just come to work and come clean. In Dutch there is a saying: "When you're getting a shave, you better not move".