Meaningful Leadership in a Time of Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented moment in history. A moment that, when we look back, will be a time we either view with pride for having become our best selves or a time we’d like to forget by scrambling to justify our behavior. In this time of crisis, leaders are finding themselves spending far more time coaching, guiding, and caring for talent than at any other time in memory. In short, the human side of leadership is now at a premium.

Notwithstanding the human tragedy, this pandemic is forcing us, as citizens of the world, to examine the meaning critically we assign the moment and, equally important for those in positions of leadership, how we present and share that meaning with others.

What is meaning?

Meaning is simply the highly subjective construct we give to anything on which we focus. It is what we tell ourselves about what is happening.

It is essential to understand the pandemic, itself, has no intrinsic meaning. It simply is. We assign our own meanings to the event. Some people are on the verge of terror most of the day, and some aren’t concerned in the least. The difference lies not in the virus but, the meaning and interpretation an individual assign to it.

Some people are living under an entirely different set of circumstances to those who are more fortunate, well-resourced people. Some people are living in dire poverty, stacked into modern apartments where they can’t socially isolate themselves and have lost their job when they were already on the margins of financial security. Those circumstances can determine “meaning”. However, no matter the situation we find ourselves in, we are free to choose a more empowering meaning for ourselves and those we lead.

The first thing those in positions of leadership must do is determine the meaning they will give personally to the unfolding events.

This is no time for fake optimism or blind despair, but it is the time to decide what meaning you have assigned to this event and how it will influence your actions.

The one thing a leader cannot do is default to the idea of waiting until things “get back to normal.” People who talk about a return to normal are choosing to ignore the rapidly changing circumstances and expecting a return to “normal” is the surest way a leader can facilitate a company’s demise. As Charles Darwin put it, “It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.” Therefore, both the meaning we anchor to this time, and our ability to be agile in response to it will significantly determine not only if we survive, but if we thrive.

Those who are the most responsive and adaptive to change right now are the extraordinary and courageous front-line workers. Those in the medical profession who are putting their health on the line to save others are the obvious ones. But let’s also remember the grocery store worker who is making sure we all have food and the pharmacist who is making sure we have our medications. Not to mention, the garbage collectors, the truck drivers, the plumbers, the janitors and all the rest that keep the wheels running on this thing we call society. Without these folks, life as we know it would quickly grind to a painful halt.

Given that, it may seem that leaders, especially in business, are not essential workers.

However, I would like to offer another perspective: If you are in a leadership position, you need to understand that the meaning you give to this crisis and the way you react to it has a profound effect on the world at large. As a leader, you are responsible for the morale of those you lead. As a leader, you have to continue to make sure that your people are doing their work and meeting the deadlines needed to stay in business. Meanwhile, you also know that being a leader doesn’t evaporate any personal issues you need to take care of. Maybe right now you find yourself at home with small children running around. You might be trying to work while juggling homeschooling and diaper changes. Perhaps you have an elderly or immune-challenged family member or any number of other issues you may face. Nevertheless, you must still be a strong, meaning-driven, human-centric leader because as stated earlier; you are going to spend far more of your time coaching, guiding, and caring for your talent than at any other time in memory.

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As a leader, you must understand that having a single unified meaning in this time of crisis is the one only factor that you can control. The clear communication of that unified meaning is what will keep your people positive, inspired, energized, and engaged. Without strong leadership, those on the front-lines will inevitably falter, and businesses will fail.

This is why it is so essential that you know the meaning you are giving to this pandemic. It’s when you know your meaning that you can accurately convey your message to those who look to you for leadership. We’ve seen everyone from the local and national government to large and small employers do their best to keep their people informed. However, information removed from a single unified meaning confuses. For instance, in many areas, COVID-19 cases are falling while deaths are rising. While the illness seems to be spreading less than before, those who were infected are still dealing with the disease, including some losing their lives. Death is a trailing indicator in this regard. The raw information is not particularly helpful. You must know your meaning to give context to data.

For leaders, it is helpful to know that according to the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer, business is more trusted than both the government and the media. Leaders have a responsibility to coherent and accurately deliver the transparent truth about the situation at hand but also have a responsibility to develop a consistent, well-considered, and presented meaning.

Sharing factual data is crucial for transparency. Accurate data is received by the neocortex (the frontal area of the brain). This is the part of the brain that is responsible for our ability to make rational decisions. However, the neocortex will quickly be overridden and hijacked by the other parts of the brain that are reactive.

When we have coherent, consistent, engaging messaging, our neocortex can run the show. When we are jerked around with extreme (seemingly threatening) stimulus, the limbic system fires up to protect us through its skills in directing the fight, flight or freeze responses, which will, in turn, reduce the neocortex’s ability to engage — a vicious cycle of reactivity.

When an individual’s limbic system is triggered, it gets flooded with the stress hormone cortisol. The result is action driven by fear. When the body and brain are awash with this stress hormone, blood flow pulls away from the neocortex, and even your best people cannot effectively do the very things that may have been easy for them to do in more ordinary situations.

Meaning driven leadership can protect our talent from being a victim of this pattern.

Having a single unified meaning will provide an anchor to every member of a workforce, which then translates all the way through to customers and stakeholders. A leader’s unified meaning, which incorporates perspective and intention, is the difference that will determine the outcome of these times. It can be a determining factor in a workforce operating under cortisol and thereby acting out of fear, so acting from the neocortex, which provides more rational and cogent responses.

Leaders need to understand that leadership is always fundamentally rooted in service. Those you serve will be looking to you for reassurance that they are protected, and the business is prepared. Sadly, human beings have been historically poor at learning valuable lessons, and as a result, they tend to repeat mistakes.

One mistake of leadership is to be reactive to the moment and think only of cost-cutting and layoffs. For those who are responsive, the cutbacks will inevitably be in the wrong place. When cost-cutting, too many so-called leaders don’t think far enough into the future, and often the impact of a decision has a devastating long-term effect.

The sad thing is that most companies won’t realize this until it’s too late when they look around and see that much of their top talent is no longer with them.

I firmly believe that great, human-centric leadership is essential in a time of crisis. But for leadership to be effective, leaders must first develop a single monolithic unified meaning that can be conveyed consistently to everyone they serve. By doing so, they not only become essential under challenging times, but they enable and empower essential workers to rise together in the service of society.

Dov Baron is the best-selling author of Fiercely Loyal: How High Performing Companies Develop and Retain Top Talent. He is also Inc Magazine Top 100 Leadership Speaker, Host of Inc #1 Podcast for Fortune 500 Executives, Loyalty Authority and Dragonist. https://DovBaron.com