Things to do during the critical situation in Lebanon,2019.

Companies in Lebanon are experiencing unexpected events and a series of circumstances that is negatively impacting their employees, customers, operations, tangible assets, reputation or the environment, which could put the normal development of the business at risk.

I have few advises for Leaders during this uncertain time:

General Tips:

Overreact instead of under react

1. Ensure Strong Leadership. Strong, highly visible corporate leaders build strong corporate cultures, rich in values. These values will not only serve as a foundation for your crisis planning initiative, but, in the face of a crisis they will determine how well your company responds.
2. Limit bad news intake. Being constantly fed with gloomy news is enough to make even a dog panic for no reason. Hearing bad news once is enough, not ten times of the same news in different versions from every gadget that you own.
3. There is no time to waste, the faster you act the better.
4. Quit being a victim. It is easier to assume the role of a victim during tough times than taking responsibilities for yourself. Letting go of the victim label also frees you from resentment and bitterness which will only jam up the creative energies you need to get out of the mess.
5. Have a back up plan and a back up for the back up.
6. Deploy your resources wisely
7. Join forces with others. When bad things happen, it is easy to become close-minded. But chances are, you are not alone during difficult times. There are likely to be many people who feel the same way as you do even though they may not voice out loud.
8. Protect Cash Flow: Cash flow is the lifeblood of your business; to keep your small business healthy, cash needs to continue flowing through. Now no matter how tough times get, having cash flow out of your business will never be a problem.As long as your business exists, you will have expenses. But the harder times get, the harder it can be to keep the cash flowing in.
9. Swallow your pride. Sometimes to move forward we must take a step back.
10. Communicate with everyone: -Tell the truth. -Tell them the next steps. -Tell them when you will update them again
11. Enlist Support: When you’re going through something rough, your first instinct might be to hole up and disconnect from the rest of the world. But it’s important to remember that your friends and family are there to help.
12. Resist the temptation to keep your head down during chaos. Instead, build new bridges and surround yourself with individuals who can boost you up in some way or another.

With internal customers: Your team.

1. Be transparent: Discuss with them the situation and ask for feedback on how to handle it.
2. Assemble a Crisis Management Team: This should include individuals from multiple disciplines within your organization, to develop your crisis management plan. Legal, financial and public relations executives, for example, often have differing viewpoints, yet a compromise resulting from these differing points of view should be represented in the final plan.
3. Focus on finding solutions. Do not discuss the problem only, try to think out of the box to find solutions.
4. Throw out your old incentive plans:Create new plans for fast and efficient actions.
5. Train your Employees. This step is essential. As they engage in their daily activities, they should have the training and background required to not only perform their jobs, but to identify potential issues. They should also be empowered to bring issues to the attention of senior personnel. Analysis and a corrective course of action early on often keep crisis situations from arising. In addition, your employees should receive training such that they have a thorough understanding of their role in the face of a disaster. 
6. Unproductive and Negative members' contracts need to be terminated.
7. Stay positive and motivate the team members as this is an essential Leadership skill.

With external customers:

1. Be human.When something goes wrong, people generally care most about feeling that their concerns and interests have been heard. That’s why it’s so important that companies facing a crisis resist the urge to be reactive or defensive and instead project a sense of empathy. Put a human face on the issue (for really serious issues, that person should be the CEO or another C-suite executive), and make sure your spokesperson can convey a sense of calm, sympathy and personal connection. Even a whiff of callousness will erase the entire effort.
2. Treat them the way you would like to be treated. Not because we are in crisis mode, you start treating them in a rude way.
3. Think long term: Remember the situation will improve sooner or later, they will remember the way you dealt with them during tough times.
4. Call them ask about them and offer support if possible.
5. Explore alternative markets

Remember:You choose how to respond

Recognize that in life and business, a fair amount of surprises will cross your path, and some may come with immense challenges. When that happens, remember: Stop. Think. Decide. Only you can make a conscious decision to take a more effective course of action.

At the end of every dark tunnel ,there will be light.

Believe that God is watching and he promised us that with every difficulty there is relief.

Believe in God, Believe in yourself, Believe in your team

Hassan J. Chaker

Managing Director

M.C.A. People Solutions