What the Gas Crisis Taught Me About Leadership

As a North Carolinian, I can report that I’m successfully making it through the May 2021 Colonial Pipeline gas crisis. At one point today, almost 80% of our regional pumps had no gas. Driving through town and seeing empty, lonely gas stations was sobering. I almost wept for the loss I felt.

As I reflected on the fear that comes with scarcity; a fear that has unfortunately gripped the globe in unthinkable ways since the pandemic hit, I was reminded that leaders are the people we often trust to help us work through the fears associated with loss; fears that prevent our best work/effort.

As a classroom teacher and administrator, I regularly helped my teenagers process the anger that accompanied the news that their parents were divorcing, or the numb sense of helplessness that accompanied news they would not pass a class or graduate on time.

As a school and professional leader in many diverse organizations, I have often supported colleagues who faced the fear of the unknown that accompanied sudden job terminations or the news that they weren’t meeting goals and thus identified as “sub-standard,” consequently leading many to self-identify as a work “failure.”

The fear, worry, stress and chaos that accompanies the lack of something; living without; doing without; and lack of clarity about how we regain what we’ve lost is frankly overwhelming. Nothing hurts worse than losing the thing that you loved most or that best defined you.

But the reality of the current world we live in is that life has been and will continue to be a life of great loss. We lose jobs, loved ones, families fall apart, companies split; our favorite teams lose championships, small businesses go under, schools close under the pressure of declining population, churches die out, and so much more.

Loss is painful and leaders (family leaders, business leaders, school leaders, church leaders) are left to guide us out of the fog and into a firm place of processing and moving past these set-backs in positive ways. But leaders can’t do that if they don’t understand the fears their people face.

To be a good leader, we have to listen, be observant, and care. When I worked on my masters in school administration, a professor always shouted, “There is NO CRYING” in school leadership!” Well, I disagree. If you’re going to successfully lead your school, company, church, family, community, or civic club through seasons of loss, scarcity, pain, and hardship, then you’d better be willing to cry alongside your people and love them through their pain. Long term, everyone will grow as a result, and your organization will only be stronger in the end.   (Written by: Dr. Lori Brown)